HEALTHTECH
Twelve independent biobanks, fragmented and incompatible - unified into Hungary's first national federated biobank network
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12
Independent biobanks in the network
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~100,000
Individual datasets under management
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FAIR
Findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable
The challenge
Genomic data locked in silos valuable in aggregate, inaccessible in practice
The Semmelweis Biobank Network holds data on approximately 100,000 individuals - one of Hungary's most significant genomic and clinical data assets. This data was managed across 12 diverse, fragmented, non-interoperable collection systems. Researchers could not analyse it jointly. Cross-institution queries were impractical. The potential for population-level health insight and participation in international research was blocked by infrastructure never designed for federation.
The solution
FedX Biobank - federated network on a unified data model
E-Group worked with Semmelweis University to build a federated biobank network using its Smart Data / DLX platform. The architecture creates interoperability between the 12 biobank databases at the institutional level without centralising the underlying data. A unified data model standardises sample and dataset representation across the network, making the data FAIR - findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable - while preserving data protection guarantees and enabling cross-border interoperability with international health data repositories.
The result
Hungary's national genomic data asset made jointly queryable for the first time
The federated biobank network makes the Semmelweis data asset jointly analysable across institutions without moving a single record. Hungarian biomedical research can now participate in international studies that previously required data centralisation. The network provides an unbiased population-level picture of Hungarian health status, enabling estimates of future health challenges and supporting clinical research at unprecedented scale.