AGENZIA REGIONALE PER LA SALUTE ED IL SOCIALE

Their core work

AReSS Puglia is the regional health and social care agency for the Puglia region in southern Italy. It supports the regional government in planning, monitoring, and innovating healthcare and social services delivery. In EU projects, it contributes real-world healthcare system expertise — acting as a domain authority and end-user environment for testing innovations in public health procurement, infectious disease diagnostics, and digital health for aging populations. Its role is that of a public-sector validation partner rather than a technology developer.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

With only three projects between 2018 and 2021, AReSS Puglia's H2020 track record is too short to show a dramatic evolution. However, the trajectory is clear: starting with cybersecurity training (THREAT-ARREST, 2018) and health procurement innovation (EURIPHI, 2019), they moved toward large-scale digital health demonstrators for aging populations (GATEKEEPER, 2019-2023). This suggests a growing focus on value-based, digitally-enabled integrated care at the regional level.

AReSS Puglia is moving toward digitally-enabled integrated care and preventive health services, making them a relevant end-user partner for smart health and active aging projects.

How they like to work

AReSS Puglia has never coordinated an H2020 project and joins as a participant or third party in large consortia. With 92 unique partners across 19 countries from just 3 projects, their consortia are large and internationally diverse — typical of Innovation Actions and CSAs. They function as a domain expert and real-world deployment site rather than a project driver, which makes them a low-risk, low-maintenance partner for consortia needing a southern European public health authority.

Despite limited project participation, AReSS Puglia has been exposed to 92 partners across 19 countries through large consortia. Their network spans broadly across Europe but is a product of large consortium membership rather than deep bilateral relationships.

What sets them apart

As a regional public health agency, AReSS Puglia offers something many consortia need but struggle to find: a real public-sector health authority willing to engage in EU innovation projects. They can provide access to the Puglia regional health system as a testing and validation environment, which is valuable for projects requiring real-world deployment in southern European healthcare settings. Their combined experience in procurement innovation and digital health makes them particularly useful for projects bridging the gap between health technology development and public-sector adoption.

Highlights from their portfolio

• GATEKEEPER
  Large-scale smart living demonstrator across multiple European regions — AReSS contributed the Puglia pilot site for early detection of health and social risks in elderly populations.
• EURIPHI
  Directly targeted the challenge of innovative health procurement across borders, combining PPI/PCP methods with value-based healthcare — a niche but increasingly important topic for health system modernization.