Recognising the efforts done by public and private buyers to promote and implement innovation procurement across Europe.

Innovation procurement boosts the process of transforming research results and ideas into innovative solutions. It represents an untapped potential to stimulate the demand for innovation. By using innovation procurement, the public and private sectors can provide state-of-the-art services and goods to the society and, at the same time, offer new growth and commercialisation opportunities for suppliers of disruptive solutions, particularly start-ups and SMEs.

The European Innovation Procurement Awards aim to recognise public and private buyers, natural persons and those legal entities supporting these practices across Europe in their efforts to promote and stimulate innovation procurement and the innovative ways the solutions are procured.

The Awards also aims to demonstrate how innovation procurement positively transforms the economy by not only creating new and sustainable markets, but also by tackling societal challenges such as climate change. 

Categories

In 2022, the second edition of European Innovation Procurement Awards is featuring three categories:

• Innovation procurement strategy category: to reward holistic and dedicated strategy/action plan that trigger sustainable innovation procurement practices.
• Facing societal challenges category: to reward those innovative procurement practises aimed to face covid-19 pandemic and/or its consequences during the recovery phase.
• Procurement leadership category: to reward the outstanding individuals and/or legal entities that create strong role models; who empower others to succeed in the use and further deployment of innovation procurement; or develop, support and promote the establishment of new innovative procurement practices within the innovation ecosystem.

Each category will reward the winner with EUR 75 000 and one runner-up with EUR 25 000.

Participants can only apply to one of the three categories with the same application and set of activities.

See Rules of contest for more details of the competition.

Apply for the Innovation procurement strategy category

 Apply for the Facing societal challenges category

 Apply for the Procurement leadership category

Who should apply?

 The contest is open to any public and private buyers, natural persons and those legal entities supporting these practices located in one of the EU Member States or Associated Countries to Horizon Europe.

1. For the innovation procurement strategy and the facing societal challenges categories, eligible applicants are any public and/or private procurer, as well as individuals/natural persons;
2. For the procurement leadership category, eligible applicants are any public and/or private procurer, individuals/natural persons and/or legal entities supporting procurement practices;
3. The awarded procurement practice must have taken place in a Member State (including overseas countries and territories, OCTs) or in an Associated Country to Horizon Europe;
4. For the Innovation procurement strategy and the Facing societal challenges category, the awarded procurement practice must relate to completed or ongoing initiatives started after 1 January 2018.
5. Applicants that have already received an EU or Euratom prize cannot receive a second prize for the same activities.
6. Winners of former European Innovation Procurement Awards editions, as well as runners-up of the 2021 edition are not eligible;

Award Criteria

1. Transformation – stimulating the conversion of procurement practices towards innovation procurement with the aim to ensure a sustainable and inclusive growth.
2. Uptake – the innovative procurement practice is replicable and scalable, and therefore, contributes to providing, more efficient and effective solutions.
3. Collaboration – demonstrated co-operation linked to the innovation procurement practice. Special attention should be paid to the establishment of synergies, to the promotion of best practices, to the support to capacity building and skill development, and to the efforts of knowledge sharing between stakeholders within the different territories, especially among those at different state of maturity in innovation procurement practices.
4. Societal impact – practices with a demonstrated positive quantitative and qualitative impact on society, with special emphasis to achieving the green deal and digital transformation priorities.