The Civil Engineering and Building Technical Officer of CTA (Technological Corporation of Andalusia), Carlos García, has participated in a webinar on intellectual property rights and Public Procurement of Innovation (PPI) organized by the European projects BRINC and P5 Innobroker, both funded by the Cosme program and focused on promoting this type of public procurement in Europe.

Intellectual property rights (IPR) are of vital importance when talking about IPP (Innovation Procurement or IP). According to the European Commission, there is strong evidence that leaving IPR in the hands of entrepreneurs, rather than transferring it to public procurers, boosts the growth of innovative companies (including start-ups and SMEs), accelerates the industrial commercialization of innovative solutions and reduces the cost of procurement for the public sector.

The European legal framework is not specific regarding the allocation of intellectual property rights and leaves it to the public purchaser to define them in the tender. However, it is not always clear which organization owns the property, as it depends on the scenario. This online training of the BRINC and P5 Innobroker projects brought together potential buyers and contractors to discuss critical aspects of IPR, problems encountered during negotiations or how the tender specifications are set.

P5 Innobroker, a strategic project to promote PPI

CTA leads the European project P5 Innobroker to promote Public Procurement of Innovation (PPI) in Southern European countries. This initiative, co-financed by the COSME program of the European Union (EU), also involves the participation of five other European entities: the Ea Ecoentreprises cluster (France), the Hellas Technology Center of Thessaloniki (Greece), the Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia, the Regional Development Agency of Larnaca and Famagusta (Cyprus) and the Regional Development Agency of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Public Procurement of Innovation is a tool to promote innovation from the public sector through the acquisition of innovative solutions or solutions under development. P5 Innobroker is a strategic project for the European Commission, which aims to promote the launch and implementation of Public Procurement of Innovation initiatives for their dynamizing effect on the business fabric and modernization of public administrations.