Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions (PPI)

European Commission definition of Public procurement of innovative solutions

What is Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions?

Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions (PPI) is the procurement of innovative solutions that have already completed the R&D process but are not yet available on a large commercial scale. The contracting authority acts as a launch customer or an early adopter. The contracting authority does not need to have been involved with the PCP and research and development process in order to be an early adopter of the innovation. It should be noted that even if the contracting authority has participated in the PCP process, they must still undertake a competitive procurement process before choosing the most suitable supplier.

The below diagram from the EAFIP Toolkit shows the different phases of PCP and PPI.

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Region, “Pre-commercial procurement: driving innovation to ensure sustainable high quality public services in Europe”, COM(2007) 799 final, 14.12.2007 © European Union

When Should Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions be used?

PPI can commence after a PCP process has been completed or if a new innovative solution is developed and is nearly ready for the market. As the contracting authority may not have gone through the PCP or R&D process for this good/service they can verify it through conformance testing, certification or quality labelling of solutions as well as in depth discussions with the supplier. An appropriate risk assessment should also be undertaken to examine the appropriateness of commencing PPI. It is important to always consider the desired goals and aims of using this new innovative good/service.

How to use PPI – Steps

1. Undertake preliminary market consultations to check for solutions in the market, including new and non-commercialised solutions.

2. Form sufficient demand that will incentivise the market to scale up.

3. Make an early announcement through eTenders of the innovation needs (with the required functionality/performance and possible also price requirements). Contracting authorities can publish a Prior Information Notice (PIN) to alert the market to a planned procurement. Contracting authorities can attach a consultation document (such as a Request for Information, survey or questionnaire) to the preliminary market consultation or PIN to gather information from the market, and can associate a PIN with a subsequent call for tender.

4. Advertise the contract on eTenders using one the existing procurement procedures provided for in the Directives.

Public Procurement of Innovative solutions

Procurement rules, regulations and guidance to consider

When using PPI it is important to consider the EU Directives, Regulations and guidelines as below:

• EU Directive 2014/24: EU Procurement Directive
• S.I. No. 284/2016 - European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016
• National Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services

Some examples of PPI can be found below:

Further information

For frequently asked questions in relation to Innovation Procurement please see our Innovation Procurement Frequently Asked Questions.

Any public sector body interested in learning more about PPI can contact the OGP via support@ogp.gov.ie