About us

BRIGHTskills is a critical initiative for the health industrial ecosystem; a system under pressure to ensure robust, flexible, supply chains, to reshore medicines manufacturing and production, and to develop novel medicines and antibiotics, and provide digital tools compliant with cyber-security, data protection and data sharing regulations. Europe’s demographic and epidemiological transition bring additional challenges. As Europeans live longer, with more chronic illness and disabilities, Europe’s health industries must be ready and able to foster innovation, and support the delivery of high-tech, personalised, integrated and person-centred, care across the European Union.

The health industry is evolving rapidly, and with it comes the urgent need to upskill and reskill its workforce.

BRIGHTskills is an Erasmus+ Blueprint project. Led by EIT Health, a pan-European, cross-sectorial consortium of 25 partners — including universities, vocational institutions, and companies, ranging from SMEs to multinationals — joins forces, with the support of the Health Industry LSP, to upskill and reskill the health industry workforce, making sure that Europe has the talent needed to drive innovation, advance competitiveness, and handle major healthcare crises.

Health industries

Pharmaceutical & Biomanufacturing

Provides people and societies with revolutionary, lifesaving, products such as antibiotics, synthetic insulin, and RNA vaccines.

Employs almost 1 million people
Responsible for developing and manufacturing specialist.
Vaccines, cancer treatment, and generic medicines (e.g., paracetamol, amoxicillin, ibuprofen)
Over 3000 pharmaceutical manufacturing sites exist across Europe

In demand skills: Expertise in life sciences-related fields, digital technologies (AI, big data, robotics), regulatory frameworks and quality assurance and control.

References: Copenhagen Economics, Efpia, Factsheets, Medicine for Europe, Medicine for Europe-2, Pmc, Research and Markets, Research and Innovation Europe

MedTech

Provides products, services and solutions used widely in healthcare facilities supporting diagnosis, care and treatment. From blood pressure monitors, to pacemakers, to dialysis machines, medical technology can support professionals and patients to prevent and manage disease and monitor a multitude of healthcare conditions.

Employs more than 880,000 people
37,000 European based medical technology companies
90% of MedTech companies are SMEs employing less than 50 people
The European Medical Device market estimated value of €160 billion

In demand skills: Regulatory and legal skills, expertise in market access, skills supporting the integration of advanced medical technologies into healthcare systems.

References: Insights Citeline, Ey.com

Digital Health

Telemedicine, electronic vaccine certificates, patient appointments platforms, wearable devices (e.g., fitbits), digital health tools continue to be a game-changer for patients and healthcare systems.
25 out of 29 European countries have digital health strategies. At European level, the European Health Data Space Regulation requires that patient data is shared between healthcare units and across borders. However, digital systems within and between countries are not standardised, and data sharing depends on good quality, cyber-secure, health information systems and electronic health records.

In demand skills: cloud computing, health data analysis, medical coding skills and machine learning, AI skills, expertise in data processing, data analytics, data protection, and cyber-security, Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Build Specialists, Project/Programme Management, Application Development, Quality Assurance, software engineering.Competition for workers with these skills is high. SMEs and startups particularly struggle to find workers with the necessary skillsets.

References: Who.int, Ictandhealth, Who.int-2, Ssipeople, GotoAgile, It Carrer Finder ‍

Medical Supplies

Medical supplies are crucial, low-cost, disposable items used extensively in healthcare to prevent infections and protect workers and patients. These include gloves, bandages, and syringes.

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