As contratações públicas como forma indireta de fomento à inovação

Abstract

Public procurement of innovation and innovative solutions is a driving factor for the market and the economy, but poses several challenges to public administration for their implementation. In this context, legal aspects, risks, and uncertainties are addressed, as well as the role of public administrators and control bodies, emphasizing best practices for public procurement of innovation. The examination of public procurements as one way to foster innovation takes into account technological risk, which is the possibility of failure in developing the desired solution and explores some management attitudes that may mitigate such risk. It is suggested that to manage the risk, public administrators should carry out proper planning of the procurement, which clearly defines the problem to be solved, the technical characteristics, and the expected performance of the innovative solution, possibly partnering with the market. The role of control bodies is prominent both in a guiding and coercive capacity, and at this point, examples of initiatives to assist public managers in public procurement of innovation are presented. Finally, the importance of recording detailed information in the contracting process is highlighted, aiming to clearly explain each action taken, instructing control bodies and forming a significant source of information for future public procurement of innovation. For this purpose, the hypothetical-deductive method is used through bibliographic and normative research.