European Commission Big Data tool helps European Blood Alliance investigate COVID-19 convalescent plasma therapy
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As every country enters the race to find a cure to COVID-19, recent findings suggest that antibodies in the blood of recovered patients could be used for convalescent plasma therapy in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
The European Blood Alliance (EBA) is working together with the European Commission (DG SANTE, DG CNECT and DG DIGIT) to create and manage an EU-wide, open-access platform gathering data on COVID-19 convalescent plasma therapy. This project aims to support research on this promising treatment for COVID-19 patients by consolidating EU evidence and providing actionable, data-driven insights into the therapy's safety and effectiveness.
How the Big Data Test Infrastructure helps
The European Commission interconnects Europe's national digital landscapes through digital infrastructure - known as Building Blocks.
The Big Data Test Infrastructure (BDTI) Building Block helps public administrations and projects led by the public sector improve the citizen experience, increase government efficiency and boost business through big data.
BDTI, funded by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), provides the EBA and DG SANTE with a ready-to-use, virtual environment capable of gathering and analysing data from various blood establishments, hospitals, clinical trials and wider monitored use of the therapy. This will include data on convalescent plasma donors, the plasma collection process, plasma components such as antibodies and outcomes for patients following transfusions.
By identiying and analysing information relevant to the processes of plasma donation and transfusions from the vast amout of data provided by hospitals and blood services taking part, this project will help develop effective, safe and data-driven approaches to convalescent plasma therapy. An open-access database will support researchers' data analysis as they work towards developing this new treatment and a better understanding of COVID-19, and could save many lives in the future.
Building Blocks against COVID-19
BDTI is supporting hospitals and municipalities in fighting COVID-19, with already a number of pilot requests received on this topic.
We recommend two Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Building Blocks to teams fighting COVID-19:
- CEF Context Broker is an API that can integrate data from multiple systems, creating a holistic view of information.
By providing the layer that describes each type of data, the Context Broker makes it possible to create an interface that makes it easy for anyone to view and interpret big data. You can monitor your metrics in real time through live updates. This means sharing the context information you choose with third parties, enabling process improvements and innovation across the whole data value chain.
See how Context Broker helped Italian authorities fight the effects of COVID-19.
- CEF Big data test infrastructure (BDTI) helps is a big data platform that offers virtual environments, allowing public organisations to experiment with big data and share data sources (N.B. only open to projects including public administrations).
You can see all CEF Building Blocks at ec.europa.eu/cefdigital
The European Data Portal has a dedicated section for COVID-19 related datasets, linked data stories and data related initiatives. You can also find reusable I.T. solutions to help combat COVID-19 via the Commission's Joinup repository.