The UK’s innovation accelerator for transport,
Sam Markey
Ecosystem Director – Place Leadership
The UK public sector spends £300bn a year buying good, services and works from the private sector. UK local government procurement alone accounts for £60bn a year. This represents a huge market and a significant lever public authorities can use to create and shape markets.
However, despite all this potential to drive strategic outcomes, public procurement is largely under-exploited as a mechanism for sparking and scaling innovation. The UK Government’s Innovation Strategy notes “a low appetite for risk and experimentation” in public procurement, due to “the overall culture, expertise and incentive structure of the public sector”. As a result, UK public procurement is still largely characterised by procedures which over-specify on requirements (leaving little room for innovation) and select based largely on price. Faced with a whole box of tools, procurement professionals invariably reach for the same procedure each time.
By procuring more innovative solutions, the public sector can be a driver of innovative new ideas, providing innovative firms with the foothold they need to succeed in the market, fuelling the scale-up ecosystem and facilitating wider adoption of new tech services. At the same time, procuring more innovative products and services can lead to better and cheaper public services in the long run.UK Government, Leading the future by creating it: Innovation Strategy, July 2021
Our aim is to up-skill public sector buyers in innovation-friendly procurement approaches, leading to greater regional R&D activity and private sector investment.
Through IPEC we will inspire and empower public authorities to adopt new procurement behaviours through practical support, the creation of robust evidence which makes the case for change and collective action.
