WebSummit Vancouver

The HealthAI Global Governance Forum: A growing dialogue.

Global Governance Forum 2025 Highlights

Play video

About the Forum

The HealthAI Global Governance Forum (HealthAI GGF) is an annual, flagship event that gathers global actors at the forefront of health, responsible AI, and governance.

The inaugural Forum brought together over 240 participants from more than 50 countries across in-person and virtual formats. Participants included policymakers and regulators, international organizations, industry, academia, civil society, and youth, reflecting a deliberately inclusive and cross-sector dialogue.

The 2025 edition focused on building trust as a prerequisite for scaling AI responsibly in health systems. Discussions across keynotes, panel discussions, and workshops examined AI regulatory oversight, data governance, and context-specific implementation, with particular attention to challenges in low- and middle-income countries.

With its emphasis on practical exchanges, the inaugural HealthAI GGF marked a first step toward establishing a sustained global platform for collaboration, learning, and action centered on AI governance in health.

Column Image 2
Highlights of the 2025 Edition in Nairobi

Highlights of the 2025 Edition in Nairobi

240+ participants
50+ countries represented
Practical governance insights in keynotes, panels & workshops
99% satisfaction with content and program quality
100% of respondents would attend future editions

Our 2026 Thematic Areas

The program will aim to reflect a truly global dialogue through the following thematic areas and their associated questions, bringing together perspectives from across regions and institutions engaged in shaping AI governance in health.

Thematic Area 1: Strengthening Human Awareness and Literacy for Responsible AI in Health

This theme aims to highlight learnings from capacity strengthening opportunities that are positioned to equip policymakers, regulators, health professionals and civil society to govern, regulate, and use AI technologies effectively and responsibly. It also places an emphasis on strengthening AI awareness and literacy across the current and future workforce, while promoting informed public participation and maintaining an inclusive, person-centred approach.

Questions to be examined include, but not limited to:

What are and how do we best develop the foundational competencies, including practical skills, for healthcare professionals, policymakers and regulators?

How can academic curricula and lifelong learning programmes be adapted to prepare and support the current and future health workforce for an age of AI?

How can we ensure patients and the public have the awareness and critical AI literacy needed to use AI tools safely and make informed health decisions, particularly in underserved communities?

 

Thematic Area 2: Meaningful Multi-Stakeholder Engagement to Advance Trust in AI in Health

Trust is such a crucial element when it comes to scaling AI applications in health, but how do we build trust? Through this theme, we want to delve into mechanisms that can empower multi-stakeholder groups to participate meaningfully and
collaboratively in the development, deployment, adoption, and governance of AI.
Such active and continued participation can ensure that local needs and contexts
are reflected in the AI applications we build, and bring a level of transparency that
can help advance trust in AI in health.

Questions to be examined include, but not limited to:

How to embed shared accountability throughout the Total Product Lifecycle of AI through meaningful multi-stakeholder (i.e., healthcare sector, patient groups, civil society organisations, young people, academia, government, and the private sector) collaboration?

How can we empower stakeholders to participate actively in the development of AI policies and regulations?

How to make multi-stakeholder mechanisms equitable, sustainable and effective?

Thematic Area 3: Drivers for Scaling Responsible AI Innovation in Health

For responsible AI innovations in health to achieve their transformative potential, we need to move from successful pilots to large-scale implementation and adoption. This theme will explore three key drivers of scale: data – operationalizing data governance frameworks and enabling health data stewardship; digital infrastructure – strengthening the connectivity, computing capacity, interoperability and digital foundations needed to support AI at scale; finance – developing sustainable financing, investment, reimbursement and procurement mechanisms to enable the adoption and scale-up of responsible AI; and implementation pathways – learning from existing successes as well as failures in using AI to catalyze health system transformation.

Questions to be examined include, but not limited to:

How can countries curate and steward high-quality, representative health data to support equitable AI and reduce bias, discrimination, and data invisibility?

What digital infrastructure and enabling conditions are needed to support the responsible development, adoption and scale-up of AI in health?

