Procurement as policy: awards recognise regional strategy and a digital twin for greener infrastructure

On 20 March 2024 the European Innovation Procurement Awards were presented at the Innovation Procurement Conference organised under the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in collaboration with the European Commission and the European Innovation Council. The ceremony was presided over by Jo Brouns, Flemish Minister for Economy, Innovation, Work, Social Economy, and Agriculture and Elisa Ferreira, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms.

Winners and prizes

Two entries took the top prizes in the event that emphasises procurement as a route to stimulate innovation and meet societal goals. Sardegna Ricerche’s Group for Innovation Procurement (GPI) won in the Innovation procurement initiative category. BEAM CUBE’s REGEN3TIQ solution won in the Facing societal challenges “green energy transition” category. Each winner receives a EUR 75 000 prize.

What the winners delivered

Sardegna Ricerche’s GPI was recognised for creating a regional action plan for innovation procurement and for organising a Group for Innovation Procurement that encourages and supports public buyers in Sardinia to adopt innovation procurement practices. The award highlights the role of regional action plans and institutional networks in lifting the capacity of public buyers to procure novel solutions.

BEAM CUBE’s REGEN3TIQ received the prize for an advanced digital twin solution that the submission says reduces energy consumption and the lifecycle ecological footprint of public infrastructure and construction works. The entry frames the digital twin not only as a design and simulation tool but as a platform that ties purchasing, maintenance and asset management cycles to lifecycle environmental performance.

Official reactions

European Commissioner Iliana Ivanova congratulated the winners and framed the awards as recognition of projects that both foster innovation and address pressing societal challenges. Flemish Minister Jo Brouns stressed that innovation procurement is essential to accelerate the EU’s digital and green transition and described the awards as a showcase of excellence in procurement practice across Europe.

Why procurement matters and how awards fit EU policy

Explainer: digital twins and lifecycle impact claims

BEAM³’s public materials describe the company as constructing a “living” digital twin platform that aims to maintain a single reference model of an asset throughout ideation, construction and operation. The platform reportedly integrates collaborative cloud tools and industrial product lifecycle management concepts to ensure data continuity and to inform decision making.

Awards recognise design and potential but they are not the same as independent verification of impact. Claims that a digital twin reduces total energy consumption and lifecycle footprint need to be tested in operational deployments and validated through measurable key performance indicators over time.

How the prize is organised and why it is relevant for innovators

The European Innovation Procurement Awards are supported by the European Innovation Council work programme under Horizon Europe. They are designed to spotlight real life cases where public and private buyers have successfully applied innovation procurement practices. The awards emphasise close buyer supplier cooperation, scalability and contribution to policy objectives such as the green transition.

Practical implications and remaining questions

Recognition at a Europe level can help raise visibility and attract partners for pilot projects or scaling. For public procurers the award winners offer case studies to learn from. For suppliers and start ups the awards underline procurement as a route to market beyond traditional investor channels.

However there are practical hurdles. Scaling procurement innovations across jurisdictions requires changes to buyer capacity, procurement rules, budgets and risk tolerance. Technical solutions such as digital twins require integration with legacy asset management systems and governance mechanisms that ensure data quality and continuity across the lifecycle. Independent evidence of energy and footprint reductions will be important to convince conservative procurement teams and to secure wider deployment funding.

What to watch next

Follow up indicators to judge the awards’ longer term impact include replication of the Sardinia action plan in other regions, documented procurement rounds that adopt GPI methods, and public infrastructure deployments where REGEN3TIQ demonstrably reduces energy use or lifecycle emissions with monitored KPIs. The European Innovation Council and EISMEA will continue to feature such initiatives in their programmes and events, and the EU prize process itself is repeated across later editions.

Contacts and further information

More details on the awards and past winners are available through the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency. The EU runs additional tools for innovators including EIC funding, coaching and the EIC Fund. For public buyers there are competence centres and national contact points that support innovation procurement practice and cross border replication.