Statement by Paulo Sousa, from Maxdata

Name: Paulo Sousa
Name of the Company: Maxdata Software, S.A.
Business Area: Software for the healthcare area
Position in the Company: CEO
INESC TEC Centre with which the company collaborated: HASLab – High-Assurance Software Laboratory
Project manager (INESC TEC): Rui Oliveira
Title of the project: SafeCloud

1. What is your professional background with INESC TEC? (when did it start, how did it developed,…)

Before I joined Maxdata Software (https://www.maxdata.pt), I was a researcher at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon – Navigators research group of LASIGE. It was in this context that my first contact with HASLab emerged. For several years, we collaborated with HASLab through the joint participation in national and international projects in the fault tolerance area. When I moved to the business world in 2010, I remained in contact with HASLab and since then we have kept an active collaboration.

2. Briefly describe the main projects you have carried out in collaboration with INESC TEC.

The European project SafeCloud (https://www.safecloud-project.eu/) was the most remarkable one. It took place between September of 2015 and August of 2018, with a consortium composed of a broad range of academic and industrial partners in addition to INESC TEC and Maxdata Software: Cloud & Heat GMBH (Germany), Cybernetica AS (Estonia), INESC ID (Portugal), Technische Universität München (Germany) and Université de Neuchatel (Switzerland). The main goal of SafeCloud was to prevent breaches of privacy in the cloud, which is particularly important in the healthcare domain in which Maxdata operates.

3. What are the significant outcomes about these projects that you can highlight?

In the context of the SafeCloud project, Maxdata integrated its main product (Clinidata®) with an innovative database management system (SafeCloud Database), which was developed by INESC TEC and by the startup SafeCloud Technologies. SafeCloud Database allows to encrypt personal data in memory and to manage massive volumes of data (big data). Over 100 healthcare professionals had the opportunity to use and assess an experimental version of the Clinidata® software integrated with the SafeCloud Database.

4. What is your opinion on your experience working with INESC TEC?

INESC TEC’s researchers have a very close link to the business world, thus being able to conciliate state-of-the-art research with the short-term needs of companies. There clearly is a practical sense in what they do. I believe this is one the main advantages of INESC TEC.

5. What is the possibility of future collaborations with INESC TEC?

Maxdata Software remains in contact with INESC TEC, and there is a joint effort to look for projects that are of interest to both institutions.