Health InnoFacilitator

Competitiveness and sustainability of SMEs, the backbone of the EU economies and a direct target group of this project, are affected by limited exploitation of (international) opportunities in markets where the public sector has a strong presence, as in healthcare, education, justice. 
Public procurement represents about 14% of the EU GDP, but less than half is leveraged by SMEs and start-ups. Therefore, there is an obvious lack of accessibility to PPI opportunities from these actors, not proportionate with their aggregated weight and numbers. In addition, the public sector can and should play a larger role to help SMEs to become European champions that are not put in value at its full potential. By fostering access to SMEs, market fragmentation will be reduced, and economies of scale achieved, which in return will facilitate EU companies to compete at global level.

Health InnoFacilitator, gathering 7 EU partners with expertise in innovation procurement including healthcare
clusters, innovation and PPI support and public/private healthcare buyers, aims to create a community leveraging capabilities and promoting innovation procurement in healthcare services. The project will demonstrate relevance and effectiveness of cooperation between various stakeholders, supporting innovation actors (start-ups and SMEs) in healthcare to access public procurement, and supporting public and private buyers (hospitals, regional and local authorities, public and private purchasing centers) to launch Public Procurement of Innovation (PPI). Transforming the public procurement culture of multiple EU public buyers into one that systematically encourages added value for citizens and market innovation and advances towards Public Procurement of Innovation (PPI) is one of our strategic goals. This can be achieved by applying a value-based approach, ensuring that the most economic solutions are selected and invested in striving for the good health of all EU citizens.