Are you part of a local council or public sector team eager to pursue innovative solutions to complex challenges in the built environment, transport, or digital and data services? This session is designed to help you maximise the benefits of engaging with the market throughout your innovation procurement process. 

Why Market Engagement is Essential 

Proactive engagement with the market enables councils to understand cutting-edge solutions, shape requirements collaboratively, and foster a healthy, competitive supplier ecosystem. Early and open dialogue helps councils define challenges clearly, learn from industry expertise, and avoid missed opportunities for innovation. 

Best Practices for Market Engagement in Innovation Procurement 

• Start Early: Involve market participants from the outset to gather insight into the latest technologies and service models. Early engagement helps refine your problem statement and ensures the procurement process is responsive to real-world possibilities. 

• Horizon Scan: Identfy what potential solutions are currently in the market that might have the potential to address the problem statement. Use the right tools to conduct an efficient and effective scan of the market.  

• Engage Openly: Use transparent communication channels such as market soundings, supplier days, and webinars for input. Create an environment where suppliers and innovators can share ideas, propose novel approaches, and ask clarifying questions. 

• Collaborate on Challenge Scoping: Work with potential suppliers to test and refine your problem statements.  

• Foster Trust and Fairness: Share clear information about your procurement process, selection criteria, and timelines. Emphasise fairness and openness, so all participants feel empowered to contribute. 

• Capture Learning and Share Feedback: Use engagement as an opportunity to learn from suppliers and share your feedback on their input. This builds long-term relationships and drives continuous improvement in your innovation procurement strategy. 

Workshop Focus: Engaging the Market for Innovation Procurement 

This collaborative workshop will guide you through the key steps of effective market engagement. You will: 

• Learn from case studies where councils successfully engaged the market to deliver innovative solutions. 
• Participate in practical exercises to develop and test challenge statements with real suppliers.
• Gain insights into running supplier engagement events and using digital tools for broader outreach.
• Connect with peers tackling similar challenges and exchange best practices

Agenda:

*There is an option to attend this session in London in-person, please email george.wardell@cp.catapult.org.uk if you would like to attend in person.

• 13:30 – 14:00: Market Engagement Fundamentals – Why and How? 

• 14:00 – 14:15: Supplier Perspectives – What Innovators Want from Public Sector Buyers 

• 14:15 – 14:45: Designing and Running Supplier Engagement Activities (Breakout Workshops) 

• 14:45 – 15:00: Sharing Insights and Shaping Next Steps 

• 15:00 - (In-person only) Support clinic for creating pre-market strategy 

Who Should Attend? 

• Local councils interested in learning how to engage suppliers, innovators, and solution providers more effectively 
• Local council teams wanting to unlock creative responses to public sector challenges 
• Local council procurement, legal, service design, transformation, and innovation leads 

FAQs 

Is experience with innovation procurement required? 

No. The session is open to anyone interested in learning how to engage with the market for better innovation outcomes. 

Objective 

• Equip councils with actionable tools and confidence to engage the market for innovation procurement 
• Enable peer learning around market engagement and innovation challenge development
• Showcase case studies where effective market engagement drove successful outcomes 
• Identify strong candidates for future innovation procurement activities