Procure4Health call for twinnings
ClosedDescription
Executive summary A central aspect of the Procure4Health community is to enable procurers to learn about and adopt innovation procurement practices, tools, approaches and policies for deploying sustainable and innovative solutions in health- and social care. Twinnings are a community (peer to peer) tool that enables exchange of knowledge on a particular topic by bridging knowledge from experienced actors to less experienced ones. Over a defined period, the twinning parties carry out activities such as structured study visits, workshops, training sessions and internships, leading to the effective knowledge transfer from the originator to the adopter. A twinning can focus on knowledge-exchange between two or more partners. The main concept behind twinnings is to avoid reinventing the wheel by adopting knowledge, enabling partners to learn from existing experiences that have already successfully tackled the same problems and barriers, found solutions for them, and thus help adoption to significantly shorten the adoption/implementation time and related costs. This document aims to provide I) an introduction into Twinnings and how they relate to capacity-building in the Procure4Health project, ii) the opportunity for Twinnings provided by the project and iii) the procedure for organizations to apply to them. 1 Introduction and purpose of twinnings 1.1 Why Procure4Health? The public procurement of innovation seeks to bring closer cutting-edge processes and technology to the public sector as a user who can benefit from these advances, both directly to the citizens who receive or use the services and goods purchased by the public sector and the public sector itself. It is about promoting business innovation from public demand-side, which moves about 2 billion euros a year: if 3% of the spending that the public sector makes for its provision of works, goods and services, were destined to demanded products and services, some 60,000 million euros a year would be allocated to R&D&i, almost as much as the funds from the Horizon 2020 program for the five-year period 2015-2020 (70,200 million euros), and this without any additional expense. It is estimated that an increase in investment in R&D of 3% could create up to 3.7 million new jobs and a considerable increase in GDP. The potential of the public procurement of innovation to promote development and thus quality employment is therefore enormous. Every year, public authorities in the EU spend around 10% of GDP on the purchase of Health & Social Care services (H&Sc), works and supplies. The increasing trend of the costs is a challenge for the sustainability of global health systems- Leveraging the use of innovation procurement instruments (e.g., PCP, PPI and Innovation Partnerships) could help to tackle common present and future needs and achieve best value for money, driving innovation from the demand side. However, there are still barriers to EU-wide adoption of innovation procurement, such as fragmentation of health systems, legal differences, bureaucracy, language barriers, risk aversion by policy makers and H&Sc procurers when it comes to adoption of innovation procurement, lack of appropriate procurement skills and expertise, etc. There is no central or consolidated knowledge on innovation procurement & management procedures at EU level, or appraisal of trusted tools and approaches. Procure4Health is an EU project that started in June 2022. It aims to overcome these barriers by creating the largest EU community of reference for European procurers. A consolidated database for knowledge exchange and sharing of best practices and management processes will be developed, as well as the design of training programs to consolidate this knowledge. Furthermore, the focus will be on the identification and prioritisation of common needs for the preparation of concrete innovation procurement projects and action plans in the H&Sc sector. For this, a range of support tools and opportunities are shared within the project, such as training webinars, dialogues focused on shared unmet needs, a capacity-building catalogue, and Twinnings opportunities, which are described more in detail in this document. Procure4Health will thus provide an appropriate environment for public and private procurers, as well as the wider H&Sc community, to effectively share knowledge, build capacities of procurers, define common needs and advance innovation procurement in the EU. 1.2 Procure4Health and twinnings A central aspect of the Procure4Health community is to enable procurers to learn about and adopt innovation procurement practices, tools, approaches and policies for deploying sustainable and innovative solutions in health- and social care. Procure4Health capitalises on the consortium’s experience in innovation procurement and from partners expertise in implementing sustainable practices in Pan-European healthcare. The community complements that knowledge with know-how in approaches and use of tools to scope procurement needs, define innovative specifications, carry out innovation procurement projects, and exploit the results of innovation procurements in a sustainable way. This unmatched knowledge of the community has been consolidated into a Capacity Building Catalogue (CBC) and enriched with further materials in the beginning of the project, as a resource for providing support to both procurers taking their first steps with the instrument, as well as procurers with previous experience in it. The CBC covers a range of relevant topics, such as (i) PPI and PCP, (ii) sustainable innovative procurement, (iii) evaluation frameworks, (iv) Intellectual Property Rights management, (v) go-to-market schemes, (vi) deployment of innovative solutions, and (vii) innovation procurement