Data play an increasingly important role in our daily lives, the public sector and businesses and are crucial for scientific research. Collecting, analysing and sharing data forms the basis for new scientific insights and innovative breakthroughs.
An efficient and proactive health policy requires a solid scientific basis, based on a large variety of health data. In Belgium, health policies aim to protect and promote the health of people and animals. This is only possible if we monitor the health of people and animals and improve the prognosis of patients. This is based on, amongst others, Sciensano’s surveillance networks, patient registries and health surveys.
Sciensano therefore recognizes the great importance of data and wants to be a pioneer in the field of responsible data management.
Sciensano is aware of the legal and moral responsibilities associated with handling data. For example, our institute manages its data in an ethical, safe, sustainable and responsible manner and we set ourselves the highest standards for data integrity, privacy protection and data security.
Because of his activities, Sciensano has an extensive network of collaborations with universities, knowledge institutes and other regional national and international health institutions with which data is exchanged and shared. By making data accessible to other researchers, we promote collaboration and accelerate the advancement of science. To this end, we apply the FAIR data principles, which ensures that our data is findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. This way, Sciensano wants to be an example in the Belgian health data landscape.
Read Sciensano’s full data strategy