The impact of EU funding

Current results of Horizon 2020 funded PCP procurements published

The European Union has funding available for innovative public procurement projects under Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020. Funding is for both pre-commercial (PCP) and innovative (PPI) procurement. This updated results from May 2019 focus on funded PCP projects.

Pre-commercial Procurement (PCP) includes development work for a new solution without the obligation to purchase solution. EU-funded projects have brought buyers, companies and researchers from across Europe together to tackle current challenges. There is 29 PCP projects funded, of which 12 have been completed, 10 are in the procurement phase and 7 are in the market mapping or tendering phase.

 

Public procurers and companies from Finland

The projects that have received funding have so far involved six Finnish procurement units. Finnish procurement units have participated for example in projects called Silver, SELECT for Cities, FABULOS and Broadway.

The Silver project, which ended in the fall of 2016, tried to find new technological solutions to support the everyday life and home of older people. The aim of the SELECT for Cities project, which is in the procurement phase, is to create a common platform for public sector that will allow large-scale utilization of the knowledge accumulated in the cities. The use of self-driving buses for urban transport is focus of the FABULOS project, which is also in the procurement phase. The Broadway project, started in early 2018, is focused on developing an EU-wide broadband solution for public authorities, which will confirm, among other things, the international compatibility of tools.

In addition to the procurers that have received funding, eight Finnish companies have been involved in the procurement contracts of all the funded projects so far.

 

High participation activity throughout the projects

Depending on the project, a total of 70-300 companies and researchers have been involved in the market study phase, which has provided important insights for the preparation of the procurement, both from across Europe and beyond. The tender documents have been downloaded 50-300 times per procurement and the final number of bidders has been 10-50 on average.

The contracts concluded so far have involved 110 procurement units in various groups, which have concluded 151 contracts with 312 companies and 56 universities or research institutes. The total value of the procurement contract has been minimum 450 000 € and maximum 9 million €.

Projects creating growth and jobs in Europe

The funded projects have opened route-to-the market particularly to SMEs. Even 61,5 % of the total value of all PCP contracts concluded so far goes to SMEs. It is more than twice of the average number in public procurement across Europe (29 %).

The number of winning companies that are coming from different countries than suppliers has increased. 33,1 % of the winning bidders are from a different country than the procurement units, while the corresponding number across Europe is generally 1,7 %.

The projects also contribute to accelerating the commercialization of scientific research results. A total of 30 % of the winning consortiums includes universities or research institutes, often together with university startups.

Solutions developed in the projects

Experience from funded projects has shown that PCP projects between different countries give public procurers the opportunity to steer industry development towards their own needs. Closer collaboration between procurers, companies and universities makes it possible to create compatible solutions and reduces the risk of locking in one supplier. In fact, 60 % of procurers told that they had chosen PCP especially to get more transparent and compatible solutions.

The procurers of completed projects have found that the solutions developed in the projects improve both quality and effectiveness. More than half of the procurers have already implemented the developed solutions, and a quarter of the procurers are preparing to procurement of developed solutions on a larger scale with a greater group of procurers.

There is 40 different solutions on the market developed in completed projects.

 

This article is written based on the information from European Commission website, which you can find from here.

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