3rd iProcureNet Advanced Security Procurement Conference
16-17 March 2023
Building a sustainable innovation ground for procurement of security solutions in Europe - from public procurement to joint public procurement of innovation.
An event in Bratislava over two days to discover the iProcureNet results in the wider context of security services of the future.
Hosted by the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic, in Bratislava, the topic for our iProcureNet 2023 Annual Conference is “Building a sustainable innovation ground for procurement of security solutions in Europe – from public procurement to joint public procurement of innovation”.
A sustainable network and community for all key stakeholders in public procurement will help build a more resilient Europe in terms of security. Developing a stronger ground for joint public procurement is crucial and it starts with gathering common needs amongst Member States. A productive and transparent relationship with innovators from the start of innovation procurement is key for the success of PCP/PPI projects. These are some of the answers to finding best solutions for the future challenges in the security procurement field.
During this conference, Public administrations, LEAs institutions, prescribers, procurers, legal advisors and innovators will discover and discuss new and developing methods to enhance responsiveness and efficiency during the joint procurement and procurement of innovation processes. With opening talks from representative of Slovak Ministry of Interior, the European Research Agency and the French Ministry of Interior, the conference will also feature the iProcureNet Toolbox, the iProcureNet Network+Community, and the iProcureNet methodology for joint cross border public procurement and procurement of innovation.
We are honored to also count in our programme the participation of DG HOME, Public procurement office of Slovakia, Prevent PCP, PROTECT, EAFIP, CORVERS and more.
Download the programme above for venue, travel and accommodation information.
16th March 2023
Welcome & Opening
The conference was opened by Mr Jozef Kubinec, Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic Mr Roman Mikulec, Minister of Interior of the Slovak Republic
Introduction to iProcureNet
Jorge Garzon, French Ministry of Interior / iProcureNet Project Coordinator
View recording (coming soon)
Innovative procurement of solutions for Countering Hybrid Threats
Daniel Milo, Ministry of Interior of the Slovak republic
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Establishing procurement pathways - survey of JCBPP
Jozef Kubinec, Head of Works and ICT, Procurement Department, Ministry of Interior Slovak Republic
In 2022, the team of iProcureNet’s Work-Package 4 conducted an online survey among European public procurers. The survey aimed to learn more about existing Joint Cross Border Public Procurement (JCBPP) initiatives throughout Europe, collect examples, and identify the good practices and pitfalls to be avoided. The survey was run among all procurement sectors, under the assumption that that insights from other sectors can feed into iProcureNet‘s study.
The survey results were used to obtain general awareness of JCBPP, especially for legal, regulatory, geographical, financial, and other aspects, if necessary and feasible. The aim of the presentation will be to present the main aspects of the online survey together with the results and examples of good practices in JCBPP, examples of difficulties to be overcome, benefits of JCBPP and benefits of precommercial procurements.
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Legal questions concerning JCBPP
Mari Ann Simovart, Professor Faculty of Law, University of Tartu
Adding legal feasibility to JCBPP, in particular when collaborating in the internal security sector, has been a purpose of the iProcureNet project since the initiation. For that purpose, our legal research has covered a variety of subjects, with the focus on the following:
- mapping the major legal risks and challenges on the timeline of JCBPP;
- applicability of PCP instead of public procurement;
- legal risks in conducting preliminary market consultations,
- the choice of law issues in JCBPP;
- national practices in choosing between applicable directives and suitable procurement
procedures; - intellectual property right related to public procurement.
This presentation gives a short overview of the critical legal issues that in my opinion either need collaborating authorities’ particular attention when conducting a JCBPP project, or that in the interest of legal clarity would benefit from additional regulation by the EU legislator.
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EAFIP Workshop Part 1 - Innovation Procurement Rationale & Practice
Stephan Corvers, Founder, Owner & CEO, Corvers Procurement Services
Ana Isabel Peiro Baquedano, Legal Procurement Consultant, Corvers Procurement Services
Ana Lucia Jaramillo Villacis, Legal Researcher & Consultant, Corvers Procurement Services
The EAFIP-CORVERS Team will discuss Innovation Procurement rationale & practice, addressing the legal framework, economic rationale and state of play, including examples of projects of Pre-Commercial Procurement and Public Procurement of Innovative solutions.
