The EU project Prepare brings together four regions (Murcia, Spain; Oulu, Finland; Skåne, Sweden; and Bucharest-Ilfov, Romania) that are interacting with the local ecosystems to design novel policies that promote demand-driven co-creation for the benefit of local public services, SMEs and citizens. Prepare aims to help unlock the potential of innovation procurement to turn regional needs into opportunities.

The project's first round of insights, resources and best practices will be shared in a public workshop. Regional stakeholders related to innovation policies and their counterpart offices in Brussels are invited to:

• Understand the benefits of the collaboration between public organisations and local innovators;
• Learn from the feedback acquired from the local stakeholders of the Prepare regions;
• Share their own experiences and interests;
• Make proposals to design policies adapted to the regional realities;
• Access a database of 300+ knowledge resources.

The event will take place in person on 27 June from 9:00-12:30 at the Region of Murcia office in Brussels.

Please register here before 25 June.

14% of the EU’s GDP is spent through public procurement. The acquisition of innovation by public administrations does not only improves the services offered to citizens but also provides business opportunities to local entrepreneurs. This is why the EC has launched instruments like Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) or Public Procurement of Innovation (PPI) to foster collaboration between public procurers and innovative companies. However, regions cannot directly transpose these instruments due to their complexity and high funding requirements. Therefore, the Prepare project aims to address the need to explore new models that tap into the promise of incorporating innovation in the public sector while increasing business competitiveness, and that are adapted to the reality of regions.