UZ Leuven, one of Belgium’s leading university hospitals, is taking a major step into the future of medicine. They’ve entered into a four-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud valued at 10 million dollars, and we at GC innovate are incredibly proud to be their trusted partner on this journey.
Strategic priorities for proven patient care
The hospital’s vision, led by CIO Bart Hamers, is clear and practical. It’s about making a real difference by unlocking the full potential of their vast and valuable data reserves. The goal is to move beyond simply storing information to actively using it to push the boundaries of medicine. This means using powerful tools like BigQuery, Looker, and Gemini AI to analyze and combine previously siloed data sources—from clinical records in their nexuzhealth EHR to complex genomics research data. By bringing all this information together, UZ Leuven can uncover entirely new insights. The introduction of AI allows them to not just analyze what happened in the past, but to develop predictive models. This opens the door to new discoveries, such as forecasting patient outcomes, optimizing treatment paths, and ultimately making healthcare more effective and affordable.
It’s a great example of how smart technology can directly support healthcare professionals and improve how care is delivered.
A True Partnership
Big projects like this need more than just good technology; they need trust and real collaboration. The best partnerships are built when a vendor becomes a true advisor.
Here’s how Reinoud Reinders describes our collaboration:
“What started as a vendor contract for Google Cloud support and billing services, evolved into a strategic partnership where GC innovate’s experts became trusted advisors to UZ Leuven’s IT teams. Their expertise was instrumental in helping us make the right choices and build our new state-of-the-art data platform.”
Reinoud Reinders, IT Director at UZ Leuven
Our job at GC innovate is to help UZ Leuven get the most out of the Google Cloud Data Platform. We’re here to assist with everything from the initial setup and support to helping their teams adopt the new tools and workflows.
What’s Next: Building the Future Together
This partnership is more than a one-time setup; it’s an ongoing collaboration. Our job at GC innovate is to help UZ Leuven get the most out of the Google Cloud Data Platform, now and in the future. Together, we’ll focus on continuously evolving their environment.
Our joint focus will be on:
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Optimizing and Integrating: We’ll work on deeper integrations with other hospital systems to create a seamless “next flow” environment, ensuring costs are managed effectively while maximizing the use of the technology.
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Empowering Teams with Looker: Looker will serve as the intuitive window into this powerful data platform. It will empower clinicians, researchers, and operational staff to explore data themselves, ask questions, and build their own dashboards—democratizing access to insights without needing a data science degree.
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Upholding Security and Compliance: Throughout this journey, upholding the highest standards of security and compliance remains non-negotiable, ensuring the data platform is as robust and trustworthy as it is innovative.
We want to give a huge thanks to everyone who helped bring this partnership to life, including the healthcare team and our colleagues at The Cronos Group. We’re excited to be a part of building the future of data-driven healthcare in Belgium.