The challenge of Innovation Uptake of EU-funded Security Research Outcomes
Giannis Skiadaresis, SSRI Area Coordinator, DG Home, European Commission
The uptake of innovation stemming from EU-funded security research is not a single-step process, and there is no single method of ensuring the market uptake of successful research results. Innovation uptake needs to be contemplated as a long process that is conditioned by a number of enabling actions to be taken before research is even planned and long after it is completed.
View recording (coming soon)
Frontex & Joint Procurement
Herve Caniard, Governance Support Centre, Head of Unit Legal Affairs & Procurement Unit, Frontex
One form of collaborative procurement worth exploring is Joint Procurement between an EU institution/body and one or several Member States’ authorities. The underlying goal being to tackle jointly, among practitioners working in similar fields, the acquisition of simple equipment and -over time- more complex goods and assets, including products of innovative nature.
On one hand, advantages are convincing: lower unit prices; administrative costs savings; pooling procurement and technical (rare) skills between the different authorities; opportunity to learn; fostering the development of innovative products; reputational gains on the suppliers’ market; building strong partnerships between the participants, etc. On the other hand, challenges are not to be underestimated. They include inter alia the setting-up of clear objectives, the harmonisation of technical requirements, the applicable law and related procedures, the setting up of a joint governance structure, the co-ownership, intellectual property rights, alignment of budgets, the sharing the administrative burden, timing factors and coordination.
This prospective presentation will endeavour to map the pre-requisites to start a Joint Procurement effort.
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New and improved services of the Europol Innovation Lab: Europol’s new mandate in Research & Innovation
Ben Waites, Senior Specialist, Europol Innovation Lab
Europol’s legal framework was recently revised to give the agency an explicit mandate in the field of security research and innovation. This includes assisting the Member States and the Commission in identifying key research themes, advising on framework programmes and disseminating the results of its research and innovation activities. To maximize the benefits of this new mandate, Europol is developing its data capabilities in relation to innovation projects, strengthening its outreach to academia and the research community, and exploring new ways to support Member States’ innovation projects.
View recording (coming soon)
Expert roundtable - Joint purchasing and R&D in the defence sector
Mari Ann Simovart, Professor Faculty of Law, University of Tartu
Aris Georgopoulos, Asst. Professor Public Law and European Law, School of Law – University of Nottingham (download presentation)
Katrin Ametmaa, Head of the Procurement and Purchasing Bureau, Estonian Centre for Defence (download presentation)
Hans-Martin Pastuszka, Deputy Head of Department Technological Analyses and Strategic Planning (TASP) Head of Business Unit “Defence Technology Foresight” (WZA), Fraunhofer Institute for Technological Trend Analysis (download presentation)
The expert roundtable on Joint Purchasing and R&D in the Defence Sector will bring together leading experts to discuss the landscape of strategic defence procurement and the role of joint purchasing and R&D in driving innovation in the sector. Our three experts will engage in an in depth discussion about trends analysis and the benefits and challenges of joint purchasing and R&D initiatives. The roundtable aims to provide suggestions and examples of good practices that can security sector learn from the defence. We will try to answer why there are more examples of joint purchasing in the defence sector than in security and others. This is a must attend event for anyone interested in procurement in the defence and security sector and will provide a unique opportunity to engage with leading experts and share ideas and insights on this critical issue.
View recording (coming soon)
17th March 2023
The iProcureNet Toolbox
Filomena Vieira, Public Procurement Legal Expert, Portuguese Criminal Police
Filomena Vieira who leads the iProcureNet Work-Package 5 will present the second public release of the iProcureNet Toolbox. Filomena will explain the evolution made from the first public release and will give notice of the feedback received from the public questionnaire online. The presentation will be interactive, encouraging the audience participation.
