FAQ

What is epidemic intelligence (EI)?

Epidemic intelligence is the continuous collection, integration, and interpretation of multi-source data to detect, monitor, and assess disease threats — going beyond classical surveillance by adding context from mobility, environmental, ecological, Earth Observation, and socio-economic sources.

What is GeoAI4EI?

GeoAI4EI is an EU project developing an open-source, trustworthy, and ethical AI toolbox to strengthen European and global epidemic intelligence for pandemic preparedness and response. It builds on the Horizon 2020 MOOD platform and adds advanced AI, including LLMs and retrieval-augmented conversational assistants.

Who is GeoAI4EI for?

Public health agencies, surveillance systems, researchers, policymakers, and supranational bodies (ECDC, HERA, WHO). The open-source, lightweight design also targets practitioners in resource-limited settings, supported by training programmes.

Is the toolbox really open-source?

Yes. The tools and this website are published openly, with training programmes to support adoption in resource-limited contexts. Sensitive underlying data stays under its legal agreements — only anonymised or appropriately licensed data is exposed in the open components.

Is the data GDPR-compliant?

All data handling complies with GDPR, Data Sharing Agreements, and anonymisation standards. Personal data is never published.

How is the AI kept trustworthy?

Tools conform to the EU AI Act and FAIR & CARE principles, and pass independent ethical audits. Fairness-by-design pipelines include bias audits and sex/gender covariate analyses; transparency measures include model cards and uncertainty visualisation.

Can the conversational assistants replace public health experts?

No. They are decision support tools. Answers are grounded in the governed data corpus (retrieval-augmented generation) and are traceable to their sources. Safeguards are designed against over-reliance and misuse.

Which countries does GeoAI4EI cover?

The project delivers real-time decision support for epidemic preparedness across Europe and associated countries, while its open-source outputs contribute to global health security.

How does GeoAI4EI relate to the MOOD platform?

GeoAI4EI builds directly on the Horizon 2020 MOOD platform's geospatial and epidemiological modelling heritage, extending it with modern AI and additional data sources.

Will it work with existing EU health infrastructures?

Yes — GeoAI4EI ensures interoperability with EU infrastructures such as the EHDS (European Health Data Space) and ATHINA (European Health Data and AI Infrastructure).

How can I get involved?

See Contribute — from reporting issues to participating in pilots.