What financing, investment, procurement and reimbursement mechanisms can enable the sustainable development, adoption, and scale-up of responsible AI in health?

What can we learn from existing deployments of responsible AI innovations at scale?

Thematic Area 4: Making AI Governance Principles and Frameworks Work in Practice

A lack of governance mechanisms contributes to the slow adoption of AI applications within health systems. Governments are hesitant to approve technologies without evidence of safety and efficacy; technology developers do not have clear pathways to certification or regulatory approval; and private sector companies are frequently developing ethical frameworks without a governmental mandate to protect the public good. There have been numerous high-level principles and frameworks published in the past years, this theme goes a step further in explaining how to turn them into concrete processes, such as authorizations, certifications, safety monitoring and outcome evaluation that enable safe, equitable, and scalable AI deployment in health systems.

Questions to be examined include, but not limited to:

How should market authorization processes adapt in the face of continuous learning and frontier AI applications in health, including the use of agentic AI?

How can market access procedures, particularly pricing and reimbursement models, be implemented to support wide scale adoption of AI in health?

How can post-market surveillance mechanisms be strengthened to establish continuous, real-world evidence on AI performance and safety at scale?

How can greater global alignment of AI governance frameworks reduce regulatory fragmentation while enabling countries to respond to their own health system priorities and contexts?

How should governance frameworks address AI tools used for health that fall outside traditional medical device regulation, including consumer-facing and general-purpose AI?

Thematic Area 5: Navigating AI, Data, and Digital Sovereignty in Health

Although AI innovation in health is global, many of the most powerful AI systems, digital infrastructures, and data ecosystems are concentrated in a small number of countries. In the health sector, this concentration can create significant risks, as these technologies influence personal health data, critical infrastructure, clinical decision-making, service delivery, and the strategic priorities of health systems. This theme will explore how countries can leverage global AI innovation while safeguarding AI, data, and digital sovereignty, strengthening cybersecurity resilience in the face of emerging threats such as quantum computing, and protecting patient autonomy, rights, and safety.

Questions to be examined include, but not limited to:

How can countries leverage global AI innovation while strengthening AI, data, and digital sovereignty, reducing critical dependencies, and retaining control over strategic health decisions?

As AI takes on a larger role in clinical decisions, what rights and mechanisms give patients control over their data and a real ability to understand, contest, or refuse AI-mediated care?

What governance, regulatory and cybersecurity mechanisms are needed to safeguard AI, data, and digital sovereignty while enabling the safe, interoperable, auditable, and scalable use of AI in health systems?

2026 Scientific Advisory Committee Members

Ahmed Binesmael

Ahmed leads the Health Foundation’s research exploring public and staff attitudes towards AI, technology and data use in health care, with a broader interest in how existing and emerging technologies can be implemented responsibly and effectively to improve care, support patients and staff, and inform health policy and wider system transformation. Prior to joining the Health Foundation, Ahmed was a Senior Policy Adviser at the British Medical Association, where he developed costed policy proposals aimed at influencing government policy and supporting doctor-led health policy initiatives, including modelling the cost of pay restoration for doctors. His wider research and analysis have also contributed to policy work across digital infrastructure, pensions, public health, general practice, and long COVID.

View Bio
Ahmed Binesmael

Ahmed Binesmael

close

Ahmed leads the Health Foundation’s research exploring public and staff attitudes towards AI, technology and data use in health care, with a broader interest in how existing and emerging technologies can be implemented responsibly and effectively to improve care, support patients and staff, and inform health policy and wider system transformation. Prior to joining the Health Foundation, Ahmed was a Senior Policy Adviser at the British Medical Association, where he developed costed policy proposals aimed at influencing government policy and supporting doctor-led health policy initiatives, including modelling the cost of pay restoration for doctors. His wider research and analysis have also contributed to policy work across digital infrastructure, pensions, public health, general practice, and long COVID.

