📋 Tender Overview
Grant agreement ID: 101319081
DOI
10.3030/101319081
EC signature date
21 September 2026
Start date
1 October 2026
End date
30 September 2030
Funded under
European innovation ecosystems
Objective
Innovation procurement is recognised as a key lever for increased R&I uptake and investment. However, the landscape of innovation procurement in Europe is fragmented and capacities are uneven. This leads to an insufficient uptake of PCP/PPI instruments, low SME awareness, weak policy frameworks and low cross-border collaboration. P2Ioneers as a European network of national competence centres has the goal to expand existing centres, set up new ones, strengthen services, support buyer groups, promote PCP/PPI, and to drive policy mainstreaming. It is the continuation and expansion of procure2innovate (P2I) - the European Network of Competence Centres for Innovation Procurement. P2I was established in 2018 and received H2020 funding until 2021. The new network will add six new competence centres, expand services of 10 existing competence centres and create capacity for improved uptake of innovations as well as better collaboration with political decision makers. Going beyond the requirements of the call, P2Ioneers will work with a second cohort of candidates from four additional members states which will start implementation of their new competence centre in year 2. The project is structured through three action pillars: Pillar (1) Network Consolidation & Capacity Building, Pillar (2) Joint Services & Innovation Procurement Practice and Pillar (3) Policy Integration & Long-Term Sustainability. The project moves from more basic activities (capacity building) to activities of cross-border collaboration (joint services, buyers groups), further to engage with actors of the quadruple helix (SME engagement and OMC events) to long term societal changes (network exploitation strategy and policy frameworks). Thus P2Ioneers will increase capacity, number of PCP/PPI and PMCs and SME participation in innovative tenders. This will foster a modern and sustainable public sector, long-term savings, a stronger single market and European competitiveness.
