The ITHANET Portal has received funding from the Cypriot Research Promotion Foundation for further development over the next two years. Changes will include more interactivity, implementation of multi-language support, expansion of database and text content and streamlining of menus and interfaces.

The main objective of the next phase of development is the establishment of the ITHANET Portal as a daily scientific and diagnostic tool in research and treatment, and as a resource for patients, carriers, and all those interested in haemoglobinopathies. The ITHANET Team envisages a second-generation web site that expands and interlinks the existing text and database sections, but is easily accessible and, through wiki-based implementation of substantial parts of its content, virtually self-maintaining long-term. The planned multi-language support will attract a greater numbers of lay users, introduce them to e-learning, facilitate their discussion of pertaining issues with their peers, and move the discussion and resolution of health problems into the sphere of everyday interactions and experiences. Moreover, an improved structure and interface will make information held on the ITHANET Portal readily accessible for patients and health professionals alike, and will help create an interface between them through forum discussions of medical and bioethical topics of interest.