Session 12

From evidence to action

Convergence science testbeds and digital twins

Organised by Imperial College London and the University of Copenhagen

When a novel pathogen, a record heatwave, or a cyberattack hits health systems simultaneously across borders, Europe discovers whether its evidence infrastructure is fit for purpose — or not. Most of the time, it is not: responses fragment, data cannot be shared, and evaluations arrive too late to guide decisions. Europe faces two types of threat: black swans — genuinely unanticipated events of extreme impact — and grey rhinos — highly probable, high-impact crises that are clearly visible yet consistently under-prepared for. Both demand the same response: shared infrastructure for cross-border evidence generation, simulation, and coordination. Convergence science offers exactly this with testbeds and digital twins helping Europe move from fragmented pilots and slow evaluations to repeatable, comparable evidence that supports shared decisions, faster preparedness, and fairer implementation across borders — while protecting rights and public trust. Cross-border testbeds create shared environments where interventions are evaluated across health systems — and where policies can be tested in silico before they are implemented in the real world. Health data digital twins allow policymakers to simulate responses, stress-test decisions, and run counterfactual policy experiments in advance. Together, they compress the distance between signal and action, and between policy design and policy evidence. This session draws on  scenarios — spanning grey rhinos and black swans, peacetime and crisis, to stress-test the infrastructure and co-design a Health Resilience Blueprint: 3–5 implementable actions Europe can commit to now. No prior technical knowledge required.