Greece’s Next Digital Health Challenge Is Not Technology—It Is Skills

Greece is entering a new phase of digital health. The question is no longer whether healthcare should become more digital, but how safely and inclusively that transition can happen. 

The National Electronic Health Record and the expansion of the MyHealth ecosystem are changing how citizens and professionals access medical information. Greece has also introduced artificial-intelligence tools into public healthcare, while the European Health Data Space is creating a common framework for the secure use and exchange of health data across Europe. These developments offer major opportunities for better care, research and innovation. They also expose a less visible challenge: technology creates value only when people know how to use it, question it and improve it.  

This is where the experience of Health2Innovation becomes particularly relevant. 

Digital transformation is a human-capital project 

Digital health is often discussed through systems, platforms and devices. Yet every successful solution depends on people who can connect healthcare, technology, business, regulation and society. 

A developer working on a health application must understand privacy and clinical realities. A healthcare professional using artificial intelligence must be able to interpret its outputs rather than accept them blindly. An entrepreneur must demonstrate not only commercial potential, but also patient value, ethical responsibility and regulatory readiness. 

These roles require interdisciplinary thinking, communication, entrepreneurship, data literacy and continuous learning. 

The European Commission’s 2026 Digital Decade report recognises Greece’s progress in e-health, but also highlights persistent digital-skills gaps and a low share of ICT specialists. The country is building advanced digital capacity while still needing more people able to use it effectively.  

What the Greek Health2Innovation experience adds 

Health2Innovation brought together education, innovation and technology organisations to prepare students and graduates for the changing health market. In Greece, the University of Patras, UNICERT and the Institute of Entrepreneurship Development represented three complementary perspectives: academic and technological knowledge, recognition of learning, and entrepreneurship and innovation support.  

This cooperation reflected the way digital health innovation works in practice. An idea may begin in a laboratory, classroom or start-up team, but it cannot remain there. It must respond to a real need, become a clear value proposition, meet ethical and regulatory requirements and be developed by people with recognised competences. 

Health2Innovation created learning resources, a Digital Learning Hub, a mobile application, pilot activities, a Health Innovation Bootcamp and policy-oriented outputs. Together, these results help learners understand emerging technologies and how ideas move from knowledge to responsible application.  

Four lessons for the future of health innovation in Greece 

1. Interdisciplinary skills must become the norm 

The future workforce cannot be divided neatly into “health people” and “technology people”. Greece needs professionals who can work across disciplines and translate between them. 

This does not mean every doctor must become a programmer or every engineer a clinician. It means they need a shared vocabulary and an understanding of how their decisions affect patients, organisations and society. 

Education should create more opportunities for students from health, engineering, business and technology to work together on real challenges. A learner who understands only one part of the innovation process may develop an excellent idea but struggle to communicate, validate or implement it. 

Digital health education must therefore go beyond technical knowledge. It should also develop teamwork, problem-solving, leadership and the ability to explain complex technologies to people with different levels of expertise. 

2. Trust is an innovation skill 

As health data becomes more accessible and artificial intelligence becomes more visible in care, public trust will be decisive. 

Trust cannot be added at the end of product development through a privacy notice. It must be built into a solution from the beginning. Future innovators need to understand cybersecurity, data governance, consent, bias, transparency and the limits of automated systems. 

The European Health Data Space will create new possibilities for healthcare, research and innovation. It will also increase demand for professionals who can use health data responsibly and protect the people behind it.  

A successful digital health solution is therefore not simply one that works. It is one that patients and professionals understand, trust and feel confident using. 

3. Innovation is not the same as invention 

A technically impressive solution may still fail because it does not fit clinical workflows, address a priority need or offer a realistic route to adoption. 

Entrepreneurship education helps learners ask questions technology alone cannot answer: Who benefits? What problem is being solved? What evidence is required? How will the solution integrate with existing services? What could prevent professionals or patients from using it? 

These questions encourage innovators to start with the healthcare challenge rather than the technology. They also help teams recognise that adoption depends on organisational culture, available resources, user behaviour, regulation and the ability to demonstrate meaningful value. 

For Greece, these capabilities can help turn academic knowledge and technical talent into viable health solutions, while giving start-ups and small businesses a clearer path from experimentation to market readiness. 

4. Learning must continue beyond the degree 

Digital health changes too quickly for one qualification to remain sufficient throughout a career. Professionals need flexible ways to update their knowledge in artificial intelligence, health data, cybersecurity, sustainability and regulation. 

Short learning programmes and micro-credentials can support this process when they are based on clear outcomes and credible quality standards. They can help professionals document new skills and allow employers to understand what a learner can actually do. 

Health2Innovation’s flexible resources can support students, professionals updating their competences and educators connecting technology with entrepreneurship and responsible innovation. 

From digital services to a stronger innovation culture 

Greece has shown that large-scale digital change in healthcare is possible. The next step is to ensure that skills develop alongside infrastructure. 

This requires closer cooperation between universities, healthcare providers, businesses, public authorities, certification bodies and innovation ecosystems. Training should not focus only on operating tools. It should help people identify needs, evaluate technologies, collaborate across professions and translate knowledge into sustainable impact. 

Health2Innovation offers a useful model for this next phase. Its central message is simple: the future of digital health will not be determined by technology alone. It will be shaped by people who can combine expertise with empathy, innovation with responsibility and ambition with a clear understanding of healthcare needs. 

As the project concludes, this is the opportunity Greece should carry forward—not merely to become a user of digital health technologies, but to develop the talent and collaborative culture needed to shape them.