Pre–commercial procurement to buy R&D services in the form of tools for modelling and dynamic assessment of integrated health and care pathways enhancing response capabilities

This PCP procurement is a joint procurement by different procurers across Europe that are all facing the same common challenge and are thus looking for a similar solution (so-called ‘Buyers Group’). The common challenge to be solved by R&D providers by designing, developing, and testing an integrated tool that supports the modelling and dynamic assessment of integrated health and care pathways enhancing response capacity of health systems. The tool should effectively support service planning in times of crisis by enabling: 1. the dynamic adaptation of service delivery processes to shocks and structural changes; 2. an ex-ante impact assessment of alternative service pathways according to relevant, definable parameters; 3. task planning and skills matching in times of crises. The procurement will take the form of a pre-commercial procurement (PCP) under which R&D service contracts will be awarded to a number of R&D providers in parallel in a phased approach. This will make it possible to compare competing alternative solutions from different suppliers. Each selected R&D provider will be awarded a framework agreement that covers three R&D phases. Each selected R&D provider will be awarded a framework agreement that covers the following R&D phases and a specific contract per phase: 1) Solution design, 2) Prototype development, 3) Original development and validation and testing of a limited volume of first products or services. After each phase, intermediate evaluations will be carried out to progressively select the best of the competing solutions. The contractors with the best-value-for-money solutions will be offered a specific contract for the next phase. Testing in Phase 3 is expected to take place in Treviso (Italy), Olsztyński (Poland), Barcelona (Spain), Amadora (Portugal), West Wales (UK). This testing may also serve as a first customer test reference for the contractors. Phase 3 is expected to start in August 2025 and end in January 2026. The selected R&D providers will retain ownership of the intellectual property rights (IPRs) that they generate during the PCP and will be able to use them to exploit the full market potential of the developed solutions, i.e. beyond the procurement.