Universidad
Politécnica de Madrid

25/09/2025

Researchers at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), in collaboration with universities and companies across Europe, have developed an advanced digital platform that establishes a secure environment for processing health data aligned with the European Health Data Space (EHDS) framework. The GATEKEEPER project seeks to transform the way that health data is collected, managed, and analyzed. This will allow for improved healthcare, especially for aging populations and those with chronic diseases. The work developed and the results obtained have been published in the scientific journal IEEE Access.

GATEKEEPER is based on microservices architecture that uses cutting-edge technologies to ensure the interoperability and security of healthcare data, as well as the ability to implement intelligent, interoperable, and scalable healthcare services. Its notable features include the use of advanced artificial intelligence techniques for disease monitoring and prediction, and robust security mechanisms—such as role-based access control (RBAC), end-to-end encryption (E2EE), and automated audits. The system has been designed with EHDS principles and European data protection regulations, such as the RGPD.

As project main researcher Giuseppe Fico, from the Life Supporting Technologies (LST) group at UPM, explains, “GATEKEEPER not only strengthens our university's position as a leader in digital technologies applied to health, but also contributes to progress toward a more connected, personalized, and secure European healthcare system. Furthermore, it promotes equity in access to quality healthcare services for older adults, strengthening social cohesion and the sustainability of the European healthcare system.”

The project has been funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 program and coordinated by Medtronic Ibérica. The platform was conceived and led by Eugenio Gaeta of the LST group at the UPM (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) and developed on Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) infrastructure, with the collaboration of institutions such as the University of Warwick, Engineering Ingegneria Informatica, Samsung UK, STMicroelectronics, MySPHERA, the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, and the University of Ioannina. It has been evaluated on a large scale in nine European regions across different countries and achieved high satisfaction from end-users, who highlight the ease of use and confidence in the implemented data protection measures. Furthermore, the "Security and Privacy from the Design Phase" adopted by GATEKEEPER positions it as one of the leading candidates for early certification as a Secure Processing Environment within the EHDS (Educational Data Protection System).

Eugenio Gaeta; Muhammad Salman Haleem; Laura López-Pérez; Mirko Manea; María Fernanda Cabrera Umpierrez; Maria Teresa Arredondo Waldmeyer. GATEKEEPER Platform: Secure Processing Environment for European Health Data Space. Journals & Magazines. IEEE Access. Volume: 13. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10883983