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On 25 January, the EDPS will host an online side event in the margins of the 2021 CPDP conference:  Data for the public good: building a healthier digital future.Our aim is to assess, in broad terms, the impact of measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and identify ways in which data can be used to be better prepared for the next one.The online event will comprise two sessions and engage experts from the public health community in the EU and other international organisations to consider:

1) Which of the current emergency measures will remain and become our “new normal”?What are the criteria that define the need for a temporary emergency measure? How do we determine when it is no longer necessary? What measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have and haven’t worked? Can an assessment already be done? How did data enhance the effectiveness of the measures? Were the measures necessary and proportionate? 

2) How can we ensure a safer and healthier digital future?How can data be used to be better prepared for the next pandemic? How should data be used to further contain and increase societal resilience in case of future outbreaks? What types of technologies and sensors are likely to become more prevalent and what impact would this have on data protection?  When is data use in the public interest? How can we mitigate the potential adverse effects for fundamental rights in the long term?  How can we promote digital solidarity so that data and technology works for all people in Europe, especially the most vulnerable?

Join us in this pertinent discussion on how data protection can enhance the efforts of genuine scientific research and better understand the needs for epidemiological surveillance.