Information management
Information management is a critical enabler of the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) mission to promote and protect public and animal health.
CorporateData on medicines
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Updated on 19 December 2025:
'Technology capability investment plan' section - to add an updated plan
Information management is key for EMA due to the following factors:
- Increasing importance of interconnected information technology (IT) systems for managing and sharing information on medicines
- Growing range of EMA's external users with different information requirements;
- Overall digital transformation of society and regulation.
The European medicines regulatory network relies on IT services to support all activities related to the authorisation and supervision of human and veterinary medicines in the European Union (EU). EMA makes available and maintains many of these IT services.
EMA staff and experts need IT solutions from EMA to carry out their core regulatory work. Many external stakeholders also rely on EMA's IT systems:
- Pharmaceutical companies expect IT systems that help them meet their regulatory requirements more efficiently and cost-effectively
- Patients and healthcare professionals demand timely access to public information on medicines, so they can make their own decisions
- The globalisation of medicines means that EMA needs to share more information with regulatory authorities worldwide
- Academic sponsors rely on EMA's services, and the information EMA holds is also relevant for academic research
For more information on how EMA works, see:
Also on this topic
Technology capability investment plan
EMA's technology capability investment plan aims to help EMA develop into a customer-focused digital hub providing high quality data and information services to the European medicines regulatory network.
The plan is a high-level framework to guide EMA’s technology-related decisions and investments.
It focuses on the technical interoperability capabilities needed to achieve the IT-related ambitions of EMA and the network.
The current plan is in place until 2028. EMA first published the plan in 2022, for the period until 2025.
It builds on EMA's cloud strategy, also covered on this page.
Select the expandable panels below to learn about the key drivers of this plan, from rising business demands to driving innovation:
EMA must adapt swiftly to evolving legislative requirements, ensuring compliance and operational readiness for all new legislation. For example, this includes the new pharmaceutical legislation.
For more information, see:
EMA is moving beyond basic digitalisation.
This means preparing for digital transformation by:
- reimagining business models;
- enhancing customer experiences;
- strengthening internal capabilities through digital technologies.
EMA is proactively transforming its IT environment by streamlining and consolidating legacy, bespoke, and fragmented systems.
This strategic modernisation will:
- enhance operational efficiency;
- reduce costs;
- create a more agile and scalable technology foundation to support future innovation and growth.
EMA is committed to accelerating the adoption of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence.
This aims to transform regulatory operations and enhance decision-making processes.
Network Portfolio
The Network Portfolio is the collective term for all EMA IT systems and services either being developed or already in operational use by partners and stakeholders, including EMA staff.
Investments in the portfolio facilitate EMA's mission of promoting and protecting public and animal health in the EU.
The portfolio includes both internal EMA systems and those used by external partners and stakeholders.
More information:
EMA's cloud migration
EMA is the first EU agency of scale to complete a full cloud migration, a major digital milestone.
This migration enabled EMA to carry out the following key activities:
- Deliver higher-quality digital services
- Optimise IT investments
- Support trusted collaboration and data exchange across Europe and globally
In practice, the migration to cloud technology meant that EMA fully decommissioned its physical data centres in Hamburg, Germany.
The migration strengthens operational resilience and enables innovation.
Ultimately, it contributes to better public and animal health outcomes.
The migration took place in March 2024, in line with EMA's cloud strategy.
EMA's cloud strategy
EMA's cloud strategy bolsters our digital transformation by:
- Supporting the European Health Data Space - to enable secure and efficient health data exchange
- Embedding security, compliance, and data protection by design - in line with EU regulatory and governance requirements
- Enhancing agility, scalability, and cost efficiency - through cloud-native technologies such as automation, advanced analytics, and AI-enabled data platforms
EMA developed its cloud strategy in 2022.
It supports the European medicines agencies network strategy to 2025 and EMA's annual work programme.
It also builds on EMA’s 2017 strategy to use public cloud solutions in support of its mission.
Read EMA's cloud strategy
How EMA uses cloud technology
In this context, the cloud refers to a model which enables easy, on-demand access to a shared pool of customisable computing resources that can be supplied and released rapidly and with minimal effort.
Moving to the cloud enables EMA to transform its business processes and way of working.
For instance, cloud technologies make it easier for EMA to meet its needs for secure and regulated exchange of data at European and global level.
For more information, see:
Agile transformation
EMA has an Agile governance model and way of working for IT systems and services.
More information: