The Procure2Innovate project will improve institutional support for public procurers purchasing information and communication technologies (ICT), as well as acquiring products and services from a range of sectors that implement innovation procurement. The project has also established a P2I Network to further disseminate its knowledge and attract new members after the project's end.
A competence centre on innovation procurement is an organisation/organisational structure that has been assigned the task by its government and has a mandate according to national law to encourage wider use of pre-commercial procurement (PCP) and public procurement of innovation (PPI) that includes among others providing practical and/or financial assistance to public procurers in the preparation and/or implementation of PCP and PPI across all sectors of public interest.
How to set up a competence centre for innovation procurement? Check this document
Public procurement accounts for about 14% of GDP in the EU and offers an enormous potential market for innovative products and services. This is especially true for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which, through Procure2Innovate, will have access to the market and to potential customers from the public sector.
The project can also support European businesses by encouraging public procurers to purchase innovative products and services, thus inspiring a range of markets to become more competitive and in turn recognise the value of increased research and development (R&D) spending – a win-win for the European economy.
Funded by the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Procure2Innovate will:
As the Procure2Innovate network develops, the approaches to innovation procurement across Europe will become harmonised, with more modern and effective services being offered to public procurers in EU countries.
This dynamic is crucial because it means that fragmented public services will be targeted - public services such as healthcare, public work and public transport that are all key to supporting innovation in our societies.
A truly European Procure2Innovate network will also support key sectors such as information and communication technologies (ICT) and healthcare in value creation and 'finding a first customer'. In fact, Procure2Innovate can have an important role in sustaining the EU's position as a key market for such sectors.
But the project consortium also has the intention to facilitate the creation of more competence centres beyond the five existing and five new centres, given the expectation that the activities of the network will raise substantial interest among procurement professionals in other countries.
Moreover, the way the project is structured means that other important activities will take place.
The internal networking among project partners is crucial to Procure2Innovate. Peer-to-peer learning through a ‘buddy’ system and ‘good practice exchange workshops’ means that more experienced or established competence centres are continuously paired with newer centres, allowing the consortium to maximise exchange and knowledge transfer. The good practice exchange workshops will address such topics as public funding instruments, the interpretation of new directives and legal assistance, as well as best practice from associate countries, such as Norway.
Other activities include the Procure2Innovate partners engaging fully with external stakeholders. This means, for instance, establishing a working group of European innovation procurement networks, arranging workshops on financial instruments for public procurement (important for buyers and sellers), in addition to further workshops and webinars in collaboration with the European Commission, European Investment Bank (EIB), and national finance institutions.
For procurers at national level, the Procure2Innovate network will be ideally placed to provide assistance on innovation procurement. And aside from raising awareness of key issues, Procure2Innovate can be considered en effective means of building capacity and knowledge – whether on pre-commercial procurement (PCP) or other procurement approaches.
In this domain, procurers can also be awarded excellence in innovation procurement through the annual Innovation Procurement of the Year award.
To contact Procure2Innovate, simply consult the contact page on this website, or meet us at one of several events across Europe.
European Commission activities on innovation procurement:
