Innovation Procurement Strategy category

Topic description

Objective:

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the global context and created an opportunity for the EU to redefine and affirm its role as a leader to achieve the necessary transformations ahead. Innovation procurement should play a key role to supporting the European priorities set up in the Green Deal and to securing the European technological sovereignty.

Innovation procurement boosts the process of transforming research results and ideas into innovative solutions. It represents an untapped potential to stimulate the demand for innovation. By using innovation procurement, the public and private sectors can provide state-of-the-art services and goods to the society and, at the same time, offer new growth and commercialisation opportunities for suppliers of disruptive solutions, particularly start-ups and SMEs.

The European Innovation Procurement Awards aim to recognise public and private buyers, natural persons and those legal entities supporting these practices across Europe in their efforts to promote and stimulate innovation procurement and the innovative ways the solutions are procured.

The Awards also aims to demonstrate how innovation procurement positively transforms the economy by not only creating new and sustainable markets, but also by tackling societal challenges such as climate change.

These Awards complement other EIC initiatives aimed at supporting and fostering innovation procurement in the European Union.

Expected results

The awards would:

• Stimulate the innovation procurement uptake;
• Acknowledge and support the efforts done by procurers, and legal entities supporting them, to deliver better services and/or to bring products to the market in an innovative way; and
• Build a diverse European community of public and private buyers to share, work together and inspire each other in the design of innovative procurement processes, and particularly in the delivery of public services.

Categories

• The European Innovation Procurement Awards: Innovation procurement strategy category: to reward holistic and dedicated strategy/action plan that trigger sustainable innovation procurement practices.

Indicative time for evaluation and award of prizes

The jury evaluation is planned to take place between July and October 2022. Applicants will be informed of the outcome in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Budget:

• Innovation Procurement Strategy Category Award Winner EUR 75000
• Innovation Procurement Strategy Category Runner Up EUR 25000

Innovation procu