EC - EASME - COSME logo

Co-financing of Consortia for public procurement of innovation - COS-PPI-2018-2-01
Deadline: Dec 11, 2018  
CALL EXPIRED

 Entrepreneurship and SMEs
 Innovation
 Bioenergy
 Energy Efficiency
 Intelligent Energy
 Renewable Energy
 Development and Cooperation
 Innovation & Research
 COSME

Public Procurement represents approximately 14% of the EU GDP. However, less than half of this budget is purchased from SMEs.

Public procurement of innovation (PPI) broadly refers to any public procurement that has one or both of the following aspects:

- buying the process of innovation;

- buying the outcomes of innovation.

Public procurement of innovation may commence with research and development of products, services or processes that do not yet exist. Public buyers state their need with little to no concrete idea of the solution and support innovative businesses and researchers in finding the perfectly suited product, service or process. In this way, the public buyer effectively becomes part of the innovation lifecycle from the very beginning of product or service development.

Furthermore, public buyers may choose innovative products, services or processes that are new in the market instead of renewing or replicating existing procurement contracts.

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects is EUR 4 000 000.

EASME expects to grant projects co-financing between EUR 800 000 and EUR 1.5 million. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Scope:

The specific objective of this call in relation to SMEs is to improve their access to markets inside the Union. Access to public procurement remains difficult for SMEs, who are only awarded 45% of the value of public contracts above EU public procurement threshold. This share is clearly below their weight in the economy.

The public sector can play a large role in helping companies, and in particular SMEs, overcome a classic market failure: finding a first group of customers for their innovative products and services. Innovation is constrained by a 'chicken or egg problem,' whereby suppliers will often wait until there is a demonstrated demand before they develop new solutions, while at the same time the potential buyers are waiting to see a new product or service enjoying some success in the market before they will risk buying it themselves (Cate et al, 1998)

This call for proposals is expected to contribute to a significant increase in the proportion of SMEs that have access to the public procurement market. It will also increase the visibility and awareness of the advantages of procuring innovation for a constantly increasing greater number of public buyers.

This call for proposals has three main objectives.

  1. The first objective is to encourage cooperation between public buyers to promote the use of public procurement to contribute to the development of innovation.
  2. The second objective is to use public procurement as a mechanism to pilot innovation in areas of strong public interest such as, for instance, clean energy (contributing to Paris targets for fighting climate change) or healthcare. This will in turn encouraging innovative EU companies, in particular SMEs, to develop new solutions to address societal challenges.
  3. The third objective is to link and establish synergies with research and innovation projects funded by the EU (via Horizon 2020, COSME or EU funding programmes) whenever possible.

Expected Impact:

This call for proposals has three main objectives.

  1. The first objective is to encourage cooperation between public buyers to promote the use of public procurement to contribute to the development of innovation.
  2. The second objective is to use public procurement as a mechanism to pilot innovation in areas of strong public interest such as, for instance, clean energy (contributing to Paris targets for fighting climate change) or healthcare. This will in turn encouraging innovative EU companies, in particular SMEs, to develop new solutions to address societal challenges.
  3. The third objective is to link and establish synergies with research and innovation projects funded by the EU (via Horizon 2020, COSME or EU funding programmes) whenever possible.


Public link:   Only for registered users


Looking for a partnership?
Have a look at
Ma Région Sud!
https://maregionsud.up2europe.eu

Ideas proposed for this Call See all Ideas

PROBLEM: Buses are a big source of air pollution in Europe, which according to European statistics have some cities  the worst air pollution problems in the EU. The Aphekom st ...