Ed Middleton

Ed is a healthcare policy and strategy professional with experience across NHS leadership, central government, and frontline clinical care. Before joining the MHRA, Ed completed a Harkness Fellowship at Stanford University, researching AI regulation and post-deployment monitoring. Prior to that, Ed was Director of Policy and Portfolio at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, where he led the development of a five-year strategy and oversaw major programmes spanning digital transformation, AI deployment and population health. He previously worked at the centre of government, including at DHSC and 10 Downing Street, and began his career as a physician. Ed was named a 2025 National Academy of Medicine Emerging Leader. Alongside his role at the MHRA, he will continue his US-based research into the responsible use of AI in healthcare.

View Bio
Ed Middleton

Ed Middleton

close

Ed is a healthcare policy and strategy professional with experience across NHS leadership, central government, and frontline clinical care. Before joining the MHRA, Ed completed a Harkness Fellowship at Stanford University, researching AI regulation and post-deployment monitoring. Prior to that, Ed was Director of Policy and Portfolio at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, where he led the development of a five-year strategy and oversaw major programmes spanning digital transformation, AI deployment and population health. He previously worked at the centre of government, including at DHSC and 10 Downing Street, and began his career as a physician. Ed was named a 2025 National Academy of Medicine Emerging Leader. Alongside his role at the MHRA, he will continue his US-based research into the responsible use of AI in healthcare.

Eric Sutherland

Eric is a Senior Health Economist leading the OECD’s work in Digitalisation of Health, bringing together policy guidance for digital security, integrated data, and responsible analytics including artificial intelligence. In that role, he is accountable for measuring and evolving the OECD’s Recommendation on Health Data Governance (2016) and supporting policy for digitalisation of health that provides data protection (e.g. security and privacy) and timely access to quality data to optimize the use of data for information, insights, and impact among individuals, health workers, policy makers, researchers, and innovators.

View Bio
Eric Sutherland

Eric Sutherland

close

Eric is a Senior Health Economist leading the OECD’s work in Digitalisation of Health, bringing together policy guidance for digital security, integrated data, and responsible analytics including artificial intelligence. In that role, he is accountable for measuring and evolving the OECD’s Recommendation on Health Data Governance (2016) and supporting policy for digitalisation of health that provides data protection (e.g. security and privacy) and timely access to quality data to optimize the use of data for information, insights, and impact among individuals, health workers, policy makers, researchers, and innovators.

Judith Murungi

Judith Murungi is a Global Health Lawyer and an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya with expertise at the intersection of health law, international human rights, and emerging technologies. She holds an LL.M. in National and Global Health Law from Georgetown University and has a diploma in internet governance and regulations from the University of Mendoza. She has attended the Kenya, African, and South Schools on Internet Governance which have shaped her global perspectives on technology regulation. She is also trained in AI, Ethics and the Law by the British Institute for International and Comparative Law. Judith serves on the Ad Hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and was recognized as a Women in AI Ethics Rising Star (2024). She has expertise in the regulation and governance of AI in healthcare, and has presented her work at the International Pandemic Sciences Conference. She was recognized for the second best oral presentation at the 8th World Conference on Research Intergrity in 2024. Her interdisciplinary expertise in health law, AI governance, and digital policy equips her to contribute effectively to scientific and policy advisory processes globally.

View Bio
Judith Murungi

Judith Murungi

close

Judith Murungi is a Global Health Lawyer and an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya with expertise at the intersection of health law, international human rights, and emerging technologies.

She holds an LL.M. in National and Global Health Law from Georgetown University and has a diploma in internet governance and regulations from the University of Mendoza. She has attended the Kenya, African, and South Schools on Internet Governance which have shaped her global perspectives on technology regulation. She is also trained in AI, Ethics and the Law by the British Institute for International and Comparative Law.

Judith serves on the Ad Hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and was recognized as a Women in AI Ethics Rising Star (2024). She has expertise in the regulation and governance of AI in healthcare, and has presented her work at the International Pandemic Sciences Conference. She was recognized for the second best oral presentation at the 8th World Conference on Research Intergrity in 2024.

Her interdisciplinary expertise in health law, AI governance, and digital policy equips her to contribute effectively to scientific and policy advisory processes globally.

