Cross border information exchange and data management are imperative for successful crisis and disaster management. The challenges faced during the management of COVID-19 made multiple gaps visible encompassing the capabilities for interoperability as well as methodologies and facilities for data fusion of very different type data. such data encompass medical information, status of infrastructures and availability of resources, sensor data or outcomes of modelling as a basis for common situational awareness. Apart from the need for enhanced cooperation it turned out in the last years that the level of preparedness needs to be enhanced.