European public entities are responsible of the provision of critical services like healthcare, education, justice, etc. In order to improve the delivery of their services to citizens over time they need to incorporate innovation. This innovation is often developed and produced by the private sector, for example in the form of technology. A standard model of incorporating innovation is through technology-push: private suppliers develop their innovative solutions, with limited contact and exchange with the public entities, and then try to commercialize them. This limited contact often leads to solutions that are not completely tailored or addressing a profitable need, as there is no real engagement in collaborative relations with the public administration. This sub-optimal interaction and knowledge of the customer needs and culture, leave start-ups and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with un-marketable products, discouraging them to fully engage with an important market (Public Procurement in Europe is estimated at €2 trillion, close to 20% of EU GDP ).

INNAXE aims at strengthening the interconnection and fostering the dialog among European Life Sciences and Healthtech innovation ecosystems, to increase their efficiency and innovation capacities, with the focus on the twin transformation that ecosystems’ stakeholders are already experiencing. INNAXE intends to define and prepare a joint actionable plan towards more interconnected, inclusive, sustainable, dynamic and competitive Life Sciences and Healthcare innovation ecosystems across the EU and Associated countries, to overcome the current fragmentation when it comes to innovation capabilities. The consortium is composed of 6 leading cluster organisations that bring together, connect, coordinate, dynamise, and accelerate the Life Sciences and Healthtech innovation ecosystems’ community at regional level in Catalonia (Biocat, ES), Île de France (Medicen, FR), Rhine-Neckar (BioRN, DE); at national level in Bulgaria (HLSC, BG) and Denmark (DLSC, DK) and at EU level and Associated Countries (CEBR, BE). The regional/national ecosystems in this consortium cover all the innovation levels of the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) and Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS) , from emerging innovators to innovation leaders. The Joint Action Plan will specifically address performance gaps of emerging and moderate innovator regions, with the help of strong innovator and innovation leader regions. The project will broaden its scope to include ecosystems from other EU and Associated countries through the Council of European BioRegions (CEBR), a partner in this project. INNAXE intends to align the project outcomes to the diverse policies in the EU agenda for innovation, EC Work Programs, and regional, local and national agendas, as well as other EU-funded projects, exploring complementarities and synergies to draft an optimal Joint Action Plan (JAP).

Health InnoFacilitator aims to create a community leveraging capabilities and promoting innovation procurement within healthcare. Provide support, tailor-made training and coaching services for buyers and suppliers, develop and foster a community supported by online collaborative tools. Increase the awareness, skills and knowledge about innovation procurement among the buyers and the solution providers/ actors of innovation, build capabilities and therefore fostering the innovation procurement capabilities within the community, providing trainings, mentoring and coaching and supporting the community, which will in return, improve SMEs and startups access to innovation procurement, leverage capability among the buyers to develop innovation procurement, foster public and private partnership to encourage the co-design of innovation procurement (matching the buyers’ needs and helping the buyers to identify existing innovative solutions and to identify their needs for research and development).