Kevin Lampen-Smith

Kevin Lampen-Smith is a regulatory expert with experience across markets, occupational, health and safety and health systems. Experienced chief executive and senior leader with a focus on strategy development and activating key drivers to bring about real behavioural change. At the Ministry of Health in New Zealand, he focused on taking a system level perspective to regulatory design and delivery with the aim of aligning regulatory regime governance to delivering on whole of system outcomes.

View Bio
Kevin Lampen-Smith

Kevin Lampen-Smith

close

Kevin Lampen-Smith is a regulatory expert with experience across markets, occupational, health and safety and health systems. Experienced chief executive and senior leader with a focus on strategy development and activating key drivers to bring about real behavioural change. At the Ministry of Health in New Zealand, he focused on taking a system level perspective to regulatory design and delivery with the aim of aligning regulatory regime governance to delivering on whole of system outcomes.

Kirsten Mathieson

Kirsten Mathieson has 20 years experience working in global health policy and advocacy. She is Deputy Director and Policy Lead at Transform Health, a global coalition of organisations that advocate, campaign and build consensus to strengthen the enabling environment for the digital transformation of health systems to achieve UHC. Working with coalition partners, Kirsten leads the policy and influencing work of the coalition, particularly on health data governance and digital health investment. Kirsten was previously Global Head of Policy and Advocacy at Save the Children, leading health and nutrition advocacy and policy efforts, with a focus on UHC, primary health care, immunisation and access to medicines. She is former Vice Chair of the Gavi CSO Steering Committee and member of the UK Action for Global Health network Steering Committee. Kirsten previously worked at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and UNDP Kenya.

View Bio
Kirsten Mathieson

Kirsten Mathieson

close

Kirsten Mathieson has 20 years experience working in global health policy and advocacy. She is Deputy Director and Policy Lead at Transform Health, a global coalition of organisations that advocate, campaign and build consensus to strengthen the enabling environment for the digital transformation of health systems to achieve UHC. Working with coalition partners, Kirsten leads the policy and influencing work of the coalition, particularly on health data governance and digital health investment. Kirsten was previously Global Head of Policy and Advocacy at Save the Children, leading health and nutrition advocacy and policy efforts, with a focus on UHC, primary health care, immunisation and access to medicines. She is former Vice Chair of the Gavi CSO Steering Committee and member of the UK Action for Global Health network Steering Committee. Kirsten previously worked at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and UNDP Kenya.

Nadine Sabra

Nadine Sabra is the E-Sahha/Digital Health Program Manager at the Global Health Institute at the American University of Beirut, where she leads projects in artificial intelligence, e-health, and digital health. She oversees the implementation and operations of field-based initiatives focused on digital health, maternal health, and refugee health. Nadine also coordinates two regional initiatives: the Global Health and Artificial Intelligence Network in the Middle East and North Africa (GHAIN MENA) and the Responsible AI for Global Health (RAI4GH). She holds a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degree.

View Bio
Nadine Sabra

Nadine Sabra

close

Nadine Sabra is the E-Sahha/Digital Health Program Manager at the Global Health Institute at the American University of Beirut, where she leads projects in artificial intelligence, e-health, and digital health. She oversees the implementation and operations of field-based initiatives focused on digital health, maternal health, and refugee health. Nadine also coordinates two regional initiatives: the Global Health and Artificial Intelligence Network in the Middle East and North Africa (GHAIN MENA) and the Responsible AI for Global Health (RAI4GH). She holds a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degree.

Paula Eugenia Kohan

Paula Eugenia Kohan is a lawyer, mediator, and researcher specializing in digital health, artificial intelligence, and health regulation. She works as a consultant for PAHO, UNESCO, and CLIAS-IECS. She was co-coordinator of the Postgraduate Program in Digital Health at the University of Buenos Aires, where she currently lecture on Artificial Intelligence and Law. She also serves as a trainer in the international course “Digital Health: Planning National Systems” led by WHO, PAHO, and TechChange. Her work focuses on ethical, human-centered regulatory frameworks for the responsible integration of AI into health systems across Latin America

