90% innovation and 10% procurement

What if public procurement could drive innovation and transformation? What if procurement could be a tool for driving innovation processes where public-sector users and businesses meet? What if what is called innovation procurement could be 90% innovation and 10% procurement?

This shift in perspective underpins the concept of procurement-friendly innovation management — which is about consciously designing innovation processes so that new, co-created solutions are given the conditions to be procured, implemented, used, and disseminated.

Demand Acceleration is a specialisation within procurement-friendly innovation management, with a particular focus on scalability and diffusion beyond the first customer. Read more about our starting points and concepts

Untapped potential

Public procurement has an annual turnover of over SEK 1000 billion in Sweden alone. If just one per cent could be used to drive innovation and transition, it would be equivalent to almost three times the entire Vinnova budget.

Municipalities

11%

Regions

13%

State authorities

18%

In the 2022 national procurement survey, only 11% of municipalities stated that they work to a great extent to procure innovative solutions.

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News
30 October, 2026

Compare and DigitalWell Arena are contributing to the UN’s work on innovation-driven procurement

Experience from public procurement in Värmland is informing international policy development. Two members of staff from Compare are part of an expert group at the…

News
08 April, 2026

How innovative procurement can reduce Helsingborg’s carbon footprint

How can a local authority halve its carbon footprint through more sustainable consumption? There is no definitive answer to that question yet – but Helsingborg…

En kvinna i mönstrad klänning talar på scen med mikrofon inför publik. Bakom henne finns en stor skärm som visar hennes foto och text: Lina Svensber, innovationschef, Stiftelsen Compare.
News
07 November, 2025

Growing international interest in how procurement can drive sustainable innovation

International interest in how public procurement can drive innovation is growing. Lina Svensberg, Innovation Manager at DigitalWell Arena, was recently an invited keynote speaker on…

En kvinna med ljus hy och blont hår i en sidfläta ler mot kameran. Hon har på sig en mönstrad grön och svart topp och står framför ett ljust fönster.

Lina Svensberg

Innovation Manager

En kvinna med vågigt brunt hår, klädd i en blå tröja över en vit skjorta, står inomhus vid stora fönster och ler med ena handen i fickan. I bakgrunden syns en stor krukväxt.

Carolin Maule

Innovation Manager