This March, the EHDS Forum will be organizing its second meeting and a public colloquium in Milan, Italy, 10-11 March 2026 supported by the EASST Fund.

Newly established health data ecosystems such as the European Health Data Space (EHDS), alongside comparable developments in other global contexts, are increasingly central to contemporary health and innovation policy. While often framed as technical and regulatory infrastructures, these initiatives also constitute full-fledged political projects that reshape relations between citizens, public institutions, and commercial actors. This colloquium foregrounds key STS and policy themes raised by health data spaces, including questions of social license, public accountability, democratic legitimacy, and public value. It further situates these developments within broader (geo)political dynamics concerning data sovereignty, strategic autonomy, and global power asymmetries. By adopting a comparative and conceptual lens, this colloquium invites critical reflection on the governance, imaginaries, and broader socio-political dynamics underpinning emerging health data ecosystems.