The report explains to public buyers what market engagement is, why they should engage with the market, and what the best steps to do so are.

This dialogue-based, strategic approach looks beyond the tendering phase to develop relationships with the market before and after tendering. One common format is hosting a dialogue event. However, organising such an event is not as straightforward. This guide aims to support public authorities in this regard by providing a set of practical steps on how to plan a market dialogue event, online or in-person.

This document gives a brief overview of the legal frameworks underpinning market engagement aiming to enable public buyers to practice dialogue.
The overview provides a legal background beyond a specific format of engagement, outlining regulation on Competitive Dialogue, the Negotiated Procedure or Innovation Partnership. In addition, the document details how some countries have regulated market engagement based on the EU directives.

This study for the European Commission focuses on due diligence requirements to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for abuses of human rights, including the rights of the child and fundamental freedoms, serious bodily injury or health risks, environmental damage, including with respect to climate.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), one of the fastest-growing technologies in recent years, has the potential to play a mission-driven role in cities’ climate action plans. The AI4Cities project aims to harness this potential by bringing together leading European cities looking for energy and mobility solutions to reduce GHG emissions and support their climate action commitments towards carbon neutrality. Helsinki (Finland), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Copenhagen (Denmark), Paris region (France), Stavanger (Norway) and Tallinn (Estonia) are the six European cities and regions involved in this project.

In AI4Cities, these six cities will go through a Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) process. PCP is an innovation procurement tool to stimulate market innovation as it enables the public sector to steer the development of new solutions directly towards its needs.

In this context, the six cities will define the needs and requirements of the energy and mobility solutions to be developed, and challenge start-ups, SMEs and companies to design innovative solutions applying the use of AI and related enabling digital technologies, such as 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and big data applications.

The AI4Cities project is divided into five main phases (0-4): one preparatory phase (0), three standard PCP phases (1 – solutions design, 2 – prototype phase, and 3 – prototype testing phase) and one final impact assessment and follow up phase (4). A group of follower cities will be recruited throughout the project to enhance the market uptake of the developed solutions.

Explanatory video about early dialogue/market dialogue. Targeted at political decision makers, and strategic and operative public procurers.

European Commission Webinar on sustainable procurement of food with an emphasis on the role of market engagement and with examples from Copenhagen, Denmark and Turin, Italy.

European Commission Webinar on using market engagement for the uptake of GPP, legal considerations, the supplier perspective and an example from Austria. The recording is available.

This report contains the results of the BuyZET market engagement in the City of Copenhagen on Craft & Facility Management Services.