Public procurement can be an important instrument for the induction of innovation and R&D activities, both in companies and in public entities purchasing products and services.
With this in mind, ANI – a member of iBuy consortium – organized, on October 16, the “Capacity building a driver for IPP [Innovation Public Procurement] transnational cooperation” international seminar at the Auditorium of the National Laboratory of Civil Engineering. Dozens of specialists, originating from several organizations within different countries, participated in the event, organized within the scope of the IBuy Project, in partnership with Procure2Innovate (Horizon 2020).
During the morning, the discussion was centered around case studies relative to Innovation Public Procurement in six countries. Chaired by Luís Ferreira, from ANI, the first session included the following contributions:
• Hannu Latva-Rasku (from Industryhack, Finland): Undervalued procurer competences in innovative public procurement with case examples from Finland;
• Andrius Adamonis (from the Bank of Lithuania, Lithuania): Procurers competences for the successful implementation of the pre-commercial procurement;
• Emanuela Modoran (from the Digital Innovation Smart eHub, Romania): Digital Innovation Hub speeding up the uptake of digital innovations by Public Authorities;
• Athanasios Kakarountas (from the Region of Sterea Ellada / Regional Research and Innovation Council, Greece): FABULOS PCP: A Greek Municipality as an Innovation Procurer;
• Arvis Bernics (from Ventspils Reiss, Latvia) Procurer skills within prior market consultation;
• Beatriz Torralba (from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Spain): CDTI´s Pre-commercial Procurement Initiative. Selected cases for the preliminary market consultation
The morning session was followed by an open discussion of the case studies, moderated by Ashleigh McLennan, from ICLEI.
During the afternoon, representatives from the Austrian, German, Spanish, Dutch and Swedish Competency Centers presented the services that they have made available. This was followed by a round table available, also moderated by Ashleigh McLennan, from ICLEI, for countries in which future IPP Competence Centers have been proposed: Portugal, Estonia, Greece, Ireland and Italy.
The first ever international seminar in Portugal regarding PPI allowed for a sharing of experiences - a decisive step for a country currently lacking in terms of IPP. It was a moment for the further development and convergence of knowledge regarding concepts and practices of Public Procurement of Innovation.
