In May 2021, our partner organization Cluj IT Cluster organized three days event focusing on practical aspects of how technology can contribute to the Green Deal program. SAPIENS’ two lead researchers, professor Dacian Dragos, and Steven Van Garsse, participated in an Annual 2021 CLUJ Innovation Days conference.

Public-private partnerships and public procurement can be used as strategic tools to help the European Union and its Member states reach their wanted objectives. One of the questions that arise is: “How to use these tools to foster innovation?”

Research and development have historically been underfinanced in the EU compared to its competitors (Japan and US), and since the early 2000 European Commission is trying to change this trajectory. One big step has been made with introducing Europe 2020 strategy in 2010, which sets priorities on knowledge and growth. Furthermore, the largest stimulus package ever, Next Generation EU, brought to us due to the COVID-19 pandemic also puts a great emphasis on research and innovation.

Thus, it is recognized that public procurement can be used as a propeller for driving this change. The panelists discuss historical developments of this shift towards more innovation-orientated public-private partnerships and how the current Directive 2014/24/EU enables this.

Watch the entire panel below!

Panelists:

• Ms. Oana Vodă – Public procurement expert and PhD candidate @Babes-Bolyai University
• Mr. Ioan Baciu – PhD in Procurement Law UBB and University of Torino, former Member of the Expert Group on PP of the European Commission
• Mr. Sabin Sarmas – Romanian Parliament
• Prof. Dr.  Stevan Van Garsse – Vice-dean University of Hasselt and Antwerp (Belgium)
• Ms. Nadia Sava – Ph.D. student in Innovative Procurement recruited in April for the Sapiens Project

Moderator:

Mr. Dacian Dragos – Professor, Babes-Bolyai University