Good practice:

iProcureNet - Joint procurement network at the core of security innovation

iProcureNet’s main objective is to build an EU network of organisations centred on the procurement of security solutions that will contribute to the development of common and standardised joint procurement practices and innovative approaches, to find common answers to common societal challenges - enhancing a larger uptake of innovative security solutions and replacing the current fragmented security market by a common European market.
Based on the joint expertise of European procurement experts and using an innovative process, iProcureNet will map and analyse the general EU procurement environment, including national investment strategies, innovation needs, security markets and obstacles to cross-border collaboration.
Thus, using the iProcureNet Online Community Platform iPOP, the project consortium (15 partners, out of which 10 are procurement agencies; Romania is represented by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Romanian Border Police) will connect and share knowledge about security procurement practices all over the EU and reach a common understanding of innovation in this sector.
Furthermore, iProcureNet will issue a Toolbox for the joint procurement of security solutions and will set-up Established Buyers Groups (EBGs) – countries which, using the iProcureNet Toolbox, have found common ground and are ready to procure.
Main beneficiaries of iProcureNet:institutions, organisations, (private and NGO) procurers and experts in safety security procurement field.

The project is co-funded by the European Commission under Horizon2020 programme for research and innovation. The overall budget is € 1.588.262,50 entirely financed by EU.

The following results have been achieved so far:
- appointment of iProcureNet national contacts (IPNCs) in each partner’s country;
- 1 iProcureNet Online Platform (iPOP) set-up to facilitate networking through online discussions and knowledge sharing;
- 1 survey on cross-border joint public procurement (JPP) launched and evaluated; 41 responses from 14 countries received;
- 1 concept for the iProcureNet JPP Toolbox designed and a first (internal) mock version developed.

- Lack of experience of the practitioners in joint public procurement (JPP);
- Few JPP examples from the security and defense sector across Europe;
- Challenges related to pre-tender phase (harmonizing market research results) and post-tender phase (contract management);

iProcureNet has learning potential as it provides procurement agencies or departments across Europe, with a practical framework to facilitate discussions on their current practices, processes and issues, share the investment plans, plan common procurements of research services as well as of innovative, off-the-shelf products.
Also, it represents a major opportunity for a wide variety of stakeholders in the procurement of security solutions sector (Law Enforcement Agencies, policy makers, NGOs, researchers, procurement experts) to get together under the same umbrella, in order to discuss and exchange learnings on common problems, get access to dedicated training on JPP and PPI and trial common procurements of innovative security solutions.
Thus, iProcureNet seeks to become the go-to network for EU security procurement and establish a substantial knowledge base on JPP and PPI practices which will be made available to the EU security procurement community.