View Bio
Paula Eugenia Kohan

Paula Eugenia Kohan

close

Paula Eugenia Kohan is a lawyer, mediator, and researcher specializing in digital health, artificial intelligence, and health regulation. She works as a consultant for PAHO, UNESCO, and CLIAS-IECS. She was co-coordinator of the Postgraduate Program in Digital Health at the University of Buenos Aires, where she currently lecture on Artificial Intelligence and Law. She also serves as a trainer in the international course “Digital Health: Planning National Systems” led by WHO, PAHO, and TechChange. Her work focuses on ethical, human-centered regulatory frameworks for the responsible integration of AI into health systems across Latin America

Shweta Bhardwaj

Shweta Bhardwaj is Director, Global R&D & Digital Policy, Worldwide Govt. Affairs & Policy (WWGA&P), Johnson & Johnson. Her focus and expertise include AI policy & regulation, health data governance, cybersecurity, interoperability, and government regulation of new technologies that enable more efficient and accelerated R&D. Within J&J, Shweta partners globally with R&D, data science, privacy, information security, law department and regulatory teams. Externally, she is involved in shaping AI, digital health and health data governance issues, through trade associations such as Global Data Alliance (GDA), BIO, AdvaMed, APACMed, MedTech EU (Vice chair, Digital Health) and IFPMA. She also represents J&J externally within international forums as Member, B20 South Africa Digitalization Task Force and Member, Expert Working Group on Health Data, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Shweta holds MSc. in Global Health & Public Policy from the University of Edinburgh (as a commonwealth scholar). In her previous roles, she has worked within MedTech industry, WHO and international non-profits. She is passionate about social impact and engages in J&J’s flagship Talent-for-good programs, which address critical areas in healthy equity, access & social determinants of health.

View Bio
Shweta Bhardwaj

Shweta Bhardwaj

close

Shweta Bhardwaj is Director, Global R&D & Digital Policy, Worldwide Govt. Affairs & Policy (WWGA&P), Johnson & Johnson. Her focus and expertise include AI policy & regulation, health data governance, cybersecurity, interoperability, and government regulation of new technologies that enable more efficient and accelerated R&D.

Within J&J, Shweta partners globally with R&D, data science, privacy, information security, law department and regulatory teams. Externally, she is involved in shaping AI, digital health and health data governance issues, through trade associations such as Global Data Alliance (GDA), BIO, AdvaMed, APACMed, MedTech EU (Vice chair, Digital Health) and IFPMA.

She also represents J&J externally within international forums as Member, B20 South Africa Digitalization Task Force and Member, Expert Working Group on Health Data, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
Shweta holds MSc. in Global Health & Public Policy from the University of Edinburgh (as a commonwealth scholar). In her previous roles, she has worked within MedTech industry, WHO and international non-profits. She is passionate about social impact and engages in J&J’s flagship Talent-for-good programs, which address critical areas in healthy equity, access & social determinants of health.

Road to AI Impact Summit 2026

The HealthAI Global Governance Forum was an official Pre-Summit Event of the AI Impact Summit 2026. Following the Forum, the HealthAI team will also contribute to the main Summit with a dedicated session focused on advancing adaptive governance and responsible health technology assessment to support safe, trusted, and scalable AI in health, particularly in the Global South.

Road to AI Impact Summit 2026

Stay up to date on the next edition of the HealthAI GGF

    * mandatory fields

    HIMSS26 European Healthcare Conference and Exhibition

    IMF and WB Spring Meetings

    WHO – ADB Forum 2026

    Zhong Guan Cun Forum

    India AI Impact Summit 2026

    Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands at the threshold of fundamentally reshaping human civilization, pushing the boundaries of what we can achieve. This technological revolution opens unprecedented opportunities for advancements across every domain of human endeavor, while profoundly challenging the very foundations of society in an increasingly complex and evolving geopolitical order. For developing countries, AI offers an unprecedented opportunity to leapfrog traditional developmental pathways. The multi-modal and multi-lingual capabilities of AI create new possibilities through which access to benefits can be made available at scale. As a result, AI is seen not merely as a technological advancement but as a strategic tool to enable inclusive growth and expand access to opportunities that have historically been out of reach for large segments of the population.

