Insight
The public sector needs to be more innovative to better address policy issues and improve services whilst facing severe budget pressures. Using PPI as a strategic means of procuring better solutions, at the same or lower cost, is seen as a potential opportunity to address these challenges and also stimulate economic growth. To put this in context, public procurement accounts for around 14% of GDP in the EU, so has the potential to be a strong driver for innovation.
Optimat has led a number of EU-sponsored demonstration projects over the past 10 years, in partnership with public sector organisations from various European countries that had an interest in addressing important socio-economic and/or environmental challenges through innovation. These encompassed a wide range of challenges such as energy, digital, healthcare and transport.
We are currently coordinating the EcoQUIP Plus project, which is co-funded by the European Commission through the COSME programme. It seeks to demonstrate how pro-innovation procurement methods can improve the efficiency, quality and sustainability of healthcare. This project, in addition to developing the pro-innovation capability of individual partner hospitals, aims to directly address the need to connect EU supported R&D to procurement outcomes, improve the use of the innovation potential in SME’s to support healthcare outcomes, and to strengthen market demand for innovation by improving the capability of hospitals to engage in multilateral and collaborative actions.
EcoQUIP Plus is currently running a Webinar Series covering key aspects of the Public Procurement of Innovation. The webinars are presented by practitioner experts in the field who use case examples to show how innovation can deliver better outcomes and better value for the healthcare sector and wider public services. Optimat, as coordinator of the project, moderates the webinars and supports participants to enhance their knowledge and understanding of innovation procurement and how it can be applied in their own setting.
