Save the date for a Big Buyers Observer Group webinar!
Image (Pixabay) by "geralt", licensed under Pixabay License
Big Buyers for Climate and Environment is a European Commission initiative designed to help drive market demand for innovative and sustainable products and services in Europe. The four active working groups have been gathering together to find a common demand and jointly approaching the market for almost a year now. On 16 November an Observer Group webinar will give the opportunity to gain a closer look into their work (more information below!).
Zero-Emission Construction Sites
The Zero-Emission Construction Sites working group has collected learnings from best practice examples over the first half of the year, and now shifts gears to focus on market engagement. The first market dialogue was held with Volvo Construction Equipment in September, when the engaged buyers had the opportunity to see the supplier's electric machinery development timeline and ask technical questions about machine performance, as well as to convey their commitment to accelerated transition to emission-free construction works. The group will seek to have their first in person working group meeting in Oslo next month, alongside a study visit to a municipal construction site using electric machinery and an in-person dialogue with multiple machine manufacturers and construction contractors.
Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicles
3 market engagement events have been organised so far - jointly approaching VDL Translift, Scania and Addax Motors. As next steps the working group will now focus on different types of charging infrastructures. The working group participants are looking forward to the beginning of 2022, as a physical site visit and supplier dialogue session in Gothenburg is being organized.
Circular Construction
A first meeting on good practices was organised in June, where Haarlem presented their approach. An experience exchange workshop on recycled asphalt was held just yesterday. A follow-up workshop on recycled asphalt is in the planning if there is further demand. A physical site visit and supplier dialogue session in Rotterdam will be organized for the end of 2021.
Digital solutions in the healthcare sector
A market consultation was organized with the European Innovation Council (EIC) on Thursday 22 July 2021. 10 EIC-funded start-ups and scaleups from 7 different countries pitched their innovations in the field of emergency medical services on a disaster/crisis scene and hospitals and nursing homes. Additionally, members of the digital healthcare working group had the chance to participate in two consecutive 2,5 hours webinar sessions in collaboration with the EURIPHI project. In the first session, participants could benefit from insights on good practices applying a value based approach, more strategic procurement and advancing to the cross-border collaborative model. During the second session, experts gave insights into the pragmatic implementation and presented concrete tools for cross border innovation procurement. By collecting more detailed information on the needs and challenges of the members of the working group two subtopics could be identified: Remote patient monitoring and tools for better data collection & analysis. More market engagement activities will be organized in the upcoming months to accelerate the acquisition of innovative digital healthcare solutions. A collaboration with EcoQuip+ project is also planned to tackle common challenges.
Curious to find out more?
You are warmly invited to join the upcoming Observer Group webinar for a deep dive into the working groups’ latest activities!
Save the date for Tuesday, 16 November, 14.00-16.00 and don’t forget to register!
Psst… also watch the newly produced video on the Big Buyers to get a better understanding of their approach!