Public procurement is becoming an increasingly important tool to strengthen European resilience, enhance innovation and growth in sustainable ways. Used strategically, public procurement will contribute to solve big societal challenges through public-private partnerships.

Norway’s National Program for Suppliers Development (LUP) is set up to accelerate innovations and development of new solutions through the strategic use of public procurement, while at the same time contributing to new market opportunities for these innovations. The program is a joint collaboration by the public and private sectors and fosters public-private partnerships through innovative public procurements throughout the country.

LUP is currently focusing on new and more powerful ways of supporting both the public buyers and the suppliers through innovative public procurement by acting as a broker and facilitator in joint procurement initiatives and through Pre-commercial procurement (PCP) and Innovation Partnerships. LUP is eager to learn more from what is taking place within the EU on innovative public procurements, as well as share ideas and thoughts on how to ensure innovations move from pilots to scale. During the event the following issues will be addressed:

• To what extent can innovative public procurements accelerate new technologies and solutions to more effectively deal with larger challenges we are facing within health care and climate change?
• How to move beyond pilots and prototypes and move to innovation uptake at scale?
• To what extent are joint innovative procurements or innovation partnerships relevant tools, processes or procedures to this end?

To register, and find the full programme, click here