Brief outline of the overall workshop:
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the need for quick exchange of accurate health information between European countries. To respond to this need, the Population Health Information Research Infrastructure (PHIRI) Project developed the Health Information Portal, a one-stop shop that aims to facilitate findability and accessibility to health and healthcare information in Europe. Following the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) data principles, metadata catalogue of population health information were developed following DCAT and Schema.org discoverability metadata standards. Through a collaborative effort between 41 organisations across 30 different countries, the information on the Portal is provided by national experts within National Nodes, organizational entities linked to a national institution that bring together relevant health stakeholders in European countries. The Portal promotes discoverability, access and dissemination of health information allowing researchers and policy makers to benefit from the most up to date health information available in Europe. On December 2022, the Portal contained metadata (incl. links) to 240+ national health data sources, 150+ national and European health information projects, 350+ dissemination sources (e.g. publications, web portals) and 95+ training activities in areas of population health. The Portal also has a dedicated COVID-19 corner. Policy discussions between public health institutes, Ministries of Health, research institutions and universities, on national experiences related to the management of the pandemic are posted to promote exchange of best practices and lessons learnt across countries. Such information is accompanied by an overview map where key COVID-19 policy measures implemented in Europe are displayed to further aid countries in learning from each other’s experiences and provide the basis for COVID-19 research.

Specific aims/objectives and component parts:
The main objectives of this workshop are: * To increase awareness of the scientific community of the Health Information Portal and the resources the Portal offers, * To demonstrate the use of the Portal, * To showcase, in a moderated environment, how to create a DCAT linked metadata record on the Portal. Throughout the session, the exchange of knowledge, experiences and opinions with the audience will be fostered by the moderator. Firstly, the Health Information Portal will be introduced by guiding the participants on the different sections of the Portal. Secondly, the attendees will be guided through practical examples how to find health information sources, training events, or projects relevant for the topic interested by the audience. Finally, the participants will be introduced to the FAIR data principles and their relevance, and they will be guided on how to create a DCAT linked metadata record on the Health Information Portal.

Key questions that the workshop will address:
The Health Information Portal, places itself at the cornerstone of the European public health landscape. Timely and effective, public health actions require easy access to the most up-to-date health information available. The Portal supports researchers and policy makers by promoting the Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability of health data across Europe.