The progress of an innovative and multidisciplinary project such as HealthData@MAD-R&I® requires solid coordination, efficient planning, and continuous management to ensure that objectives, deadlines, and quality standards are met. In this context, Work Package 1 (WP1) plays a strategic role as the backbone of the project.
Focused on the comprehensive management of HealthData@MAD-R&I®, WP1’s mission is to coordinate and oversee the financial, administrative, and technical monitoring of all activities carried out within the project. This work package is led by the Foundation for Primary Care Bio-Health Research and Innovation (FIIBAP), under the direction of the project’s lead coordinator and principal investigator, Ana Isabel González González, from the General Directorate of Research and Teaching. In addition to ensuring the project’s proper execution, WP1 promotes the use of best practices, guarantees the quality of processes and deliverables, manages risks, and coordinates the preparation of the technical and financial justifications required by the funder, the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service.
One of the main milestones of WP1 has been the recruitment of specialized professionals essential to the project’s development. This work package has led the definition, evaluation processes, and hiring of professionals with expertise in various strategic areas. Among them are legal experts responsible for supporting aspects related to the governance model of the health data space; data scientists in charge of the engineering, harmonization, and processing of high-quality health data; project managers with experience in national and international research and innovation calls; and communication professionals focused on promoting rigorous, accessible scientific outreach aligned with the project’s objectives. The addition of these profiles has enabled the consolidation of a multidisciplinary structure capable of addressing the technical, organizational, and strategic challenges of HealthData@MAD-R&I®.
To ensure continuous monitoring and alignment among all participating teams, WP1 has implemented a coordination structure based on specific working groups and regular meetings. The Central Coordination Group coordinates activities between the General Directorate of Research and Teaching and the General Directorate of Digital Health, ensuring the technical and administrative alignment necessary for creating the data environment and ensuring the availability of information for various use cases. In parallel, the operational working groups carry out specific coordination by work packages. In the area of management and communication, which also corresponds to PT8 and PT9, continuous monitoring is conducted using collaborative and planning tools that allow for tracking progress related to content, partnership building, and integration with other data spaces.
For use cases, corresponding to PT4–PT7, data science teams operate on two levels: on one hand, specific teams per use case focused on harmonization, validation, and analysis; and, on the other, a cross-functional team focused on data quality and the application of technical best practices. To facilitate this coordination, tools such as Trello are used for task management and Jupyter Notebook for technical and analytical processing. Additionally, the Expanded Coordination Group integrates the various work packages—except for WP3, which is handled by the core group—and addresses key aspects related to overall coordination, training, communication, and the project’s sustainability.
WP1 relies on an Agile methodology, which allows tasks to be developed in parallel, progress to be validated continuously, and the team to adapt quickly to potential issues or changes. Likewise, the use of collaborative tools such as Microsoft Teams facilitates document management, coordination between teams, and the dissemination of activities and results.
The lines of action for WP1 encompass the economic and financial monitoring of the project, administrative management and planning, technical coordination among the various participants, quality assurance and the promotion of best practices, risk identification and management, and the preparation of the project’s technical and economic justification. This coordination allows HealthData@MAD-R&I® to move forward in an orderly, aligned, and efficient manner, consolidating an organizational foundation that connects all areas of work and ensures that results are developed with consistency, quality, and the potential for impact.
In upcoming phases, the PT1 will continue working to maintain comprehensive project oversight, consolidate coordination mechanisms, strengthen the quality of processes and deliverables, anticipate and mitigate risks, and advance the preparation of the technical and economic report. Thanks to this management and coordination structure, HealthData@MAD-R&I® is moving toward the creation of an innovative, interoperable health data environment designed to drive healthcare research and innovation in the Community of Madrid.
Montserrat León-García, Technical and Scientific Manager of the HealthData@MAD-R&I® Project
The opinions expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the HealthData@MAD-R&I® project, nor that of its participating or funding organisations.
