To support public procurement practitioners in performing their roles and achieving the objectives of public procurement, the European Commission has initiated and is funding a training programme for procurers working for newly or to be established Central Procurement Bodies.

To this end, COSME funded training course PPE – Public Procurement Excellence, offers the programme Public Procurement Excellence (PPE), embracing a unique combination of academic and practical approaches.
The goal is to provide state-of-the art knowledge, tools & methods for modern public procurement, including policy objectives like SME-friendly procurement, environmental sustainability and innovative procurement.

The teaching team will be composed of experienced public procurement experts (management & senior level from longstanding CPBs) and renowned lecturers from the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU).
Furthermore, the programme will promote the sharing of professional experience and will initiate a platform to build a network of highly skilled public procurement officials.

For application please send an email to ppe@bbg.gv.at.

For downloading PPE programme folder click HERE.
For downloading PPE programme factsheet click HERE.

If you are an SME interested in boosting your capacities of winning public contracts abroad, click here to get in touch with the Tenderio team and find out how we can help your business grow and stay ahead of the tendering game.

If you’d like to start benefitting from the various business services Tenderio has to offer, click here to register free of charge.

www.tenderio.com

he United Kingdom: 2018 Ecommerce Report (free) provides a brief overview of the state of ecommerce in The UK. This report has been published by the Ecommerce Foundation with hand-selected data that will help both domestic and international retailers evaluate their potential for success in the UK ecommerce market.

Check the original document from EcommerceWiki here.

Topics and Scope

The report is split into 6 main chapters:

Introduction: The United Kingdom
Infrastructure and Logistics
E-commerce Landscape
British Consumers
Case Study: Brexit
Did you know?

The UK GDP grew by 2.05% in 2017
Inclusive Internet Index: The UK is in the top 10 nations
Affordability is a key strength in the UK
The UK ranks 1st in the E-Government development Index
2018 B2C turnover growth rate is forecasted to be ≈ 14%
UK ecommerce rises substantially during holiday season
Internet purchasing growth is strong and stable
Over half of online consumers feel there is more choice online
UK webshops are still by far the most popular
1/3 of consumers have purchased from other EU nations
Most internet access is via fixed broadband
54% of e-tailer websites were rated ‘poor’ for page speed
Internet usage is above 90% for almost all age groups
91% of ages 35-44 are shopping online
Download the report here!

Innovative way to communicate research through gamification:
Serious Games are increasingly gaining popularity to raise awareness and teach contents addressing both children and adults.

FVA new media research, in the context of the European BIOWAYS and BIOVOICES projects, developed three games to promote Bioeconomy aiming at testing the knowledge about bioeconomy field using Games to address and influence attitudes and behaviours. The serious games, strongly encouraged by the European Commission, are innovative tools to involve the general public and the new generations, increasing the impact of scientific and research results.

The first game, mostly for children, is “Bio…What?”, a Serious Game developed by the BIOWAYS project in partnership with the BioSTEP project, both funded by BBI JU under Horizon 2020.

Bio…What? is an online game, to raise young generations’ awareness on Bioeconomy, stimulating curiosity and delivering information and content about Bio-based Products.

Through the game the player will discover how different raw materials and feed-stocks can be used to produce everyday use objects and products: like furniture, Food packaging & bags, disposals for catering, vehicle tires, toys, textile products, office supplies, etc…

The game play is very engaging and active, taking inspiration from the Mario Bros game. Based on the number of correct answers and ability in avoiding the traps and fossil-based obstacles, the player will get a score, shareable on Facebook to increase viral dissemination of the game.
BIO…What? is available in: English, Italian, Slovak, Greek, Portuguese, Estonian and Spanish

Dedicated to everybody, the second game BIOChallenge, is an exciting game-quiz that will put your knowledge in bioeconomy to the test! The player will have to respond to several questions about bioeconomy before the time runs out.

This quiz, available in: English, Italian, Slovak, Greek, Portuguese, Estonian and Spanish, was developed in collaboration with STAR-ProBio project, also funded under Horizon 2020, who has provided the content and BIOWAYS has designed and developed the game.

The BIOES games, developed by BIOVOICES and BIOWAYS project in collaboration with the European Commission DG Research & Innovation F1, is a game addressing experts with focus on the update of the European bioeconomy strategy.
The game aims at challenging the players in their knowledge of European strategies and objectives for a more sustainable circular bioeconomy.

Link to the BIOChallenge game: www.fvaweb.eu/biochallenge/

Link to the BIO…What? game: http://www.fvaweb.eu/biowhat/

Link to the BIOES game: http://www.fvaweb.eu/bes/

The 1.39 mil EUR worth “Youth Impact” project proposal submitted under the “Active Youth Call” of the “EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment” was selected for funding.

