Health data repository: AP-HP and OVHcloud conclude a unique technological partnership dedicated to health data repositories

Nicolas Revel, General Manager AP-HP, and Michel Paulin, CEO OVHcloud, signed on April 3rd 2023 an unprecedented technological partnership around health data repositories. This new partnership between both institutions aims to co-develop open-source software bricks.

Since 2016, AP-HP, the European-scale university hospital with global recognition, has been developing its own health data repository, for internal research and guidance purposes. Through this partnership, French Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, namely AP-HP, intends to industrialize this platform to better meet the needs of its users and drive research and innovation. With over 14 million patient identities, AP-HP has developed the most important health data repository in Europe and accompanies over 200 research projects.

Authorized by the French independent administrative authority CNIL in 2017, AP-HP’s health data repository relies on an experienced team accustomed to big data [1] and has developed strong partnerships, in particular with Inria, the French national institute for science and technological research, through the Bernoulli laboratory.

As the European cloud leader, OVHcloud offers its customers over 80 cloud IaaS and PaaS products. Leveraging a complete stack of European certifications, amongst the most demanding on the market, whether for hosting health data in line with the HDS reference or for security with the SecNumCloud label from ANSSI.

Combining their strengths, AP-HP and OVHcloud will co-develop health data repository software bricks that will be made available as open source.

By choosing open source, both partners ensure they will build a large community of users and contributors. The aim is to extend the benefits of the health data repository to a greater number of researchers, startups, institutions, healthcare establishments and cloud providers. 

OVHcloud will offer healthcare institutions a health data repository solution based on open source with a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) consumption mode. This will enable French and European health institutions to carry out research projects in strict compliance with European legislation. The Group hopes that other European cloud players will use this open-source solution to offer their health data repositories solutions in Europe. 

This partnership does not give OVHcloud access to the data: the rules for accessing data hosted by AP-HP remain unchanged as validated by its medical committee.

“This agreement is in line with the AP-HP strategy, initiated in 2016, to develop studies and research based on health data. The partnership will allow developing the potential of all the data produced during care, ultimately enabling new diagnoses and treatments for the benefit of patients.   This work will be done in open source so that the entire scientific community and data managers can benefit from it and develop new technological building blocks in compliance with the most demanding security standards” said Nicolas Revel, AP-HP’s General Manager.

“Developing high-performance and secure solutions for the healthcare sector is an essential pillar of our development strategy. Therefore, we are particularly proud of this agreement, which will allow us to combine OVHcloud’s technological expertise with the excellence of AP-HP. Together, we are providing additional resources to support research and innovation in the field of health data. By committing to an open-source approach, we will guarantee full transparency of these technological building blocks, so that we can unite a rich, open health data ecosystem. It will benefit from the very best security standards to the advantage of the entire healthcare ecosystem: healthcare establishments, pharmaceutical laboratories, software publishers, cloud providers, both in France and internationally” explained Michel Paulin, CEO OVHcloud.