The PPI4MED Italian partner has conducted, as part of the Italian Living Lab, a series of activities to inform relevant stakeholders about public procurement and to gather information on needs, opportunities and threats, weaknesses and strengths of the Italian Innovation procurement system.

In this sense, according to the results of the survey, the EU Recovery Funds and the need to invest in innovation, also taking into account the use of Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza / (PNRR)  funds represent a stimulus towards a major use of Public procurement of Innovation (PPI) in Italy. (

This country uses PPI mostly in the ICT sector demonstrating a certain vitality that needs to be applied also in other sectors and areas, where public procurers are more acquainted with instruments to buy high-technology products and not to develop innovative ones.

However, the survey sample identifies as a weakness the lack of experience in this area. The rigidity of the sets of rules and the inadequacy of the control systems are difficult to overcome and represent very often a barrier. Another weakness is the process timing and the lack of resources that makes it difficult to have a good preliminary study of the market and of the sector concerned. This led to choosing the simplest way that very often is not the best one.

The survey also revealed the opportunity for training and exchange of experiences to learn more about the public procurement instrument for innovation and all its possibilities.

The experimentation of tender procedures managed at a central level, as well as the role of Agenzia per l'Italia Digitale · AgID as a driver, constitute an important opportunity. Highly specialized centres of competence which are a catalyst for innovation, together with contracting authorities may help to strengthen the power of public procurement. These opportunities could lead to a serious reconsideration of the importance of innovation and the role of a better dialogue among public procurers, scientists, industry representatives and stakeholders.

The current economic and social context may represent a threat to the development of new models that should certainly be embraced by public authorities.  In this sense, the survey also identifies the rigidity of the administration as a possible barrier to the implementation of these new instruments, which are undoubtedly useful for the better development of countries and their societies.

How was the survey conducted?

In order to obtain the information, the Italian partner conducted a survey with different types of questions that would allow it to gather the relevant data. The survey was carried out through an electronic questionnaire disseminated to the respondents with the help of a digital detection system between the end of May to the beginning of July 2022. To select the possible respondents for the survey, an intense scouting activity took place through the official websites of public organizations and the consultation of the recent scientific literature on this topic.

The research questionnaire was uploaded using LimeSurvey, a very useful application for the creation of user interfaces generating query masks installed on a server of the Italian National Council of Research - under HTTPS protocol - managed by the ICT Office that guarantees its correct functioning and the application of measures, such as firewalls or Intrusion Detection / Prevention Systems, suitable to guarantee the limitation of access and the preservation of data integrity.

The questionnaire consisted of seven open-ended questions and one closed-ended question.

Officials from local, regional and national public organisations working in the field of public procurement were involved in the final sample and the invitation to participate was sent to 85 experts. Some of them were directly contacted. In the end, the questionnaire was completed by 23.5% of the selected sample.

The data analysis was carried out using content analysis techniques through which the answers were examined and divided into descriptive categories as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.