Coordinated by Channel Crossings (CZ) and partnered by PEDAL Consulting (SK), Foundation in Support of Local Democracy (PL) and Institute for Innovative and Preventive Job Design (GE), the project will last for 40 months and it will:

provide tools and services to improve the ability & capacity of NGOs, public and private institutions addressing youth unemployment to efficiently evaluate the impact of their activities; and
build a transnational research network to increase the capacity of organisations devoted to/or interested in impact studies.

Slated to kick off in 3Q/2018, the project adopts a practical “capacity building” approach to the area of concern. Based on the partnership, it seeks to create a network of “impact evaluation consulting” organisations and equip them with skills, made-to-measure tools and resources which they could use to directly help YEEAs (Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Support Actions) implementers to improve their capacity and capability to perform impact evaluation.

The YEEAs will be supported on organisations´ level (testing of evaluation packages) as well as on individuals´ level (blended-learning training). We seek, first, to create tools for the general youth, which will be then adapted to the specific needs of the 25-29.

All partnership countries invested in recent years large sums (both national and EU resources) into youth employment and entrepreneurship support (CZ,PL,SK rank among the biggest EU beneficiaries). Still, despite the recent economic recovery (2016 GDP growth: CZ 2.6%, PL 2.7%, SK 3.3%, DE 1.9%: Eurostat), the countries face many challenges:

General and youth unemployment gap: Eurostat, V/2017: CZ 3%x9.2%, PL 4.8%x14.1%, SK 8.1%x18.6%, DE 3.9%x6.7%
NEETs’ ratio (Eurostat, 2016): CZ 13.6% PL 15.1% SK 18.2% – DE 10.4%
Other youth employment problems: young migration & brain drain, skills mismatch (labour force x labour market)
Transfer of research know-how into implementation practice
Impact evaluation is quoted as one of the weak spots of such interventions, whose impact is often criticized.

PEDAL Consulting will lead the activities related to the entrepreneurship evaluation and support services.

For more information, please contact r.miskuf@pedal-consulting.eu

BIOWAYS and BIOVOICES projects will host a session during the upcoming “Green Day” of the GLOBSEC 2018 conference, which is organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic. The GLOBSEC 2018 Bratislava Forum will take place in Bratislava on 17 – 19 May 2018.

The “Green Day” part will be held on the 18th of May in the morning under the heading of “Transition to Green Economy”.

The Forum will once again offer a multi-lensed perspective on the variety of political, security, technological and economic challenges which must be overcome to adapt our societies to the future and strive for their sustainability. Information and technological revolutions combined with the boom of social media are already today transforming the world as we know it.

The unprecedented speed of a system-wide transformation requires quick understanding of the changing environment and continuous innovation. This series of discussions will gather stakeholders from businesses across sectors who will address the hot-button issues facing businesses all around the globe including the issue of innovation versus regulation, climate and energy and artificial intelligence.

PEDAL Consulting constantly augments contacts, opportunities and partnerships and hence from February 2018 it has become the member of the Bioeconomy Cluster. Bioeconomy Cluster is the association for mutual support and changing of valued information or experiences from the bioeconomic sphere. The main objective of the cluster is to cooperate with the practice and to connect the practice with science and research.

PEDAL Consulting is interested in the field of bioeconomy and currently is working on four EU-funded projects which are concerned with bioeconomy. We believe that this membership will bring value for our company as well as we will be a beneficial part of the cluster and other members.

We are looking forward to new challenges and collaborations.

Participation in international public procurement opens up doors to many opportunities – you can venture into new markets, expand your operations, and establish new partnerships. However, it also often leads to certain barriers – the most common of which is the language barrier.

Logically, each public agency will always publish a tender in their native language. While some decide to publish this information in other languages, most of them are not obliged to do so. This creates a problem for international bidders, who are not familiar with the language of the published tender. Taking a plunge and bidding on a tender whose information you do not understand in its entirety is an immense risk.

Certain institutions aim to relieve potential participants of this barrier. This is the case across the EU because the rules state that information should be equally available across all EU states and that there should be no discrimination among participants based on their origin. But while the EU pushes for more openness, some other countries do not exactly share the same enthusiasm – as is the case in Japan.

Not knowing the language puts you at a disadvantage compared to those who do, and this ultimately affects your probability of winning the tender. Fortunately, there are ways around this problem. The first, most obvious solution that comes to mind is to acquire the services of a translator. However, one should consider whether this is really the most efficient solution.

Instead of turning to translators for help, what if you found a local partner instead? Forming a partnership can optimise your chances in the entire bidding process and help you deliver the needed services in a more efficient and effective way. Furthermore, having a local partner automatically removes any language barriers that can keep you from bidding.

