Enabling Procurement of Innovation: Municipal Capacity Building from Policy to Practice

This paper explores how municipalities build policy capacity to operationalise public procurement of innovation (PPI), using Wu et al.'s (2015) policy capacity framework. Based on interviews with eight senior practitioners across eight EU countries, the first findings suggest that internal capacities and organisational culture are key drivers of successful PPI operationalisation, rather than external support. Practitioners tend to view PPI instruments as means to achieve organisational goals, rather than an end in itself. Therefore, the first findings suggest that policymakers should reconsider how PPI policies and instruments are designed and communicated to better align with practitioners' point of view.