COVINFORM · Project

Pandemic Vulnerability Maps and Crisis Dashboards for Smarter Public Health Decisions

healthTestedTRL 5Thin data (2/5)

When COVID-19 hit, it didn't hit everyone equally — a low-income elderly migrant woman faced completely different risks than a young professional working from home. COVINFORM mapped exactly who got hit hardest and why, across 15 countries and 10 local communities, by layering health data with economic and social factors. They built interactive dashboards that show where vulnerabilities overlap, so decision-makers can spot blind spots before the next crisis. Think of it as a weather radar for social risk — instead of predicting rain, it predicts which communities will struggle most when disaster strikes.

By the numbers

Countries analyzed with documentary and quantitative research

Target communities with primary empirical fieldwork

Consortium partners across Europe and Israel

Countries represented in the consortium

Total project deliverables produced

€4,941,656

EU contribution funding the research

SMEs involved in the consortium

The business problem

What needed solving

When pandemics or large-scale health crises hit, companies in insurance, healthcare, and emergency services struggle to understand which populations will be hardest affected and where resources should go. Existing data sits in silos — health stats separate from economic data separate from social indicators — making it nearly impossible to see how risks compound for specific groups. Without this picture, crisis response is reactive and costly, and businesses misjudge exposure across their customer base or service areas.

The solution

What was built

COVINFORM delivered cloud-based interactive dashboards with geospatial vulnerability layers, an online portal integrating data streams with maps and models, visual assessment toolkits for decision-makers, policy guidance documents grounded in fieldwork from 10 communities, plus videos and podcasts for public communication. The 60 deliverables include both research outputs and practical tools.

Audience

Who needs this

Health and life insurers needing better pandemic risk modelsPublic health consulting firms advising on crisis preparednessDigital health and crisis management software companiesGovernment agencies responsible for emergency planningNGOs and humanitarian organizations working with vulnerable populations

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Insurance and Reinsurance

enterprise

Target: Health and life insurers, reinsurance firms doing pandemic risk modelling

If you are a health insurer struggling to price pandemic-related risk accurately — this project mapped vulnerability intersections across 15 countries and 10 communities, producing geospatial dashboards that layer health, economic, and social data. The models reveal which population segments face compounded risks, giving actuaries real evidence to calibrate exposure instead of guessing. With 17 research partners feeding data from 12 countries, the coverage is broad enough for European portfolio risk assessment.

Public Health Consulting

mid-size

Target: Consulting firms advising governments on crisis preparedness and emergency response

If you are a consultancy hired to improve a city or region's pandemic preparedness — COVINFORM produced policy guidance grounded in primary research across 10 target communities, backed by 60 deliverables covering everything from social epidemiology to risk communication. The cloud-based interactive dashboards display geospatial vulnerability layers that your teams can use directly in client presentations. Instead of building assessment tools from scratch, you can license or adapt tested methods from a EUR 4.9 million research effort.

Health Technology

SME

Target: Digital health platforms and crisis management software providers

If you are a health-tech company building emergency response or population health tools — this project developed cloud-based interactive dashboards with geospatial layers, automated analysis of video testimonials, and visual assessment toolkits tested across 10 communities in 12 countries. These components could be integrated into your platform to add vulnerability mapping features. The consortium included 5 industry partners and 6 SMEs, meaning the tools were built with commercial usability in mind.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to access COVINFORM's tools and data?

COVINFORM was funded as a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) with EUR 4,941,656 in EU funding, which typically means research outputs are publicly accessible. The online portal and dashboards were designed for government and civil society use. Specific licensing terms for commercial reuse would need to be negotiated with the coordinator SYNYO GmbH.

Can these vulnerability models work at industrial scale across multiple countries?

The project was designed for multi-country scale from the start — quantitative analysis covered EU27 plus UK, documentary research spanned 15 target countries, and primary fieldwork ran in 10 communities across 12 countries. The cloud-based dashboards were built to handle geospatial data layers at this continental scope.

Who owns the intellectual property and can I license the dashboards?

As a publicly funded RIA project, most research outputs follow open access principles. However, specific tools like the cloud-based interactive dashboards and automated analysis methods may have IP held by individual consortium partners. SYNYO GmbH as coordinator would be the first point of contact for licensing discussions.

Does this comply with health data regulations like GDPR?

The project operated across 12 EU and associated countries, so GDPR compliance was built into the research design. Primary empirical research in 10 communities used methods like participatory ethnography and video testimonials, which require explicit consent protocols. Based on available project data, detailed compliance documentation would be among the 60 project deliverables.

How long before these tools could be deployed in our organization?

The project ran from November 2020 to October 2023 and is now closed, meaning the dashboards and toolkits are in their final form. The cloud-based interactive dashboards exist as working prototypes tested with real data from 15 countries. Integration into an existing platform or workflow would depend on your technical setup and the specific components you need.

Can this integrate with our existing crisis management or health information systems?

The project built a cloud-based interactive dashboard designed to integrate multiple data streams — geospatial layers, indices and indicators, maps, and models. This architecture suggests API-based or data-feed integration is feasible. However, as a research tool rather than a commercial product, custom integration work would likely be required.

Consortium

Who built it

The COVINFORM consortium brings together 17 partners from 12 countries — a genuinely pan-European effort with representation from Western, Southern, Northern, and Eastern Europe plus Israel and the UK. The mix is research-heavy (6 universities, 1 research org) but includes 5 industry partners and 6 SMEs (29% industry ratio), which is reasonable for a social science project. The coordinator SYNYO GmbH is an Austrian SME specializing in research and innovation management, which means they understand how to bridge academic outputs and practical application. For a business looking to use these tools, the multi-country coverage is the main asset — vulnerability models validated across such diverse healthcare and governance systems carry more weight than single-country studies.

SYNYO GmbHCoordinator · AT
SWANSEA UNIVERSITYparticipant · UK
UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPENparticipant · BE
TRILATERAL RESEARCH LIMITEDthirdparty · IE
OSTERREICHISCHES ROTES KREUZparticipant · AT
SINUS MARKT- UND SOZIALFORSCHUNG GMBHparticipant · DE
AYUNTAMIENTO DE MADRIDparticipant · ES
KENTRO MELETON ASFALEIASparticipant · EL
TRILATERAL RESEARCH LTDparticipant · UK
MAGEN DAVID ADOM IN ISRAELparticipant · IL
FACTOR SOCIAL - CONSULTORIA EM PSICO - SOCIOLOGIA E AMBIENTE LDAparticipant · PT
UNIVERSIDAD REY JUAN CARLOSparticipant · ES
GOETEBORGS UNIVERSITETparticipant · SE
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA LA SAPIENZAparticipant · IT
UNIVERSITA CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUOREparticipant · IT

How to reach the team

SYNYO GmbH (Austria) — an SME specializing in research management. Search for SYNYO GmbH COVINFORM contact to find the project lead.

Order a report on this consortium See SYNYO GmbH profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how COVINFORM's vulnerability mapping tools could strengthen your risk models or crisis preparedness services? SciTransfer can arrange a direct introduction to the research team and help you evaluate which components fit your needs.

Order a report on this topic More in Health & Biomedical