strategies building on current established methodologies and best practices. The range of topics are structured in a process starting from exploration of an unmet need to the finalised deployment of an innovative product and the realisation of its impact. Each major step of the journey covers a range of specific topics to be understood, addressed, and concluded to be able to proceed to the next step in the process. The major steps of the process are introduced as follows: Figure 1 Major steps in the procurement of innovative solutions The CBC will be updated throughout the project to ensure optimal relevance, for project partners as well as for external stakeholders. Adding to the stepwise capacity-building process illustrated above, the CBC also covers a section of cross-cutting priorities and challenges which can be addressed by Innovation procurement approaches, such as socially responsible procurement, cross-border procurement, organisational (innovative) transformation, etc. These are gathered under the common topic of Next generation Procurement in the CBC. Twinnings are a community (peer to peer) tool that enables the exchange of knowledge on a particular topic by bringing together experienced actors willing to pass on their experience to less experienced ones. Over a defined period, the twinning parties carry out activities such as structured study visits, workshops, training sessions and internships, leading to the effective knowledge transfer from originator to adopter. A twinning can focus on knowledge-exchange between two or more partners. The main concept behind twinnings is to avoid reinventing the wheel by adopting existing knowledge, enabling partners to learn from existing experiences that have already successfully tackled the same problems and barriers, finding solutions for them, and thus helping adoption to significantly shorten the adoption/implementation time and related costs. It is recognized that the individual partner may have in-depth experience and be considered “Originator” in one particular topic, while having less experience, and can be considered “Adopter” in another. This means that any Twinnings partnership can optionally be considered a mutual learning experience with an interchange of experience(s) covering a range of applicable topics. The objective of a twinning can be the transfer of knowledge and experience around the use of a product or service (e.g., a specific procurement tool), process or methodology (e.g., value-based procurement approaches), strategy (e.g., effective procurement policies), or a procurement business model. The Twinnings opportunity primarily targets procurers in EC member states (or associated countries), there is no distinction whether these procurers are private or public. The Twinnings open call is expected to be published widely to attract a broad range of applicants; on the P4H website, via the P4H community platform, and on the EC funding & tenders portal. 1.3 What activities are financed under a Twinning? The main objective of this scheme is to support knowledge transfer of innovation and best practices, relating to the conceptual process described above and illustrated in Figure 1 Major steps in the procurement of innovative solutions, supplemented by the breakdown of topics in Table 1 Twinnings topics. Proposed activities in a twinning work plan shall therefore pursue this goal and include one or several of the following; · Knowledge transfer meetings · Meetings with local stakeholders · Organisational readiness of innovation procurement efforts · Field visits · Viability studies · Cost/benefit analysis · Dissemination events · Preparation of reports · Travelling necessary for the twinning · Consumables necessary for the twinning The Twinning Evaluation Committee (see section 4.4) will as one of the award criteria assess scope and purpose of proposed Twinnings activities promoting capacity-building in relation to the topics described in section 2.1, in particular as part of Annex 2 – Technical section, section 1 Excellence of the proposed Twinning . 1.4 Cost eligibility and reporting Funding of Twinnings will be performed in a Lump Sum-approach[1]. Twinnings participants are obligated to adhere to financial regulations as described and implemented by the European Commission. P4H Twinnings funding is results-driven, provided as vouchers in a lump sum. As such, there is no need for a traditional administrative-justification system (e.g., counting hourly dedication or calculating workload), but getting the funding is associated with the acceptance of the agreed deliverables. As described in section 2.6 reimbursements are managed upon approval of reporting requested from Twinnings partners. [1] https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/programmes/horizon/lump-sum
Beneficiary & submission
1 Twinnings in Procure4Health 1.1 Expected topics to be covered by twinnings The table below is instructive for applicants on the topics to be addressed in the proposed twinnings, which follow the design presented in Section Procure4Health and twinnings. As can be seen in Annex 2 - Technical section, proposals are required to present scope and purpose of Twinnings, specifically referring to the table below. