OSCAR HOST

Healthtech Orienteret SMV Testfacilitet
Pressemeddelse (.pdf)

The project aims to establish a national IT infrastructure and platform to provide Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) with secure and streamlined access to Danish health data. This facility is crucial for the development, testing, and validation of new innovative digital solutions within the life science sector. The initiative is a key component of the Life Science Business Lighthouse (Erhvervsfyrtårn Life Science) and is driven by DataFair ApS in partnership with Danish Life Science Cluster.

  • Project Title: OSCAR HOST - OSCAR Healthtech Oriented SME Test Facility
  • Goal: Strengthen the competitiveness of Danish SMEs by reducing the uncertainty, time, and cost associated with accessing health data for product development.
  • Project Period: January 1, 2026, to June 30, 2028.
  • Key Partners: DataFair ApS (Applicant and Project Administrator) and Danish Life Science Cluster (Strategic Partner).
  • Status: Funded under the Erhvervsfyrtån III, focusing on Test, Demonstration, and Development Facilities (TDU-facilities).

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The Challenge: Bridging Data Potential and SME Innovation

Denmark is globally recognized for having some of the world's highest quality health data and a robust environment of innovative health tech companies (SMEs). However, a significant barrier persists: these same SMEs face substantial difficulties in gaining the necessary secure access to Danish health data to develop, test, and validate their solutions within the country.

As a result, SMEs currently spend considerable time and resources either negotiating data access or purchasing data from international sources. This external data is often insufficient to convince Danish or European customers of the solution’s value, underscoring the critical need for local, continuous access to high-quality data.The Solution: Establishing OSCAR HOST

OSCAR HOST is designed to dismantle these barriers by providing a secure and dedicated development and testing environment. The project builds upon the existing OSCAR Platform (One Stop Shop for Clinical Research), which was previously developed and prototyped with support from the Innovation Fund, and adapts it to meet the specific needs of SMEs.A Secure, Dedicated Data Lake Platform

OSCAR HOST will establish individual, dedicated data lakes for each company utilizing the facility. Data from relevant public sources—including municipalities’ electronic care systems, regional Electronic Patient Journal (EPJ) systems, and national registers (such as Statistics Denmark and the Danish Health Data Authority)—will be transferred and combined with the SME’s own data within a secured firewall.

Key security and functionality features include:

  • Data Security: Data transfer is encrypted using state-of-the-art technologies, such as Secure Multiparty Computation (developed at Aarhus University), ensuring data remains encrypted at all times.
  • Governance: Access and usage are controlled by a data governance platform that manages user rights and documents data application, ensuring confidentiality and compliance with existing legislation. Data accessed by companies will typically be anonymized or pseudonymized.
  • Data Structuring: The platform will offer services to cleanse, structure, and combine data to match internationally recognized standards such as the OMOP standard, promoting reusability and simplifying the process that companies currently perform manually.

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Integration into National Infrastructure

OSCAR HOST is strategically positioned to become a certified ‘Spoke’ within Denmark’s forthcoming national Hub’n Spoke model for enhanced health data utilization, implemented by Digital Sundhed Danmark (Danish Health Data Authority).

This integration offers a critical simplification for businesses:

  • "One Stop Shop" Access (Én Indgang): Companies will only need to seek regulatory approval for data access from a single entity (Digital Sundhed Danmark's Én Indgang), dramatically reducing the administrative burden and accelerating development time, particularly for SMEs new to data access applications.
  • National Reach: As part of the national infrastructure, OSCAR HOST will be accessible to relevant companies across the entire country, offering data access from national, regional, and municipal sources.

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Target Audience and Expected ImpactTarget Groups

The facility is primarily aimed at SMEs developing medtech and welfare technology solutions within life science who require secure and easy access to Danish health data for development, testing, and validation of innovative digital solutions.

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The secondary target group includes researchers, healthcare professionals developing algorithms, and larger life science companies (healthtech, medtech, and pharma) seeking to utilize the platform for testing and analysis.Project Activities (Work Packages)

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The project is structured into five work packages to ensure successful implementation:

  1. Establishment of OSCAR HOST: Procurement, development, and integration of software and hardware to create the data lake facility.
  2. Certification and Security Approval: Ensuring compliance with national security requirements for analytical environments and implementing a quality management system.
  3. Data Access: Identifying relevant data sources and establishing framework agreements for data access.
  4. Coordination and Communication: Project management, coordination with other Life Science Business Lighthouse initiatives, and communication with the ecosystem.
  5. Evaluation, Audit, and Reporting.

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Long-term Sustainability and Results

The establishment of OSCAR HOST is projected to have significant and lasting commercial and societal impacts:

  • Commercial Viability: The facility will operate on commercial terms after the project concludes in 2028. It will be driven as an element of the broader OSCAR platform, which has paying pharmaceutical customers, providing a solid economic foundation. This model ensures that prices for SMEs remain attractive and commensurate with their ability to pay.
  • Innovation Output: Long-term, the platform is expected to support the development of 51–15 new solutions annually by SMEs.
  • Societal Value: By enabling the development of data-driven digital solutions, OSCAR HOST contributes directly to securing a future sustainable healthcare system and strengthens Denmark’s national position in life science, aligning with the national Life Science Strategy and Health Reform.
  • Catalytic Effect: Grant funding for OSCAR HOST acts as a catalyst, significantly strengthening the business case and helping DataFair attract necessary private capital for further platform development and long-term operation.

The facility will be available to companies nationwide and remains an active part of the Erhvervsfyrtårn Life Science to support the industry's development long after the project ends. 

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The OSCAR HOST project is co-financed by the European Union via Danmarks Erhvervsfremmebestyrelse and is part of the national strategic Erhvervsfyrtårn Life Science under Virksomhedsudvikling Danmark

Total budget: 14,3 mio. DKK

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Contact:

Project manager: Troels Bierman Mortensen, tbm@datafair.org, +45 31 55 10 15