There are currently five Innovation Public Procurement (IPP) Competency Centres in Europe, one of which in neighbouring country Spain. Taking into account the importance of this instrument for, on one hand, bringing more innovative public services to people and, on the other, motivating technological development in their countries, five other members of the European Union will each develop such centres during the next few years. The Portuguese structure is currently in the implementation planning phase and is being developed by the National Agency for Innovation (ANI), which, in turn, has partnered with the IMPIC - Institute of Public Markets, Real Estate and Construction in this mission.

The first international seminar in Portugal regarding this topic, which took place on October 16 in Lisbon, and organized by ANI, allowed for a sharing of experiences - a decisive step for a country currently lacking in terms of IPP. According to João Santiago Dentinho of the IMPIC, this happens because “public purchasers are oblivious to IPP and the instruments at their disposal.” This landscape was also highlighted by ANI’s president, Eduardo Maldonado.

In Spain, the Center for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) has contributed, according to Beatriz Torralba, project manager of the Innovation Procurement Office, to a strong promotion of IPP in neighbouring country Spain in 2011 and 2012. An evolution which was stalled due to the financial crisis in 2013, subsequently leading to an underutilization of the instrument, which currently subsists due to European funds. In spite of the problems, which are almost all traversal to the remaining existing competency centres in Austria, Germany, Holland and Sweden - namely a lack of financial incentives, absence of a structured and strategic IPP action plan, as well as a lack of training - Spain is one of the European countries with greater developed IPP, with interesting success stories mainly in Galicia, Catalonia and Andaluzia.

The Public Transportation Society of Porto (STCP) is one of the first entities in Portugal to be involved in an IPP process. FABULOS (Future Automated Bus Urban Level Operation Systems) shall be led by Forum Virium Helsinki, of Finland, and will undergo testing in the municipal district of Lamia, Greece.
Besides these, many other IPP case studies were presented, namely:

• Industryhack, Finland;
• LBCoin hackathon, Bank of Lithuania;
• Public transportations of Ventspils, a city of Latvia, with 38.6 thousand inhabitants;
• Digital Innovation Smart eHub, Romania, which seeks to improve the low digitalization rate of that country’s economy.

At the seminar, the people responsible for the Competency Centers of Austria, Germany, Spain, Holland and Sweden, presented the services that they have made available, as well as the successes and failures of a vastly complexity portfolio, albeit with obvious benefits to their countries, citizens and enterprises.

Within the scope of the Technological and Business Innovation Strategy for 2018-2030, ANI is committed to contribute towards driving IPP in sectors of strategic interest - such as health, space, biotechnology, agriculture, agroindustry or the maritime sector. Innovation public procurement seeks to balance supply and demand, but at the same time become an important instrument for driving innovation and R&D activities, for enterprises as well as public procurement entities of products and services.

Besides Portugal, the other countries which are also planning to implement IPP Competency Centers are Estonia, Greece, Ireland and Italy.