Global initiatives have intensified efforts to strengthen national infrastructures for whole genome sequencing (WGS) of pathogens in response to the urgent needs of the COVID-19 pandemic. This pivotal experience underscores the need for a versatile infrastructure, adaptable to different pathogens and surveillance systems, highlighting the crucial integration of genomic, clinical, and epidemiological data.

The Belgian Preparedness Architecture for Infectious Diseases, be.Prepared, developed within the HERA-Incubator-WGS and HERA-BE-WGS projects and funded by the European Union, is a model of innovation. It seamlessly integrates and links pathogen and health data using a variety of state-of-the-art platforms, including a dynamic platform for data linkage and a central cloud-based bioinformatics platform.