With the official kick-off on October 14, 2025, the CareDataSpaces OWL (CDS-OWL) starter project has begun its work. Under the joint coordination of the Institute Industrial IT (inIT) at TH OWL, Discrete Systems working group, headed by Prof. Dr. Volker Lohweg, representatives of the four participating universities and corporate partners from the region met to define common goals and initial areas of work.
“The focus was on issues relating to secure data platforms, information models, and IT infrastructures that will help to connect and utilize data in the healthcare sector in a meaningful way in the future,” said Dr. Christoph-Alexander Holst, research group leader for discrete systems and project coordinator.
CareDataSpaces OWL is part of the ISyCARE innovation community and aims to test new forms of data exchange in the healthcare sector. Under the term “care data,” the project brings together digital solutions such as platform technologies, AI-supported assistance systems, and data-based analysis methods that are intended to close gaps in care and improve patient-centered processes in the future.
The second project meeting focused on deepening the content. This was particularly evident in the example of Parkinson's care: concrete patient stories showed how many actors are involved in diagnosis, therapy, medication, and aftercare—and how quickly important information can be lost in different systems. Digital data rooms can help here in the future by securely bundling health data and making it accessible to all parties involved.
The legal framework also came into sharper focus. New European regulations, including the planned health data space, are currently changing how health data may be processed, protected, and used. For CDS-OWL, this presents both challenges and opportunities to develop suitable technical and organizational solutions.
With these two kick-off events, the project has laid an important foundation. CareDataSpaces OWL is now visibly gaining momentum, bringing OWL one step closer to regional, networked, digitally supported healthcare.