First European Innovation Procurement Awards 2021 names six finalists
- ›The inaugural European Innovation Procurement Awards (EUIPA) shortlisted six finalists across three categories.
- ›Winners were to be announced at the EIC Summit on 25 November 2021 with prizes of EUR 75 000 for each category winner.
- ›Finalists include public procurers and procurement programmes from Spain, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.
- ›The awards aim to promote innovation procurement as a route to modernise public services and open markets for innovative suppliers.
European Innovation Procurement Awards 2021: six finalists advance to the final round
The first edition of the European Innovation Procurement Awards selected six finalists on 4 November 2021. The awards are organised under the European Innovation Council and supported by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency. Three independent high level juries reviewed applications and conducted remote interviews with eleven applicants before narrowing the field to six finalists across three categories.
The finalists
| Category | Finalist 1 | Finalist 2 | Country |
| Innovation procurement strategy | INNO-AHA SERGAS | NCBR-IS | Spain, Poland |
| Facing societal challenges | IHSI | WBL PCP and PPI | Belgium, The Netherlands |
| Procurement leadership | C-SOC SDAPA ICT | MS-1 | Italy, Poland |
The finalists are presented in alphabetical order within each category. The announcement highlighted the diversity of participating procurers and approaches. The awards recognise both actions that set procurement strategies and specific procurement exercises that address societal needs.
Procedure, prizes and next steps
Three independent juries of experts conducted a multi stage selection. Shortlisted applicants took part in remote interviews. The winners and runners up for each category were scheduled to be announced at the European Innovation Council Summit on 25 November 2021. Prize money was committed as follows. Each category winner would receive EUR 75 000. Each runner up would receive EUR 25 000. All finalists were to be invited to a peer group of procurers to exchange good practices and showcase experiments.
| Item | Detail | Timing |
| Award ceremony | EIC Summit | 25 November 2021 |
| Winner prize | EUR 75 000 per category | |
| Runner up prize | EUR 25 000 per runner up | |
| Finalists networking | Group of pioneering procurers invited to share practices |
What the awards seek to promote
The EUIPA is intended to surface procurement practices that deliberately seek innovative solutions rather than merely buying existing products. The Commission presents innovation procurement as a tool to modernise public services and to create a route to market for new entrants and small firms. The awards sit among several EIC prizes that aim to recognise actors shaping Europe’s innovation ecosystem.
Context in the EU innovation ecosystem
The awards are managed under the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency. They are part of a portfolio of EIC prizes that includes the European Prize for Women Innovators, the European Capital of Innovation Awards and the European Social Innovation Competition. The EIC framework sits within Horizon Europe, the EU’s flagship research and innovation programme. EISMEA supports implementation and outreach for these awards and related activities.
Procurement can indeed be an important instrument to pull innovation to market. However the actual economic and social impact depends on scale and follow up. Cash awards and recognition provide visibility and modest financial support. Transformational effects require sustained public procurement programmes, consistent budgets, coordination across government levels and a pipeline of repeatable procurements that startups and SMEs can realistically access. The EU prize framework helps by showcasing examples but it does not by itself address the deeper barriers to SME participation in public procurement.
How to follow the awards and contact
The winners were to be announced at the EIC Summit on 25 November 2021. Interested stakeholders can follow the European Innovation Council and EISMEA communications channels for updates. The European Innovation Procurement Awards team can be reached at EISMEA-EUIPAwards@ec.europa.eu.
How these awards fit into broader EU aims
EU policy promotes demand side innovation as a complement to traditional research funding. Innovation procurement is explicitly referenced in Horizon Europe as a mechanism to accelerate the green and digital transitions, foster competitiveness and increase uptake of novel solutions in public services. The awards aim to create examples that other procurers can replicate across member states. The long term policy objective is to reduce structural barriers that inhibit innovative SMEs from competing for public contracts, such as overly prescriptive technical specifications, unrealistic risk allocation and procurement processes that favour incumbents.
For observers of EU innovation policy the EUIPA announcement offers a useful signal on priorities and a short list of practical cases to study. For policymakers the challenge remains to convert recognition into systematic change in procurement practice and market structure.