Public procurement is an important economic factor. Not only because of its large volume, procurement has become a topic of innovation policy. The calculation is: even by mobilizing a small part of the public procurement volume, significant innovation effects can be achieved. From an innovation policy point of view, it is therefore a question of using fallow resources.
However, procurement is - for good reasons - risk-averse and structure-conserving. There are good practice examples of innovation-promoting public procurement (IÖB), but due to the rationality of procurement they are not the rule but the exception. For this reason, efforts are being made at European and national level to improve the framework conditions for public sector organisations. In Austria, a "guiding concept for innovation-promoting public procurement" was adopted in 2012. The implementation of this concept has led and continues to lead to a large number of supporting activities: e.g. the establishment of a service centre IÖB-Servicestelle for public procurement and complementary competence/contact points (FFG, Austriatech, Austrian Energy Agency, WKO, Procurement Platform of the Federal Provinces); amendment of the law (BVergG Novelle 2013); statistical survey (Statistik Austria laufend) etc. These activities are initiated and/or financed jointly by the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. The AIT is responsible for providing scientific advice and monitoring the process.
![[Translate to English:] Deckblatt IOEB Jahresbericht 2017- 2018](fileadmin/mc/innovation_systems/projekte/IOEB/Titelblatt_Jahresbericht_2017-2018.JPG)
