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About EcoQUIP Plus
EcoQUIP Plus is a collaborative innovation procurement project that builds on its highly successful predecessor (EcoQUIP), and other related projects on public procurement for innovation (PPI). These projects were aimed at demonstrating how pro-innovation procurement methods help to improve the efficiency, quality and sustainability of healthcare. This included direct interventions in the procurement processes of individual hospitals in a number of EU Member States that produced some impressive innovation outcomes and learning.
In this follow-on project, in addition to developing the pro-innovation capability of individual partner hospitals, the aim will be to address directly the need to: connect EU supported R&D to procurement outcomes; to improve the use of the innovation potential in SME’s to support healthcare outcomes and to strengthen market demand for innovation by improving the capability of hospitals to engage in multilateral and collaborative actions. Options and opportunities for joint procurement will be actively sought where they are feasible and add value in terms of outcomes and innovation. However, the need to align budgets and timelines is a serious impediment to joint procurement for both buyers and suppliers. Therefore, as well as mechanisms for cross-border joint procurement, other options for joined-up procurements that have been shown to be effective at engaging suppliers and demonstrating credible joint demand will be explored and actively exploited.
Objectives
The specific objectives of EcoQUIP Plus are therefore to:
- Implement five leader-led innovation procurement (PPI) projects within the healthcare sector in important challenge areas that have good potential for aggregation of demand and wider replication.
- Develop and test mechanisms for collaborative and joint procurement actions within the consortium and with 3rd party buyers at different stages of the innovation procurement life cycle and beyond.
- Implement a wide variety of market engagement actions aimed at catalysing interest from potential solution providers including innovative SMEs and EU-funded project beneficiaries.
- Build and enable buyer groups that extend beyond the country, or region, of the lead hospital for most, if not all, of the leader-led projects.
Work packages
There are five main work packages:
1. Project management and coordination
Ensuring professional management, budget control and coordination.
2. Leader-led innovation procurements
Implement five leader-led, collaborative PPI projects each led by a hospital in a different European country, each addressing an important challenge area that has good potential for aggregation of demand and wide replication; to build capacity in collaborative innovation procurement and identify new challenges to be addressed in future projects.
3. Facilitate collaborative actions
Explore and engage different options to facilitate coordination and collaboration between hospitals to create a credible market demand for the innovation targets; establish links and synergies with national and European R&D; and actively identify, engage and inform SMEs about PPI and the procurement opportunities.
4. Dissemination
Share the lessons from the project with other stakeholders and thus multiply the overall impacts of the project.