Demand Acceleration highlighted as “Best Practice” by the European Commission

Since the beginning of October, the Demand Acceleration methodology has featured as an example of “best practice” on the EU’s Knowledge Valorisation Platform, which aims to inspire and share knowledge about new policies and methods.

The platform’s purpose is to connect actors across Europe with the ambition of transforming research results into sustainable products and solutions for the public good. This can include economic or environmental benefits, social progress, or improved policy design.

– It feels both stimulating and honourable to be highlighted in such a forum, says Lina Svensberg, Innovation Manager at DigitalWell Arena.

The Demand Acceleration methodology has been developed within DigitalWell Arena with support from Vinnova and in close collaboration with Karlstad Municipality. It combines public demand with new technical solutions and enables the public sector to procure an innovation process, with the aim of meeting organisational challenges. Multiple companies can participate in the process to develop new digital services in close collaboration with the organisation.

Commercial viability that benefits everyone

In this way, services that are missing from the market can be developed to address important needs. A central principle is that the services should have the potential to address a broader need and be scalable. The commercial viability helps ensure that services can be further developed and sustained, which also benefits the customer that initiated the procurement.

In this context, Lina Svensberg highlights the need for a new type of intermediary as a key factor – that is, actors within the innovation system who can provide process facilitation for the procurements.

– This is a role that is difficult for the public sector to take on, as it captures perspectives around business development and scalability. That is not part of the public sector’s mandate. At the same time, a challenge is that many actors in the innovation sphere have a mandate to support a particular segment, for example a region or industry. There is therefore a need for an intermediary that does not represent a special interest, but can function as an independent bridge between the public sector and industry.

DigitalWell Arena has taken on this intermediary role in the first procurements carried out, which have focused on innovation in digital health and welfare. The Demand Acceleration methodology is, however, broadly applicable and has proven relevant to a wider target group.

An arena where new insights are sharedsights are shared

A handful of municipalities have already initiated processes to use the procurement methodology to address challenges beyond the immediate health sphere, including those related to climate challenges and municipal services. For example, Helsingborg is running a process to reduce the climate footprint of the city’s public consumption, and Hammarö municipality is looking for a digital solution that better meets citizens’ information needs.

– DigitalWell Arena makes it possible for organisations to collaborate on challenges that require us to gather information from many perspectives and discover new opportunities. You could say we are a campfire where individuals and information meet, creating new insights that different actors can use creatively. Demand Acceleration has emerged as a result of this context and is likely of interest to many industries and organisations, says Jonas Matthing, Process Manager for DigitalWell Arena.

Legal aspect relevant across the entire EU

An important aspect regarding applicability within the EU is also that the Demand Acceleration methodology captures important legal procurement aspects in a structured way.

– Public procurement law works in the same way across the entire EU, which makes the methodology directly transferable to other EU countries, says Lina Svensberg.