BIS is leading the Government's work to develop a public procurement culture that both stimulates innovation in the economy and helps the public sector to meet its future needs at better value for money for the taxpayer
The White Paper, Innovation Nation
(751 KB) (March 2008), sets out the Government's aim to make the UK the best place in the world to run an innovative business or public service. It argues that innovation is essential to the UK's future prosperity and the ability to tackle major challenges like climate change, and that the power of Government spending must be harnessed to create demand for new innovative products and services. The paper highlights the key role that public procurement plays in encouraging the development of new technologies and providing innovative solutions that provide better public services and respond to societal challenges. An important commitment in the White Paper is for each Government Department to include an Innovation Procurement Plan as part of its commercial strategy, setting out how the Department will embed innovation in its procurement practices and seek to use innovative procurement mechanisms.
Guidance
A new pamphlet, Driving innovation through public procurement, has been launched to provide guidance to those working in government on how they can utilise the purchasing power of the public sector to drive both buyer and supplier innovation in the procurement process. It shows public procurers how to foster innovation at every stage of the procurement process in order to realise benefits for the public purse and economy as a whole. Using clear examples, the pamphlet demonstrates the positive steps that procurers can take at the various stages of the procurement process to encourage innovation.
In addition, the publication Finding and Procuring Innovative Solutions (August 2007) provides a number of detailed approaches for finding and procuring innovative solutions. The guide gives practical advice through the use of case studies from the NHS, HM Prison Service and London Fire & Emergency Services.
