How Belgium’s FPS BOSA used EIC SPIN4EIC support to embed innovation in procurement
- ›Belgium’s Federal Public Service Policy and Support used the EIC Innovation Procurement Programme powered by SPIN4EIC to strengthen its approach to innovation procurement.
- ›Support focused on preparing two Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions procedures in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
- ›Assistance covered needs assessment, market engagement, business case development and procurement design using structured methodologies such as EAFIP.
- ›SPIN4EIC and the wider EIC Business Acceleration Services aim to open procurement markets to innovative SMEs but assistance is limited to preparatory stages and does not guarantee procurement outcomes.
Belgium’s FPS BOSA embeds innovation in public procurement with EIC SPIN4EIC support
In early 2026 Belgium’s Federal Public Service Policy and Support, known as FPS BOSA, received hands-on support from the EIC Innovation Procurement Programme powered by SPIN4EIC to accelerate the preparation of two Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions procedures. The targeted work focused on practical steps that public buyers routinely find difficult. FPS BOSA concentrated on needs identification, market engagement, building a business case and drafting procurement documentation for projects in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. The case highlights how external, funded assistance can move a public authority from strategic intent to concrete procurement design.
What is PPI and why public buyers use it
The Belgian case emphasises a practical truth. Innovation procurement only delivers value when it is grounded in clear use cases. Without structured problem definitions and early market dialogue procurement risks becoming a speculative exercise for both buyers and suppliers.
How the EIC SPIN4EIC assistance was structured
SPIN4EIC operates as the Strategic Innovation Procurement initiative within the EIC Business Acceleration Services. It provides two linked tracks. One track helps EIC-backed innovators navigate procurement markets. The other offers funded assistance to public buyers to plan and run innovation procurement. Support is delivered through open calls, targeted toolkits, academies and matchmaking events.
| Assistance Area | What was offered | Notes |
| Identification and assessment of needs | Techniques to define public challenges and translate strategic priorities into use cases. Methods include voice of the client, working groups with users, WIBGIF, value methodologies and LEAN techniques. | Up to 5 person-days expert assistance per assistance type in the SPIN4EIC open call. |
| Building a business case | Support with cost benefit analysis, value calculations and scenario comparison to assess the cost of action versus the cost of inaction. | Aimed at converting identified needs into credible procurement projects. |
| Open market consultation | Help preparing market consultation documents, RFI questionnaires and outreach events and preparing Prior Information Notices for TED. Includes legal and business advice for compliant market engagement. | Designed to elicit supplier input and verify technological maturity. |
| Drafting tender documents | Assistance drafting tender specifications, model contracts and notices. Includes advice on procurement strategy, IPR provisions and contractual set ups such as framework agreements. | Focused on enabling SME and start-up access to tenders. |
Practical steps emphasised in the FPS BOSA work
Who can apply and how the open call works
Applicants should note limitations. Support focuses on preparatory activities. The open call explicitly does not fund the costs of proposal preparation for Horizon Europe calls. If a project already receives EU funding for the same preparatory costs those activities are not eligible for duplication under SPIN4EIC. Contracting authorities are required to state in their market communications that they benefited from SPIN4EIC assistance.
Where SPIN4EIC sits in the EIC ecosystem
SPIN4EIC forms part of the EIC Business Acceleration Services. The EIC BAS runs a portfolio of services designed to help EIC awardees scale, find partners and access markets. Complementary initiatives include InnoBuyer, which pilots co-creation between public challengers and EIC-backed solvers, and InnoMatch, which supports proof-of-concept pilots between buyers and EIC cohort companies. The broader EIC BAS reports a range of impact metrics such as one on one meetings and pilot projects. Those headline numbers indicate traction but they do not guarantee individual procurement or commercial success.
Limitations and realistic expectations
Assistance such as the one given to FPS BOSA is valuable but not transformative on its own. It reduces capability gaps in the preparatory phase. Successful procurement still needs political buy-in, dedicated procurement budgets, time for legal review and a market that is ready to supply at scale. The assistance is also constrained by the amount of expert time offered under the open call and by rules that prevent double funding of the same preparatory costs. Finally, public buyers must accept that procurement outcomes depend on many variables beyond advisory support.
Implications for innovators and public buyers
For innovative SMEs and start-ups PPI backed by public buyers can create a practical pathway to scale. Validation under operational conditions helps lower customer acquisition risk and can become a springboard to new contracts. For public administrations, structured procurement that follows EAFIP principles provides a better chance of deploying fit for purpose solutions and of avoiding procurement disputes. However both sides must manage expectations. Funded advisory support shortens the learning curve but does not remove the need for solid procurement governance and long term investment in adoption.
| Stakeholder | What they gain | What remains necessary |
| Public buyers | Faster design of innovation-ready tenders and external expertise on market outreach | Budget, legal clearance and operational readiness to implement and scale solutions |
| SMEs and start-ups | Access to deployment opportunities and reference customers through PPI | Ability to deliver at scale and to meet public procurement contract requirements |
| EIC and SPIN4EIC | A channel to promote uptake of EIC-backed innovations | Sustained engagement and measurable procurement outcomes to validate impact |
How to find out more or request support
Public buyers interested in assistance could apply through the SPIN4EIC open call while it was active and via the EIC Community platform. EIC beneficiaries can access free support to prepare tenders through SPIN4EIC and related initiatives. SPIN4EIC also runs an Innovation Procurement Academy and an online Community with thematic groups and resources. Interested parties should consult the EIC Innovation Procurement Programme pages and the SPIN4EIC community for current calls, academies and contact points.
Conclusion
The FPS BOSA case illustrates that short, targeted advisory interventions can help a public buyer convert strategic ambition into concrete procurement design. The combination of needs analysis, market engagement and contract drafting is the core work that determines whether innovation procurement produces real deployments. SPIN4EIC and the EIC Business Acceleration Services provide a useful toolkit to bridge capability gaps. Policymakers and procurers must however remain realistic about limits to what advisory support alone can achieve and be prepared to commit the budgets and implementation capacity required to deliver results.