ESFRI has been instrumental and influential in the co-ordination of national decision- making and investment in European RIs in Health & Food. The landscape continues to evolve and it is important to ensure its ability and agility to respond to current and future demands. Significant innovations and new developments often occur at the boundaries of research areas. To continue cementing the critical role of distributed RIs in Health & Food as they progress in their lifecycle, it will also be important to connect infrastructure efforts with other domains. This is territory largely unexplored and where Health & Food RIs have the potential to pioneer new ways of working and realise true interdisciplinarity.

There is a need to develop well-established procedures for the systematic assessment of the social and economic impact of Health & Food RIs, to demonstrate effective use of resources and accountability for public money, to inform future decision making and evidence for policy-making, to demonstrate evidence of societal and economic benefits and to ensure their long term sustainability. Overall, this will help demonstrate the collective impact that the distributed RIs in Health & Food have had in shaping the landscape of research infrastructures in the last 12 years since the first ESFRI Roadmap was published, and will signal their potential to transform the landscape in the years to come.