The Public Procurement of Innovation Platform consortium has today announced the nominations for the Public Procurement of Innovation Award , which rewards the very best innovation procurement in Europe. The Award recognises successful public procurement practices that have been used to purchase innovative, effective and efficient products or services. The nominees reflect the geographic diversity of entrants, with Spanish, Dutch, French, Norwegian and Austrian contracting authorities represented.

"The quality of all applications was extremely high, making the jury’s evaluation a difficult task. We congratulate all those selected, and look forward to announcing a final winner. All candidates will benefit from the recognition offered by the Award." said Mark Hidson, Deputy Regional Director of ICLEI Europe and Global Director of ICLEI’s Sustainable Procurement Centre. The winning entry will receive an award for innovation procurement excellence, together with the title “European innovation procurement of the year”, and a case study published on the Procurement of Innovation Platform.

As well as Mr Hidson, the judging panel comprises Bonifacio Garcia Porras, Head of Unit: Innovation Policy for Growth, DG Enterprise and Industry, European Commission; Wouter Stolwijk, Director of PIANOo; and David Golding, Head of Strategy, Technology Strategy Board. At the end of June the jury will make a selection of six finalists. The winner will be revealed at the EcoProcura conference taking place in Ghent, Belgium on 24-26 September 2014.

To view the list of nominees, click here.