View recording (coming soon)
Needs & opportunities for joint security procurement
Nikolai Stoianov, Deputy Director, Bulgarian Defence Institute
Col. Dr. Nikolai Stoianov is the leader of iProcureNet Work Package 2 ‘Needs & Opportunities for Joint Security Procurement‘’. Dr. Stoianov will present the approach, analysis and results of collecting, analysing and prioritising the investment trends of the procurement partners. More precisely in the presentation Dr. Stoianov will focus on the second cycle’s findings and trends,
including:
- Data collection approaches
- Analysis of investment plans and identification of innovation needs
- Identified common segments for a possible joint procurement
- Presenting iProcureNet view and understanding about COTS and innovation products/services taking into account specifically of security sector
- Elicitation of data collection process.
View recording (coming soon)
Expert roundtable - Financing of Innovation
Thierry Hartmann, Assistant deputy director in the international cooperation department DCIS, French Ministry of Interior
Giannis Skiadaresis, SSRI Area Coordinator – DG HOME, European Commission
Ivan Kormanik, Partner, Majernik & Mihalikova
Stephan Corvers, Founder, Owner & CEO, Corvers Procurement Services
The expert roundtable ‘Financing of Innovation’ will discuss several important questions, such as: What funding for innovation in the security sector? In a sector where governments mainly drive the market, are the solutions that finance innovation in the market or defence sector applicable? How can we support scaling up when innovative solutions emerge? Is there a need for public incubators? How can fundraising be facilitated? Should public procurement be made more entrepreneurial? Where is the place of private Financing of innovation ecosystems? Would private investors (VC) be interested in financing start-ups or SMEs in Pre-commercial procurement? These are all questions that need to be answered if European programmes that produce innovation (Horizon Europe in particular) are to have a tangible impact on the capacities of LEAs and the European security industry. The roundtable aims to provide valuable expert insights into the pros and cons of relying on private or public funds for financing innovation and help inform future policy decisions.
View recording (coming soon)
EAFIP Workshop Part 2 - Construction, infrastructure security & energy innovations in ICT related projects
Beatriz Gomez Farinas, Legal Procurement Consultant, Corvers procurement services
This part of the workshop will showcase procurement cases on construction, infrastructure security & energy innovations in ICT related projects. The cases will address relevant innovations implementing ICT solutions, sustainable aspects and security measures to safeguard infrastructure. How to embed good practices in your procurement to obtain innovative and sustainable solutions? How to formulate functional requirements to implement ICT innovations in construction, infrastructure security & energy projects? These and other questions will be addressed by experts/invited speakers from across Europe, through examples.
The iProcureNet Community
Zoia Ansarimehr, Zoia Ansarimher, Communication and development of institutional relations, French Ministry of Interior
What is the iProcureNet Community? Who can it benefit and how? Zoia Ansarimehr will present the iProcureNet Community, its vision and objectives and the various community groups (Topical groups) available to professionals involved in the security procurement value chain, from solutions providers, to buyers, all the way to end-users on the field. Zoia Ansarimehr will also reveal the iProcureNet iPOP 2.0, our new online platform gathering the Community in one secure space, to discuss, share resources and build your network.
Join the iProcureNet Community via: https://iprocurenet.eu/joinus
View recording (coming soon)
Panel discussion - European Networks of Practitioners and Sustainability
Alessia Melasecche Germini, CEO, META Group
Marcel Van Berlo, Program coordinator and EU Manager, TNO Defence, Safety and Security
Thierry Hartmann, Assistant deputy director in the international cooperation department, DCIS, French Ministry of Interior
Jorge Garzon, Deputy Head of Procurement Strategy and Performance Office, French Ministry of Interior
Ben Waites, Senior Specialist, Europol Innovation Lab & EU Clearing Board
The European Commission has funded many practitioner networks under the H2020 programme. This has resulted in a greater involvement of practitioners in research projects and a better understanding of the mechanisms facilitating the implementation European research projects results. IProcureNet is working on the public procurement of innovative solutions. What lessons can be drawn from these experiences? What synergies and synthesis should be created between the H2020 Networks of practitioners and the projects funded by Horizon Europe under the Strengthened Security Research and Innovation destination? Answering these questions
would be a form of contribution to the strengthening of the research and innovation ecosystem in the field of internal security research that the EU is gradually putting in place, particularly under the umbrella of the EU Innovation Hub
View recording (coming soon)
Participating projects, institutions and organisations:
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