The Federal Ministry of Research (BMBF) has launched a public consultation to obtain opinions on the planned research data law, which aims to give science better access to data. The Research Data Act will set the framework conditions for the transfer, storage, and backup of data in the upcoming decentralized research data infrastructure. The exponential growth of data, combined with research projects becoming increasingly complex, has led to the need for strict guidelines. The collected data can help to develop AI language models, optimize a decentralized energy supply, and enable the creation of digital medical twins for prognosis models.
To ensure the practical and legal implemention of the regulations, the BMBF has invited comments from the public until April 11th. The Medical Informatics Initiative (MII) is also working with the BMBF to make medical care data from all German university hospitals accessible to researchers. With a budget of 200 million euros, the expansion is set to be completed by 2026. Researchers will be able to apply for access to this data via the health research data portal established by the BMBF.
The Federal Ministry of Health aims to carry out or initiate at least 300 research projects using data from the Research Data Center (FDZ) by the end of 2026. However, the FDZ still needs to clarify how the legally prescribed pseudonymisation procedure will be implemented, and a research project is currently underway.
