Partnership launched to boost regional innovation

A pioneering partnership has been launched which seeks to boost regional innovation and jobs by working with local authorities to engage inventive companies in developing and deploying new services.

Named The Consortium for Research in Innovative and Strategic Public Procurement (CRISPP) by project partners The University of Manchester, University of Birmingham and Connected Places Catapult, the initiative aims to gather evidence and develop best practice guidance for public sector bodies seeking new ways of delivering public services.

It will also assess the impact of different approaches to innovation procurement - an area in which there are sizeable data and knowledge gaps, looking across the world for best practice solutions.

Nicola Yates, chief executive of Connected Places Catapult, said: “Public procurement is worth £270 billion a year of goods, works and services in the UK, and is a major influence on private sector innovation, having played key roles in the emergence of sectors such as IT and semiconductors. Yet there are significant gaps in our knowledge of why innovation procurement is successful and how best to use it, with evidence typically reliant on case studies. This consortium is looking to address this data gap and thereby improve the impact of public spending on innovation.”