Dear EFMI Family,

As 2025 draws to a close, I would like to reflect on the significant strategic strides we have taken together and the enduring commitment of our EFMI Family to advancing medical informatics and digital health. This year has been a defining period for EFMI, marking our decisive transition toward robust governance and validation frameworks for health technologies—particularly in light of the increasing integration of complex systems such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare.

We celebrated a major achievement through a carefully sequenced series of thematically complementary European conferences. We began with MIE 2025 in Glasgow, Scotland (May 19–21), where the focus was on foundational knowledge creation and cutting-edge research under the theme “Intelligent Health Systems – From Technology to Data and Knowledge.” This established the technological frontier. We then attended EFMI STC 2025 in Osnabrück, Germany (October 20–22), which focused exclusively on quality assurance and responsible deployment, under the theme “Good Evaluation – Better Digital Health.” The consensus reached at STC reinforced that only well-evaluated products and systems deliver actual added value and strengthen patient safety. Across both conferences, our two flagship programs, the Lead Project and the Knowledge Graph Initiative, continued to flourish.

This thematic duality—championing innovation while mandating rigorous evaluation and governance—strengthens EFMI’s message to policymakers: we not only advocate for digitalisation but also safeguard its responsible implementation.

Our influence this year extended deeply into European policy, research, and vital projects:

• We reaffirmed EFMI’s role as an intellectual authority on European frameworks, notably the European Health Data Space (EHDS), which officially entered into force in March 2025, marking the beginning of its transition phase. Our discussions and collaboration with WHO were recognised
• We strengthened our commitment to cybersecurity through the Horizon Europe MedSecurance project, featuring a dedicated session at STC 2025 to address the resilience of European healthcare infrastructure, particularly regarding IoMT device security.
• We leveraged our platform to promote advanced methodologies for standardising clinical AI evaluation, especially through the CAIDX project presentation at STC 2025.
• We also deepened EFMI’s engagement with European research and innovation through the OneAquaHealth project, which promotes citizen science, digital tools, and mobile applications better to understand links between environmental quality and human health, and to support more informed public health and policy decisions.

On the global stage, EFMI maintained a strong international presence—actively supporting and promoting the MedInfo 2025 conference in Taipei, Taiwan. There, I had the honour of advocating for the Swedish Association of Medical Informatics to host MedInfo 2029. The bid was accepted, and we will proudly bring MedInfo back to Sweden, where it began in 1974. The 2029 conference will mark its 55th anniversary—stay tuned for more details and collaboration. I was also honored to speak at the WSIS+20 Review at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in December, where I reaffirmed our commitment to global digital cooperation in health.

This year reaffirmed that our role as informaticians is more vital than ever. We are the architects of Intelligent Governance, ensuring that technological innovation in healthcare is deployed ethically, effectively, and equitably. The strong participation at MIE and STC demonstrated this commitment, as did our Secretary’s keynote address at STC, which highlighted the pivotal roles of doctors and nurses in transforming healthcare (link to manuscript to follow).

Looking ahead to 2026, we approach a major milestone—EFMI’s 50th Anniversary, culminating in the MIE 2026 conference in Genova, Italy, in May. To commemorate this Jubilee, we are launching the Digital Time Capsule project under the theme “Traces of Our Time for Your Tomorrow.” This initiative symbolises the powerful link between today’s community and the informaticians of 2076. More will be shared during our extra Council meeting in January.

In 2025, we were also delighted to welcome Estonia as a new national member of the EFMI family. Estonia’s strong track record in digital health and e-governance will enrich our community and strengthen our collective capacity to drive innovation and responsible digitalisation across Europe. And they will also arrange MIE 2027.

As we move forward, let us continue to embody the values that define EFMI—collaboration, innovation, and a shared commitment to improving healthcare for all. I look forward to continuing this journey with all of you in the coming year, ensuring that medical informatics remains at the heart of healthcare transformation.

May this festive season bring joy and warmth to you and your loved ones.

With warm regards and best wishes for 2026,

Formulärets nederkant

Lars Lindsköld
President, EFMI