Direção de Projectos (DP)

The first Portuguese Competence Centre for Public Innovation Procurement, which will provide services to empower public innovation buyers and suppliers, was presented last October 13^th at 11 a.m. at the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transition.

The value of Public Procurement for Public Innovation (PPI) in Portugal ranges between 635 million and 1.3 billion euros per year. Portugal is, therefore, one of the European countries with the greatest margin of progress in PPI-friendly public policies. The implementation of a Portuguese Competence Centre for Public Innovation Procurement aims to provide services that will foster the expansion of knowledge on PPI in all public contracting entities and work towards improving market conditions to bring supply and demand closer together.

João Neves, Deputy Secretary of State for Economy, opened the presentation session, stating that the way to promote PPI in Europe requires the existence of a ‘network of Competence Centres that may allow the exchange of experiences’ and ‘evolve together in this domain.’ In this context, he considers the creation of the new national Competence Centre ‘a very relevant step’ that ‘must itself be permanently renewed from the point of view of process innovation.’

Cristina Sousa, from ISCTE, responsible for the coordination of the study on the Public Procurement Market in Portugal, also spoke at the ceremony, emphasising the importance of clarifying procedures and disseminating good practices to achieve a good level of competences in the area of PPI. Luís Ferreira, from ANI, presented in detail the new Competence Centre, whose main objective is to ‘within a period of 5 years after its creation, change the status of this low national performance in Public Procurement for Innovation.’

This was followed by the signing of the protocol to formalise the Centre for Innovation Procurement, made official by the Chairman of IMPIC’s Board of Directors, Fernando Batista, and ANI’s Director, João Borga.

Jorge Delgado, Secretary of State for Infrastructures, closed the session and emphasised that ‘in the times we are living in, there will be no success if there is no innovation, research, technological development, if we don’t seek the best solutions with what, for sure, even without us knowing, is already available.’

The creation of the Portuguese Competence Centre for Public Innovation Procurement results from a partnership between ANI and IMPIC.

ANI study reveals that PPI may triple by 2030

‘Public procurement market in Portugal’, a pioneering study on the market potential of public procurement for innovation in Portugal, developed by ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon for ANI, estimates that, by 2030, Portugal could almost triple its capacity in this area.

For ANI’s Chairwoman, Joana Mendonça: ‘Talking about PPI is referring to an important instrument for inducing innovation and R&D activities, both in companies and in public entities that purchase products and services. There has been a remarkable amount of strategic procurement, namely green, sustainable and circular public procurement, which aim to enable public entities to acquire goods, products and services with more sustainable and efficient requirements, so as to have a reduced impact on the environment and a more positive impact on the economy. The pandemic has also shown us that it is imperative to have a more autonomous and resilient economy in strategic sectors such as health. PPI meets all these essential needs for recovery we are currently seeking.’

The study commissioned by ANI to ISCTE estimates a current value of PPI in Portugal ranging between 637 million euros and 1.3 billion euros, below that of economies with the same level of development, but having the potential to grow to values between 1.9 and 3.8 billion euros per year, like those achieved in substantially wealthier countries such as the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands.

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