Press Release: Pre-commercial public procurement should become a bridge from research to innovation, says Commission ICT expert group

Proposals to drive forward innovation in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT) through public procurement were presented in Vienna on 23 March 2006 by an ad-hoc group of ICT experts from all national administrations. The group, which had been initiated on 11 October 2005 and chaired by the European Commission, proposed that national administration should invest more in purchasing innovative products and services that still required further research in the underlying ICT.