When COVID-19 hit, governments made huge decisions fast — lockdowns, restrictions, spending — but nobody had a clear picture of all the side effects. PERISCOPE brought together 32 teams across 15 countries to collect massive amounts of data on what actually happened: not just the virus itself, but the economic damage, mental health toll, and how different countries' policy choices played out. Think of it as building the most detailed "lessons learned" dossier on a pandemic, so next time decision-makers have real evidence instead of guessing. They also built data tools and models to help predict and manage future outbreaks better.
By the numbers
EUR 9,993,475
EU contribution for pandemic impact research
32
Partner institutions in the consortium
15
Countries represented in the research network
44
Total project deliverables produced
5
Industry partners in the consortium
4
SMEs participating in the project
The business problem
What needed solving
Businesses, insurers, and governments learned the hard way during COVID-19 that they had no reliable data on the cascading side effects of a pandemic — economic losses, workforce behavioral changes, mental health impacts, and which policy responses actually worked. Without this evidence, companies cannot price risk, plan continuity, or advise clients on preparedness for the next health crisis.
The solution
What was built
PERISCOPE produced 44 deliverables including semantic data models and a data repository for integrating pandemic impact data, plus the PERSEUS-COVE technical design brief for a pandemic response platform. The project also generated cross-country policy analysis, statistical models, and guidance documents covering clinical, economic, social, and behavioural dimensions of pandemic response across 15 countries.
Audience
Who needs this
Insurance companies pricing pandemic and business interruption riskHealth IT firms building epidemic surveillance or hospital capacity toolsManagement consultancies advising on crisis preparedness and business continuityGovernment health agencies planning pandemic response infrastructurePharmaceutical companies needing behavioral and policy data for market access strategies
Business applications
Who can put this to work
Insurance and Reinsurance
enterprise
Target: Insurance firms with pandemic risk or business interruption product lines
If you are an insurer struggling to price pandemic-related business interruption policies — this project collected unprecedented multi-country data on the social, economic, and behavioural consequences of COVID-19 across 15 countries. Their semantic data models and statistical modeling tools could help you build more accurate risk models for future pandemic scenarios, reducing exposure to mispriced catastrophic claims.
Healthcare Technology
mid-size
Target: Health IT companies building epidemic surveillance or hospital management platforms
If you are a health tech company building outbreak monitoring or hospital capacity planning tools — PERISCOPE developed semantic data models and a data repository (PERSEUS-COVE) that integrates clinical, epidemiological, and policy data from 32 partner institutions across 15 countries. These data architectures could accelerate your product development by providing tested blueprints for pandemic data integration.
Management Consulting
enterprise
Target: Consulting firms advising governments or large organizations on crisis preparedness
If you are a consulting firm advising clients on business continuity or pandemic preparedness — PERISCOPE mapped how different policy mixes across 15 EU countries led to different outcomes, covering economic, social, and behavioural impacts. Their 44 deliverables include guidance for policymakers that could give your advisory practice an evidence-backed edge over competitors relying on generic risk assessments.
Frequently asked
Quick answers
What would it cost to access PERISCOPE's data and tools?+
PERISCOPE was funded as a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) under Horizon 2020, which typically requires open access to results. The semantic data models and data repository were produced as public deliverables. Licensing terms for specific software components would need to be confirmed with the coordinator at Università degli Studi di Pavia.
Can these tools work at industrial scale for real-time pandemic monitoring?+
The project produced semantic data models and a technical design brief (PERSEUS-COVE), suggesting the architecture was designed but may not be production-ready at scale. With 44 deliverables across a EUR 9.99 million budget and 32 partners, significant research infrastructure was built, but scaling for real-time commercial use would likely require further engineering.
What is the IP situation — can we license or build on this?+
As a publicly funded RIA project, most outputs follow open access principles. The PERSEUS-COVE technical design brief and semantic data models are documented deliverables. Specific IP arrangements for the 5 industry partners in the consortium would need clarification from the coordinator.
How does this compare to existing pandemic preparedness tools on the market?+
PERISCOPE's unique value is its multi-disciplinary breadth — combining clinical, epidemiological, psychological, socio-economic, and political analysis across 15 countries. Most commercial tools focus on one dimension (e.g., epidemiological modeling). The cross-country policy comparison data is particularly rare in commercial offerings.
Is any of this relevant now that the COVID-19 emergency is over?+
The project was explicitly designed to enhance Europe's preparedness for future pandemics and epidemics, not just COVID-19. The statistical models, governance analysis, and data infrastructure are designed to be reusable. Based on available project data, the policy-mix comparisons across 15 countries provide enduring value for any future health crisis planning.
Who were the industry partners and what did they contribute?+
The consortium included 5 industry partners and 4 SMEs out of 32 total partners, giving a 16% industry ratio. The consortium spanned 14 universities, 7 research organizations, and 6 other entities. Specific industry partner names and roles would need to be confirmed through the project website.
Consortium
Who built it
PERISCOPE assembled a large, research-heavy consortium of 32 partners across 15 European countries, anchored by Università degli Studi di Pavia in Italy — the city where Europe's first local COVID-19 case was identified. The consortium is dominated by universities (14) and research organizations (7), with only 5 industry partners and 4 SMEs (16% industry ratio), which is typical for a policy-and-research-oriented project. The geographic spread across 15 countries (AT, BE, CH, CZ, DE, ES, FR, IT, NL, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, UK) is a genuine asset for any business needing cross-country pandemic impact data, as it means findings are validated across diverse health systems and policy environments. For a business looking to partner, the low industry ratio means commercial exploitation was not the primary goal — but the breadth of data and institutional connections could be valuable for companies entering the pandemic preparedness market.
Want to access PERISCOPE's pandemic impact data or connect with their research network? SciTransfer can arrange an introduction to the right team member and help you evaluate how their tools fit your needs.
