Reinforcing synergies between experimentation spaces and innovation procurement

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes: Advancing public sector modernization by capitalising on the transformational power of innovative technologies to improve the quality and efficiency of public services; Reinforce EU strategic autonomy and increase resilience in the supply chains by opening up opportunities for innovative companies, including notably SMEs and startups, to access the public procurement market and scale up their business; Improving opportunities for market uptake and economies of scale for the supply side through increased demand for innovative solutions and where relevant contribution to standardisation, regulation or certification; It is expected that if PCP results in the successful innovative solutions than at least one of those will be ready for deployment or even being already deployed in the project. Supporting the uptake of innovative and sustainable solutions through collaborative procurement approaches that encourage safer and more efficient practices in public sector applications. Scope: This topic aims to shorten the time to market for innovations by reinforcing synergies between innovation procurement and experimentation spaces such as test beds, livings labs or regulatory sandboxes. While public buyers often do not use experimentation spaces to test before they invest, companies also too often only start looking for potential customers, verifying regulatory compliance and product certification after R&D is finished, which delays commercialisation. This action enables innovators to develop and test innovative solutions immediately in cooperation with public buyers and where relevant also with competent regulatory and certification bodies. This specific challenge tackles both the gap between supply and demand for innovative solutions and the lack of cooperation of buyers with test beds, living labs, regulatory authorities and certification bodies during R&D. It targets therefore consortia of public buyers with similar procurement needs to drive innovation from the demand side, by together challenging the market to develop innovative solutions and by cooperating with test beds, living labs and where applicable with regulatory and certification bodies to remove regulatory and/or certification barriers for innovative solutions to enter the market in Europe. Cooperating with regulatory authorities has the specific benefit that then the testing environment of the PCP procurement can serve also as a regulatory sandbox. By fostering innovation procurement and opening a route to the …