Telefónica Tech named a Finalist for Microsoft Partner of the Year 2026 in Healthcare and Life Sciences
Telefónica Tech named a finalist for Microsoft Partner of the Year 2026 in Healthcare and Life Sciences
Telefónica Tech has been announced as a finalist in the 2026 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards, recognised in the Healthcare and Life Sciences category for its work turning fragmented NHS data into secure, AI-ready platforms for research.
The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards celebrate partners that have delivered outstanding impact with Microsoft technology over the past year. Announcing this year’s honourees, Microsoft said:
Nicole Dezen, Chief Partner Officer and Corporate Vice President at Microsoft:
“Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the 2026 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards, this year’s honorees are harnessing the power of Microsoft Cloud and AI to deliver transformative solutions, accelerate customer success, and expand what’s possible. Their ingenuity and impact inspire us, demonstrating what can be achieved when bold vision and technology come together to empower organisations around the world.”
Bringing AI into Everyday Care
Telefónica Tech is transforming healthcare by delivering a secure, Microsoft-powered data platform that enables trusted AI research at population scale. By unifying fragmented healthcare data into a governed, AI-ready environment, this results in accelerated clinical research, supports earlier insight, and enables faster development of new treatments while maintaining security, privacy, and public trust. A truly repeatable approach providing a blueprint for scalable AI-enabled healthcare innovation.
Opening up Health Data for Research
Telefónica Tech’s nomination recognises the wide impact of services delivered to the Healthcare and Life Sciences sector in the UK, including the Thames Valley and Surrey Secure Data Environment (TVS SDE), delivered in partnership with Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It is one of only 11 NHS regional Secure Data Environments in England.
Built on Microsoft technologies including Azure Data Lake, Databricks, AI Services, Entra and Microsoft security services, the platform brings together more than 30 billion health records for 4.3 million citizens, drawn from over 25 source systems across GP practices, acute, community and mental health trusts, and ambulance services.
The impact on research has been significant. Where access to data once took 12 to 24 months, researchers can now begin work within weeks. Using Telefónica Tech’s Data Platform Accelerator, the first research environment was provisioned in under 24 hours, and 40 secure environments were deployed in a single week. Today the platform supports more than 200 approved researchers and over 175 research projects, with collaboration across 83 organisations including NHS trusts, universities, and biotech, medtech and pharmaceutical companies.
All of this meets the strictest privacy and governance standards and is already used for cohort discovery, predictive modelling and oncology research.
Ellen Dickson, VP, Enterprise Health Services, Telefónica Tech UK&I commented:
“Healthcare doesn’t need AI for AI’s sake. it needs data that researchers can trust, reach quickly, and use safely, so that good ideas get to patients sooner. Telefónica Tech are showing what’s possible when deep healthcare knowledge, Microsoft technology, and genuine partnership come together. Being named a finalist is a real credit to our team, to our clients, and to everyone involved in working with us to make health data work harder for patients.”
Impact for the practitioners
Beyond research, Telefónica Tech are helping the NHS move from AI ambition to practical action. At an NHS Agentathon run with Microsoft, attendees from seven London NHS trusts build a wide range of agents in a single day. We’re also helping healthcare technology providers move critical platforms such as pathology systems to Microsoft Azure, and collaborating on Dragon Copilot work as part an electronic patient record rollout across dozens of hospitals.
With more than 70 NHS trust relationships, and Azure Expert MSP status, Telefónica Tech combines healthcare experience with proven cloud, data, AI, and security capability.
To find out how Telefónica Tech can help your healthcare or life sciences organisation, get in touch with our team.