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Procure4Health platform (https://community.procure4health.eu/home) for added details on each topic. Table 1 Twinnings topics Category Topic Brief description Explore & initiate Challenge identification & Unmet need(s) The concept of Unmet needs, methodologies for (their) identification and co-ideation of teams, stakeholders, and perspectives. Market analysis Identification of current state of the art and horizon scanning. Organisational stakeholder mobilisation Stakeholder mapping, strategic alignment, budget perspectives and building a business case. Procurement path & Process building Route selection Choosing a suitable procurement (or development) strategy/process to reach a finally deployable solution. Market engagement & Open market consultation Learn from the industry and suppliers, understanding the detailed current state of the art. Organisational capacity Wide organisational engagement (across teams, and professions). Sustainable commitment of budget and resources. Functional procurement Separating functional requirements from technical criteria. Instruments for demand-driven co-creation. Value-based procurement Selecting award criteria that take a holistic approach to impact. PCP Pre-commercial procurement. An instrument for early development of solutions. PPI Public procurement of Innovation. An instrument for development of near-market solutions and deployment. (Innovation) procurement & Collaborative development Co-development procedures A structured co-creation process with involvement from a range of stakeholders and security in terms of management of risk and intellectual property. Testing & evaluation Validation methodologies, aspects of interoperability and technology integration. Legal, MDR, regulatory, ethics Co-development in a legal context (MDR, AI) considering aspects of GDPR and ethics. Documentation development Defining the range of criteria used in the (innovation) procurement process. Procedures, templates and contractual agreements. Deployment & Impact Implementation Adoption of a successful innovation. Change management & organisational readiness Change management in the buyer organisation, reluctance to implementing innovation. Market deployment Refined value chains, delivery readiness and scalability/standardisation. New care (reimbursement) models Measuring holistic real-world outcomes, new business models and ensuring a win-win situation. Next generation (procurement) Cultural, organisational (innovative) transformation Promoting a culture of innovation in the organisation. Cross-border procurement Procuring innovations in systems of scale/geographies. Socially responsible procurement Wider target areas for Unmet needs not yet fully recognized by Buyers. Societal/system challenges The activities (see section 1.3) covered for each proposed Twinning shall relate to the topics presented in the table above. 1.2 Twinning budget The maximum grant per Twinning proposal is €30,000. In recognition of that Twinnings partnerships are highly tailored towards the specific needs and context of the individual Twinnings partner, and the activities proposed by them, Twinnings partners are allowed to apply for a joint budget of up to €30.000 covering the activities and accommodating their ambitions in a proposal. Find Table 2 Scope of budget options, examplesbelow for examples of scope for a few budget levels. The proposed budget shall be clearly indicated in the Financial section of the Twinnings proposal. Applicants are free to suggest an appropriate division of efforts, and budget accordingly, in the proposed activities and corresponding financial form of the Twinnings partnership. A total of € 660,000 is available for Twinnings activities under the Procure4Health project, with funding expected for approximately 30 Twinnings partnerships, or as many as the Procure4Health external Twinnings budget allows. If there should be remaining budget, P4H plans to start a second call for twinnings during 2023. This second open call is expected to collect and implement lessons learned (regarding such aspects as topics, scope, partnership arrangement, budget) from the first open call. Twinning contracts are awarded according to the available budget, i.e., contracts are awarded until the remaining budget is no longer sufficient to fund the next best Twinning proposal that has passed the evaluation threshold. The exact number of Twinnings eventually awarded therefore depends on the prices offered and the number of Twinning proposals that pass the evaluation. As described in Section 1.3, the proposed Twinning can cover a range of activities, where stage 3 (€30k) would suggest an extended collaboration between Twinnings partners, compared to a proposal for stage 1 (€10k). To exemplify the difference in suggested content and scope, find Table 2 Scope of budget options, examples below. Please note that the list below is neither binding nor exhaustive. Rather, it is intended to represent the approximate level of effort expected for each of the three stages. Table 2 Scope of budget options, examples Examples of activities and scope covered in a proposal Stage 1: Up to €10k Stage 2: Up to €20k Stage 3: Up to €30k Travel and shared workshops Stage 1 examples + Stage 2 examples + Study visits Situational analysis and viability reports Setting up support for organisational modifications to enable innovation procurement Networking events Market analysis[1] Travelling necessary for the twinning Joint advocacy[2] 1.3 Matchmaking Before submitting a proposal to the Procure4Health Twinnings call, applicants must form a twinning partnership between originator and adopter, as described in section1.2. To facilitate the identification of possible twinning partners, the Procure4Health online community platform (https://community.procure4health.eu/home) offers a tool for matchmaking. Here, community members can connect with like-minded procurers or find procurers with complementary knowledge in order to initiate a collaboration and an exchange of knowledge in an area that could be important for their everyday procurement work. Collaboration can range from simple exchange of ideas and documents via the community’s platform, through discussion of common procurement approaches, up to benefitting from the community’s offers, such as the training activities, the Open Market Consultation (OMC) and needs assessment up to the twinning scheme for knowledge exchange, which this document is about. 