Supported by the European Innovation Council under Horizon Europe, the European Innovation Procurement Awards recognise powerful cases of public and private buyers promoting innovation procurement practices across Europe. It also emphasises the importance of close buyer–supplier cooperation in bringing the innovative solutions to market.

An independent jury selected six finalists for the three categories after a very competitive selection process, which included remote interviews with fourteen semi-finalists.

The 2022 finalists, listed below per category and in alphabetical order, are:

Innovation procurement strategy

  1. “YQ Purchasing bv” (Belgium)
  2. The consortium formed by:
  • Agencia de qualitat I avaluacion sanitaires de Catalunya (Spain)
  • Liverpool heart and chest hospital – NHS Foundation (United  Kingdom)
  • El Sitio de Valdelatarra (Spain)
  • Fundacion de gestión sanitaria del hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Spain)
  • Fundacion asistencial de Mutua de Terrasa (Spain)
  • Institut catala de la salut (Spain)

Facing societal challenges

  1. “Iniciativa social integral per al benestar, SLU” (Spain)
  2. “Gobierno de Navarra” (Spain)

Procurement leadership

  1. The consortium formed by:
  • “FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM JULICH GMBH” (Germany)
  • Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (France)
  • Cineca consorzio interuniversitario (Italy)
  • Barcelona Supercomputing national centre (Spain)
  • Grand équipement national de calcul intensif (France)
  1. The consortium formed by:
  • Agency for Public and Financial Management (DFØ) (Norway)
  • The Norwegian Digitalisation Agency (DigDir),
  • The National Programme for Supplier Development (LUP) (Norway)

What happens next?

The winners and runners-up of each category will be announced at the EIC Summit on 8 December 2022.

Apart from the prestigious recognition, the winner of each category will be rewarded with €75 000 while each of the runners-up will receive €25 000. All finalists will be invited to join a group of pioneering procurers to showcase their experimentation and gain inspiration from experiences of other procurers.

Background

Innovation procurement modernises public sector with more economical and higher quality solutions. These practices directly contribute to EU competitiveness, by opening a route-to-the market for new players, especially SMEs. They also help larger companies to bring innovative products to the market, stimulating cross-border company growth and the creation of jobs. Innovation procurement also serves to tackle the most pressing societal needs.

This is one of the four 2022 European Innovation Council Prizes that celebrate those shaping the future of innovation in Europe, alongside with the EU Prize for Women Innovators, the European Capital of Innovation Awards and the European Social Innovation Competition.

Source: European Innovation Council I News (https://bit.ly/3spKcKE)