Leading to 2020 several European countries have launched their national AI strategies, the European Commission put forward a European approach to Artificial Intelligence, a Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence "Made in Europe", laid out the path for Building Trust in Human Centric Artificial Intelligence and set up a High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI HLEG) which presented their Policy and Investment Recommendations for Trustworthy AI. And in 2020, Artificial Intelligence will continue to be very much a priority for the European Union. The recent paper Artificial Intelligence: Power for Civilisation – and for Better Healthcare that I had the honor to co-author asserts that Europe's goal should be to integrate AI into health-related operations, so as to improve clinical care, drive new therapies and treatments, and make healthcare systems more efficient. Data Front and Centre Europe is currently proving that it is capable of working together and sharing as the enthusiasm resulting from what was originally named the MEGA initiative (standing for Million European Genomes Alliance and proposed by our colleagues at the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine), now renamed as European '1 Million Genomes' Initiative, has clearly demonstrated. There is an undoubted willingness on the part of many Member States, and the regions within them, to collaborate when it comes to data sharing in healthcare, and not just in genomics. We must focus on regulatory and technological options to maximize the value of health data without compromising patients' privacy.

There are several challenges that impede the deployment of AI in healthcare. These include a fragmented data landscape that makes access to or sharing of data difficult, a lack of interoperability, and a shortage of incentives for data sharing. To overcome these challenges, MedTech Europe recommends specific policy actions, also in reference to those drafted by the High-Level Expert Group on AI (HLEG).

This paper address the challenges at the European level that impede the deployment of AI in healthcare and recommends specific policy actions to make healthcare better and safer, improve access and outcomes, empower patients and citizens with information, and make healthcare delivery more efficient. MedTech Europe and its members are committed to being trusted and collaborative partners in policy discussions on the responsible application of AI in healthcare.