The PreCo Project will raise awareness of pre-commercial procurement (PCP) and address the barriers in public sector Participatory Research, Development and Innovation (RDI). PCP is defined as an approach for acquiring Research and Development services which enable public procurers to:
- share the risks and benefits of designing, prototyping and testing new products and services with the suppliers and other stakeholders such as the end-users
- create the optimum conditions for wide commercialisation and take-up of R&D results through standardisation and/or publication
- pool the efforts of several procurers.
The overall objective of PreCo is to support public authorities in undertaking PCP actions which stimulate innovation and citizen participations. For this propose, the project will establish a thematic network for the development and adaptation of Europe-wide models, frameworks and policy recommendations in two main areas: eHealth and eEnergy.
The thematic network will contribute to the Lisbon strategy goals by fostering growth and innovation. It will further develop synergies with other policies, and stimulate, encourage and facilitate the participation of SMEs and civil society organisations in the activities of public purchasing processes.
The network will bring together a wide range of stakeholders including public authorities and relevant support actors, in order to encourage practical co-operation, exchange of experiences and knowledge concerning PCP.
The project is financed by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).
Policy Context
The public sector in Europe is facing immense pressures for change. The local authorities play a key role in implementing public procurement policy and legal framework. A city or a region may therefore become an important test market in implementing new and innovative products and technologies. In this context, there is an urgent call for action.
The overall objective of PreCo is to support public authorities in undertaking pre-commercial procurement (PCP) actions which stimulate innovation by engaging the suppliers in the market as well as the end-users (Living Labs). For this purpose, PreCo brings together a thematic network for the development and adaptation of Europe-wide models, frameworks and policy recommendations in the domains of eHealth and eEnergy.
Description of the way to implement the initiative
Network activities are organised in work packages and horizontal activities including project management, monitoring and assessment activities, expert groups, operational support and dissemination, information and communication activities.
The objectives of the first phase are to identify current PCP practices in member countries and beyond, to provide for a state-of-the-art analysis of the international experiences of PCP, specifically in the US, Japan and China, to identify and analyse best practices and to set up the network taking into account other relevant networks and activities dealing with PCP matters. An important aspect in this action line is the identification and activation of all interfacing interest groups and policies.
The second phase will focus on PCP in eHealth. As the area is at its very early stage of development, a dedicated working group will be established to identify the best practices in the field, to study and analyse the obstacles for the public authorities to engage in PCP activities in eHealth, and to explore the R&D trends in the industry and the public needs for future technologies in the long run. A very important task is to establish dialogue with supply-side actors to exchange information on public sector needs and private sector opportunities. This will further increase awareness of technology roadmaps and thus facilitate demand stimulation.
Europe-wide dissemination of results will be provided to all stakeholders in order to influence national procurement strategies and policy change, market impact and advancement of knowledge and implementation at the national and regional level. Policy recommendations will be provided to the European Commission.
The third phase will focus on PCP in eEnergy. In this task we aim to raise awareness about the crucial role of public procurers in stimulating and fostering clean energy innovation and to define and communicate model procurement strategies. Establishment of sustainable dialogue with the supply side is one of the key tasks. Other stakeholders include national energy agencies and international organisations, such as ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability)
In the second and third phase we will consolidate identified best practices and models into policy recommendations in selected domains. Consensus workshops and other dissemination activities will be organised to bring together policy makers, leading experts from eHealth and eEnergy sector, universities and businesses and other relevant stakeholders, such as the European community of Living Labs.
In the final phase of this action an analysis of the gaps in the current and best practices and means to breach it will be made, a roadmap for future research on PCP issues, including legal issues (Competition law, IPR).
Main results, benefits and impacts
Please see the final reports and other relevant material on Preco project web site http://preco.share2solve.org
The ultimate aim of the PreCo Network is to create a new type of knowledge-intensive innovation platform in Europe. In this platform public and private sector use advanced ICT to develop conditions for advanced, all-inclusive service economy and innovation ecosystem, which as such can create global benchmark lead markets for an experimental innovation engagement model. This would also result in job creation, increased citizen participation and SME involvement in European-level innovation research and practice.
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Main project impacts:
* Significantly increased awareness and understanding of PCP as a tool among the relevant stakeholders such as public administration policy makers and practitioners as well as industry networks.
* EU cross-border and National PCP pilots starting with Preco consortiums support.
* Policy impacts: Influence on competition and innovation policies at national and regional levels. Input for shaping the EU “Horizon 2020” Framework Programmed for Research and Innovation and relevant EU calls for 2012-2013.
Main project outcomes:
* PCP State of the Art analysis in EU Member States confirmed the fact that PCP is a highly potential, but still an emerging and unfamiliar instrument in most EU Member States.
* Analysis of best practice cases and sector specific recommendations for PCP in the areas of eHealth and eEnergy
* Identified critical Success factors for PCP and PCP Policy Recommendations
Lessons learnt
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The Preco Policy Recommendations report addresses the main challenges related to regulatory, institutional and competence barriers to applying PCP in Europe. Recommendations are given for advancing the application and use of PCP, highlighting the selected aspects of PCP that the PreCo consortium considers as the priorities at this stage of the PCP implementation in Europe
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Policy Recommendations:
Recommendation 1: Clear and pronounced policy level support for PCP uptake
Recommendation 2: Invest in awareness raising, education and training
Recommendation 3: Financing common challenges - ensuring deployment and real business
Recommendation 4: More systematic stakeholder and User involvement
Recommendation 5: Focus on Evaluation and impact assessment – cost/benefit analysis
Recommendation 6: Competition management - market stimulation –
SMES involvement in PCP
Recommendation 7: Interoperability for sustainability and user acceptance of the systems
Scope: Cross-border, International, Local (city or municipality), National, Pan-European, Regional (sub-national)