Market solutions and new models for utilising innovations in the development of public services
Innovation is one of the most important support areas in Northern Ostrobothnia. Attention tends to focus on creating new innovations, and the challenges that follow tend to receive less attention. The PREPARE – Ready for Procurement Innovation project aims to better mobilise the innovation chain and promote the practical use of innovations. New solutions available on the market can be used to develop public services. The aim is also to prepare a follow-up project to produce concrete innovative procurements.
1st semester of data acquisition, analysis and reporting
The practical implementation of the project began with interviews with various innovation actors. The interviewees are financiers, programme strategy managers. In addition, a comprehensive survey has been conducted to assess the awareness and capacity of subscribers and service providers to promote innovative procurement. The data collection phases have been carried out in all participating regions in Spain, Sweden, Romania and Finland.
In the spring, group events have been organised to highlight the project's objectives and collect feedback, as well as to work on the innovative procurement process and management needs through a joint discussion. Workshops have been organised in February and May. In April, a focus group was convened, whose task is to create connections to regional development and provide feedback on the implementation of the project in general.
In addition to data collection and analysis, communication materials and policies have been prepared. The project coordinator, TicBioMed, is responsible for the overall communication. The project areas use common communication material to build communication that describes the situation and objectives of the area.
2nd semester combines the views and needs of the regions into an action plan
The second part of the project aims at clarifying and harmonising the knowledge gathered on the utilisation of innovations into a joint action plan that operates at several regional levels. At local level, the Action Plan promotes regional innovation and more innovative procurement. The project level provides insights and successful examples from other regions. The PREPARE project also aims to contribute to the exploitation of innovations and the promotion of innovative procurement in the European Union.
PREPARE uses several communication channels:
Website: Prepare4innovation – Get ready for innovation procurement
LinkedIn: ‘prepare project’ | Search | LinkedIn
City of Oulu Procurement Manager Johanna Lahdenperä's view of procurements: Prepare Oulu (youtube.com)
PREPARE's strong European project consortium
The project is coordinated by TicBioMed from Spain and the other project partners are INFO from Spain, Innovation Skåne and Region Skåne from Sweden, Rohealth and BIRDA from Romani, and the City of Oulu (Group Administration and BusinessOulu). The project will run for 2024 with a total budget of EUR 675 000 and is funded from the Horizon Europe EIE-2023-CONNECT-01-02 call. The role of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia is to prepare and promote regional policies. The City of Oulu will make use of the project's own procurement experience in drawing up the action plan and will use it in future procurements.
Council of Oulu Region
Mikko Väisänen
Head of Research and Development
Tel. +358 40 352 4928
mikko.vaisanen@pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi
City of Oulu/Group administration
Helena Ylisirniö
M.A., Project Manager/PREPARE
Tel. +358 40 352 4928
helena.t.ylisirnio@ouka.fi