1.4 Twinning timeline Find below table for indicative timeline of Twinnings open call, awarding and initialization. Table 3 - Twinning timeline Date Activity Publication of the Call for Twinning 12.04.2023 Webinar on twinning scheme 01.05.2023 Deadline for questions by applicants 29.05.2023 Deadline for submission of twinning proposals 15.06.2023 Award decision and notification 30.06.2023 Signed Twinnings contracts 01.07.2023 Start of twinning activities The maximum duration of a twinning is 6 months. 1.5 Twinning outputs Table 4 below lists the objectives of the twinnings, their associated output and the tasks to be carried out (i.e., milestones and deliverables) for both budget options. Please note that while the number of deliverables is the same for both budget options, the templates provided may be different. Table 4 - Twinning outputs Twinnings objectives, outputs and reporting Objectives Carry out knowledge exchange and training activities where relevant knowledge and skills are shared between partners, leading to improved capacity to address the topic in a better and more informed way in their respective region. Output The adopted knowledge will enable addressing the twinning topic in their local/region, including the development and application of a concrete action plan based on the twinning experience on how to use the acquired knowledge to address the topic during the twinning period and beyond. Milestones and deliverables By when? * How? Output D1.1 Twinning interim report and publishable summary Midterm Submitted by email Report describing the tasks developed according to the workplan D1.2 Final twinning report and publishable summary At close Submitted by email Report describing the tasks developed according to the workplan * The maximum duration of a twinning is 6 months. 1.6 Payment 1.6.1 Timeline and Procedure Twinning participants will receive the funding upon approval of all deliverables described in Table 4 - Twinning outputs. The amount, which will be transferred to the partner identified as the Lead partner of the Twinning partnership, is subject to assessment of satisfactorily completion of the activities (a) described by the Twinnings contract signed by the P4H project representative (in this case, INNOVATION SKÅNE) and the Twinnings representative, and (b) proposed in the Twinnings application. 2 Information for applicants This section contains general information on the objectives of the open call process and its conditions. 2.1 General information and objectives Participation in this request for twinning proposals is open on equal terms to public and private procurers, or groups of procuring organisations, operational in the provisioning of Health and social care established in a Member State (MS) of the European Union (EU) (or its Horizon-associated countries[3]). Applicants are required to demonstrate appropriate Procurement function as part of responding to the Selection Criteria (Admin section and Section 4.1 Exclusion, selection and compliance criteria). Please note that twinnings cannot be awarded to certain Hungarian public interest trusts and entities maintained by them, in accordance with Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506 of 15 December 2022 on measures for the protection of the Union budget against breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary. For applicants based in the United Kingdom (UK): Please note that after the UK's withdrawal from the EU, the rules on access to EU procurement procedures for economic operators established in third countries will also apply to applicants from the UK, depending on the outcome of the negotiations. Should such access not be guaranteed by applicable legislation, applicants from the UK could be excluded from the procurement procedure. The focus of the twinnings is on local, regional or national health and social care procurers that want to learn about or adopt innovative solutions, procurement techniques or similar related matters available elsewhere. Twinning activities must involve the transfer of know-how between Twinning partners, it focuses on knowledge exchange between two or more partners. Twinnings proposals are prepared and submitted jointly by Twinning originators and adopters, one identified partner acting as Lead partner of the proposal. An organisation may participate in more than one twinning, as long as the twinning activities are clearly different from each other. 2.2 Contractual conditions Awarded Twinnings proposals will sign a contract for the implementation of the proposed activities between INNOVATION SKÅNE and the Lead partner of the Twinnings proposal. Awarded Twinnings participants are obligated to: • Adhere to eligibility criteria described in the Twinnings Call for Proposals, throughout their involvement in Procure4Health Twinnings, • Report progress outlined in Table 4 - Twinning outputs above. 2.3 Content of the proposal and submission process Twinning applicants shall submit their application electronically via the Procure4Health online community platform, no later than the date specified in the twinning timeline in Table 3. They should take full account of all proposal documents downloaded from the Procure4Health online community platform or website. List of application documents: • Request for twinning proposals (this document) • Annex 1 – Application template – Administrative section • Annex 2 – Application template – Technical section • Annex 3 – Application template – Financial section Annex 1, Annex 2 and Annex 3 must to be submitted as part of the proposal for it to be eligible. Any questions on the call for Twinnings, proposal documents or the open call process must be made via the P4H community platform, before the deadline set out in the timeline in Table 3. Answers will be published in an FAQ section on the community platform. Applicants that do not comply with the eligibility criteria and/or formal requirements described in this section may be rejected. 