    Recognizing this transformative potential, the past four years have witnessed a remarkable surge in multilateral initiatives dedicated to harnessing AI’s potential responsibly and equitably. From the G20 AI Principles to the UN and Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) Resolutions on AI, the African Declaration on AI, and most recently, the Hamburg Declaration on Responsible AI, these efforts reflect unprecedented international recognition that AI’s transformative impact transcends borders and requires coordinated global action.

    Despite these high-level commitments, a fundamental gap persists between global aspirations and the reality on the ground. The Global AI Divide continues to widen, with AI resources and capabilities concentrated among select nations and corporations. This concentration fundamentally limits the development of social, cultural, and linguistically contextual AI solutions, constraining AI’s potential to accelerate progress toward our collective development goals, especially for the Global South.

    Simultaneously, AI’s rapid proliferation across society is creating new challenges that demand urgent attention: disrupting traditional employment patterns, exacerbating existing biases, and driving exponential increases in energy consumption. These developments underscore the urgent need to move beyond aspirational frameworks toward concrete, measurable impact that addresses both AI’s promise and its perils.

    The India–AI Impact Summit 2026, announced by Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit and scheduled for February 19–20 in New Delhi, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.

    Building on the momentum of leading international forums such as the UK AI Safety Summit, the AI Seoul Summit, the France AI Action Summit, and the Global AI Summit on Africa, this high-level convening marks a critical inflection point. It will strengthen existing multilateral initiatives while advancing new priorities, deliverables, and cooperative frameworks—moving from high-level political statements to demonstrable impact and tangible progress in global AI cooperation.

    The Summit charts a path towards a future where the transformative power of AI serves humanity, drives inclusive growth, fosters social development, and promotes people-centric innovations that protect our planet. It also seeks to amplify the voice of the Global South, ensuring that technological advancements and opportunities are shared broadly, not concentrated in a few regions.

    HealthAI – The Global Agency for Responsible AI in Health, is proud to announce a panel discussion on Monday, 16 February 2026, as an official pre-sumit event.

    This panel proposes a pragmatic, two-track governance approach for AI in health:

    1. Regulatory Guardrails Across the AI Total Product Lifecycle: A robust regulatory foundation that evaluates and authorizes AI systems, enforces transparency and risk controls, and enables post-market monitoring and corrective action across the full lifecycle of AI—from development and deployment to real-world use and updating.
    2. Contextual AI in Health Technology Assessment (AI-HTA): A complementary, iterative assessment layer that embeds ethical, societal, and equity dimensions alongside traditional HTA considerations such as benefits, costs, utility, data protection, interoperability, and system impact. This layer explicitly integrates values such as fairness, accountability, inclusivity, and cultural alignment, and assesses AI performance against local health system
    priorities.

    Rather than operating in parallel silos, these two tracks are designed to intertwine—shaping evidence generation from concept through deployment and real-world use. Regulation establishes a rooted baseline for quality and safety, while HTA dynamically shapes trustworthiness through participatory, socio-technical assessment.

    HealthAI Navigator: From Policy to Practice
    As a keynote contribution, the panel will introduce the HealthAI Navigator, a policy-to-practice framework that operationalises this two-track governance model across the AI total product lifecycle. The HealthAI Navigator aligns regulatory processes with HTA workflows and economic evaluation approaches tailored to digital and AI technologies. It provides a structured way for policymakers, regulators, HTA bodies, and innovators to jointly assess safety, value, equity, and scalability over time.

    WHEN: Monday 16 February 2026, 10h30 – 11h25
    WHERE: Room 16, Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi


    World Health Expo (WHX) Leaders Dubai 2026

    Panel Discussion: Empowering the Health Workforce in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    Organised by European Health Forum Gastein, the European Health Union initiative and supported by the Bosch Health Campus, this panel discussion will explore the opportunities and the challenges of AI in healthcare.

    AIMed 2026: Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Conference

    This feature
    is currently locked

    close

    You need to be logged in

    Sign in to continue and unlock this feature.