BRIEF

The Challenge

The Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), established in September 2021, addresses a critical need within the European Union (EU): ensuring robust preparation and coordinated response to cross-border health emergencies. Emerging in response to gaps highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, HERA aims to enhance Europe’s resilience to public health crises, while also supporting MS action and coordination.

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In this context, the ATHINA project was developed to directly support HERA's mission by creating an Advanced Technology for Health Intelligence and Action IT System (“ATHINA”) capable of supporting HERA in its day-to-day activities. Thus, “ATHINA” is designed as a comprehensive platform to streamline HERA’s daily activities, ensuring that it meets essential business requirements and offers complete functions across its business process on i)intelligence gathering, ii)threat assessment, iii)emergency and response and iv)mapping, modelling and analytics. By enabling interoperability with existing health platforms and reinforcing Member States’ actions in the field of public health, ATHINA aims to be a cornerstone tool for HERA, empowering it to fulfil its mandate effectively and coordinate responses across EU Member States.

FOCUS

The Approach

The ATHINA project adopted a phased approach, beginning with a comprehensive regulatory analysis. This initial step ensured that the system would be compliant with the relevant regulatory framework and aligned with HERA’s operational needs. By establishing a strong regulatory foundation, the project ensured that ATHINA would be both effective and adaptable within HERA's mandate.

Following this regulatory groundwork, the project team focused on identifying the specific business and functional requirements for ATHINA. This analysis was guided by the core functions that ATHINA would need to fulfil as an IT system dedicated to supporting HERA. Each requirement was then mapped to practical use cases, ensuring that ATHINA would be equipped to fulfil its essential role in supporting HERA’s mission.

Throughout this process, stakeholder engagement played a critical role. By actively involving relevant stakeholders, the project was able to gather essential insights, ensuring ATHINA would be both comprehensive and responsive to the public health emergency scenarios. 

CONCLUSIONS

The Envisioned Result

The ATHINA project will deliver ATHINA as an IT system. ATHINA will integrate core functions, including intelligence gathering, threat assessment, emergency response coordination, and advanced analytics, into a system that aligns with HERA’s regulatory framework and operational needs. ATHINA will then serve as a cornerstone tool, enabling HERA to enhance public health and coordinate effective responses across Europe.