PANDEM-2 Kick-Off Meeting
On February 3rd and 4th, the PANDEM-2 project officially kicked off. PANDEM-2 is a H2020 EU-funded project that aims to develop new solutions for efficient, EU-wide pandemic management. The goal of PANDEM-2 is to prepare Europe for future pandemics through innovations in training and to build capacity between EU member states responding to pandemics on a cross-border basis. The Kick Off meeting was held remotely due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The EU-funded PANDEM-2 began with an introductory welcome from the project’s Coordinator, Prof. Máire Connolly thanking all partners for their attendance. This was followed by a welcome address from the President of NUI Galway, Ciarán O hOgartaigh. President of NUI, Galway Ciarán O hOgartaigh highlighted the importance and significance of the PANDEM-2 project and recognised the contributions of the project partners in the project submission phase and for the next 2-years during project implementation. He also recognised the efforts of the front-line workers who are part of the PANDEM-2 consortium.
The meeting involved an introduction from all partners presenting their PANDEM-2 team, their institutes capabilities, and roles within the project.
The second day of the meeting involved more in-depth presentations from Work Package (WP) leaders. This included an overview of each WP, and the tasks and deliverables for the first 6 months of PANDEM-2. The meeting ended with an open forum discussion and defining the action points for partners going forward.
The PANDEM-2 project began in February and will be implemented over 24 months. The objectives of the project will be achieved through the development of new innovative solutions; including pandemic simulation, resource allocation and predictive modelling tools which will allow pandemic managers to improve situational awareness and train for potential outbreaks.