2.3.1 Proposal templates The proposal templates (Annex 1-3) must be used when preparing the proposal. Administrative section • The Twinning partners must provide a completed legal entity form. Example forms are available at https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/legal-entities_en. • Exclusion criteria apply. The applicant’s exemption from any of the grounds for exclusion set out in section 4.1 of this document shall be supported by the evidence referred to in that section. • The applicant's compliance with the selection criteria set out in section 4.1 of this document shall be demonstrated by the evidence referred to in that section. • The applicant’s compliance with the compliance criteria contained in section 4.1 of this document shall be demonstrated by the types of evidence referred to in this section. • The documentation to be included in the administrative section must be submitted in English. Applicants may be requested to provide additional information and/or evidence. Technical section The twinning proposal must include a detailed technical offer which describes the three categories of excellence, impact and implementation of the proposed twinning. Further details (page limit, format, etc.) are available in the technical section template. Financial section The twinning proposal must include a detailed budget breakdown according to the categories: Twinning Personnel and Twinning Direct Costs. The total of the two categories of cost may not exceed the maximum as outlined in 0 The activities (see section 1.3) covered for each proposed Twinning shall relate to the topics presented in the table above. Twinning budget. Twinning Personnel For Twinning Personnel, detailed information must be provided on each individual foreseen to contribute to the twinning activities. The qualifications and experience of each individual proposed shall be indicated, along with indicative effort and hourly rate. For individuals who cannot be named, sufficient details must be provided. Twinning Direct Costs For Twinning Direct Costs, details of each item or type of item, each set of travel plans etc. and other costs that conform to Horizon Europe eligibility rules. 2.4 Other conditions Confidentiality Applicants are obliged to keep confidential all information received in the context of the Call for Twinnings procedure (including EU-classified information[4]). Language Proposals, as well as outcomes in the form of deliverables must be submitted in English. The twinning language is English, and the twinning contract must be signed in its English version. All communication (related to the open call procedure or the implementation of the twinning contract) must be in English. By submitting their proposal, twinning applicants accept these conditions. Cancellation of the open call procedure INNOVATION SKÅNE may terminate and cancel the open call procedure at any time. INNOVATION SKÅNE reserves the right not to award any contracts at the end of the open call procedure. INNOVATION SKÅNE shall not be liable for any expense or loss the twinning applicants may have incurred in preparing their application. Communication obligations Recipients of funding must ensure that communication activities of the recipients related to the action (including media relations, conferences, seminars, information material, such as brochures, leaflets, posters, presentations, etc., in electronic form, via traditional or social media, etc.), dissemination activities and any infrastructure, equipment, vehicles, supplies or major result funded by the grant must acknowledge EU support and display the European flag (emblem) and funding statement (translated into local languages, where appropriate): Figure 2 EU emblem, communications The emblem must remain distinct and separate and cannot be modified by adding other visual marks, brands or text. Apart from the emblem, no other visual identity or logo may be used to highlight the EU support. When displayed in association with other logos (e.g. of beneficiaries or sponsors), the emblem must be displayed at least as prominently and visibly as the other logos. For the purposes of their obligations under this Article, the beneficiaries may use the emblem without first obtaining approval from the granting authority. This does not, however, give them the right to exclusive use. Moreover, they may not appropriate the emblem or any similar trademark or logo, either by registration or by any other means. Obligations towards the funding agency Participants awarded a grant under this request for twinning proposals will be obliged to comply, among others, with contractual obligations included under Articles 12, 13, 14, 17.2, 18, 19, 20 and 25 of the Horizon Europe (HORIZON) Model Grant Agreement (available here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/agr-contr/unit-mga_he_en.pdf). [1] Conduct joint market analyses to identify potential suppliers and solutions for innovative health and social care procurement. [2] Collaborate on joint advocacy efforts to promote innovative health and social care procurement policies and practices at the regional, national, and European levels. [3]https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation_horizon-euratom_en.pdf [4] Commission Decision 2015/444/EC, Euratom of 13 March 2015 on the security rules for protecting EU-classified information
Further information
The information about the Procure4Health Open Call for Twinnings is available at: https://procure4health.eu/