Deadline Date: March 03, 2026
The European Commission is advancing genomic data infrastructure to support the secure storage and processing of large-scale human genome data through the establishment of a federated system aligned with the European Health Data Space framework.
This action contributes to boosting the capacity of Member States to sequence human genomes through scaling up dedicated secure data storage and processing environments. Data volume is crucial in genomics analytics, and efficient storage and management of large data sets, such as genomics, is essential; to ensure efficient processing, genomic data storage solutions should be flexible and scale with needs. Genomic data, once curated, must not only be stored safely, but also be processed in secure processing environments, which is a particular challenge with the highly voluminous genomic data.
This initiative relates to the potential creation of a European Digital Infrastructure Consortium for genomic data (Genome EDIC) and supports the activities related to operating the 1+MG data infrastructure established with the support of Digital Europe under Work Programme 2021-2022 (GDI project), including its alignment with the requirements, technical specifications, and processes established by the EHDS Regulation to ensure a smooth functioning within the HealthData@EU infrastructure. As part of the 1+MG initiative implementation, this action builds on the outputs and results of the 1+MG implementing projects and will establish a collaboration agreement with the Genome of Europe (GoE project, supported under Digital Europe Work Programme 2022-2023), to contribute to ensuring safe storage and processing capacity for the European reference genome data within the 1+MG data infrastructure.
The total indicative budget for this action is EUR 17,500,000. the initiative will support the acquisition and set-up of a secure federated data storage and processing capacity for the 1+MG data infrastructure, expected to be operated by the relevant European Digital Infrastructure Consortium. This includes the development of “hot storage” systems designed to work in synergy with secure processing environments aligned with the EHDS requirements, ensuring data integrity, compliance, and accessibility.
The action also encompasses detached long-term storage for curated genomic data provided by data contributors, including the Genome of Europe dataset. The storage capacity will be established based on a well-defined data storage optimisation strategy that balances storage costs with data depth, breadth, and versioning. It will also consider suitable architecture, technology, and legal aspects to ensure flexibility, security, and scalability in the management of genomic data across Europe. The overall goal of this initiative is to create a sustainable, federated, and compliant infrastructure that can securely host and process massive genomic datasets, thereby strengthening Europe’s leadership in genomics research, data-driven healthcare, and personalized medicine. Expected Outcomes: 1+MG data storage strategy.
Secure federated data storage and processing capacity for 1+MG data infrastructure.
Eligible participants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must be legal entities (public or private bodies) established in one of the eligible countries, including EU Member States (and their overseas countries and territories) and non-EU countries such as listed EEA countries and those associated with the Digital Europe Programme. Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register before submitting the proposal and will have to be validated by the Central Validation Service (REA Validation). For validation, applicants will be required to upload documents showing legal status and origin.
For more information, visit European Commission.