With Tenderio, not only do you have the chance to scan for tenders worldwid, and be regularly notified when new opportunities in your area appear, but you will also have basic description of all tenders in English. Furthermore, Tenderio has a network of entrusted consultants and experts whom you can reach out to with any questions you might run into.

Click here to get in touch with the Tenderio team and find out how we can help your business grow and stay ahead of the tendering game.

If you’d like to start benefitting from the various business services Tenderio has to offer, click here to register free of charge.

www.tenderio.com

You have found an interesting bid, you fulfill the set requirements and are eligible to bid, and have possibly found a partner – now it’s time to fill out and submit the actual documents! But what exactly do you do, and how?

Filling out tender documentation in itself is a tedious step, which requires you to pay a lot of attention to details and to be very specific as to what you offer – but it’s not rocket science. However, keep in mind that how well and how correctly you fill out the tender documents will in turn have consequences on the success of your bid.

First and foremost, make sure that your bid offers exactly what is asked for. If the tender asks for ten crates of oranges, you cannot fill out the documentation offering nine crates. Tender specifications like these will decide whether or not your offer is taken into account. With a bid that offers the exact needed product or service, you can compete among other bidders.

Very often there will be a required structure indicating how precisely the documents should be filled out. With these pointers, the process itself becomes somewhat easier, as you know how the information should be formatted, but you need to make sure that this information is written down in a very clear and specific way. Omitting even the smallest details can bring your eligibility into question, and even disqualify you from the race.

Keep in mind that certain public agencies have their own standard forms for tender documentation. Additionally, pay attention to deadlines, and think through your financial offer clearly.

The last part of your documentation will be the annexes. Normally, tender specifications will include a checkbox pertaining to annex information that should be included, and these should be easy to follow.

It is often advised that you seek help from experts when filling out the tender documents. With the help of someone with experience, you will ensure that you do not forget any information, and more importantly, that your information is provided in a detailed and a clear way, satisfying all the specifications. One source of help for you is Tenderio. Tenderio can connect you to a network of 30+ European consultancy partners who can help you with your tender documentation.

So don’t strain yourself – reach out to the Tenderio team and get help with this tedious process!

Click here to get in touch with the Tenderio team and find out how we can help your business grow and stay ahead of the tendering game.

If you’d like to start benefitting from the various business services Tenderio has to offer, click here to register free of charge.

www.tenderio.com

After receiving the COSME investment for the development of the cutting edge service Tenderio, PEDAL Consulting secures six new EU contracts, including 4 H2020 projects.

PEDAL Consulting continues implementing its flagship project, which will broaden business opportunities for European SMEs thanks to its integrated tender monitoring and consultancy platform tenderio.com.

Meanwhile, since June 2017, PEDAL Consulting participated in four Horizon 2020 winning consortia and continues to establish its position as one of the leading EU-tendering and project management consultancies in Central Europe.

The four new Horizon 2020 awards with a total 8,5 million EUR budget include:

HubIT – The long term strategic objective of the HubIT project is to contribute to the high level of European research and innovation and ensure that H2020 funded and further ICT related innovation is responsible, inclusive and aimed at reversing inequalities.
BIOVOICES – BIOVoices builds on the concept of Mobilisation & Mutual Learning Platforms (MML) with the ultimate objective of delivering an Action Plan addressing the challenges of raising awareness of and engaging with the citizens on bio-based products.
BIOBRIDGES – A 24-months action aiming at boosting the marketability of bio-based products by establishing close cooperation and partnership between bio-based industries, brand owners and consumers’ representatives.
ALTFInator – Project focused on capacity-building of the financial ecosystem improving innovative SME´s access to alternative forms of finance.

To underscore the success of the last months, PEDAL Consulting also signed a 4 year framework contract with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), providing this EU agency with a subscription to a media contacts database in order to support EFSA’s Media Relations team and in October 2017, PEDAL Consulting started implementing the “YouNG International Enterprise” project the objective of which is to significantly improve employment and life chances of young people.

Robert Miskuf, CEO of PEDAL Consulting, commented: “These are exciting times. More than the awards themselves, we are happy that we have proved that a very small, boot-strapped consultancy start-up can become a respected player in the crowded EU consulting field.”

What options do you have if you come across an interesting tender, yet you do not comply with all the requirements set out in the tender notice? Or, maybe you don’t quite have the ability to carry out the full terms of the contract. The answer is simple: find yourself a partner!

Deciding to find a partner with whom you can bid can be influenced by many factors. As mentioned in the previous posts, there are a number of things to consider before preparing a bid offer, such as administrative requirements, technical details, or the financial offer itself. At any stage of the bid preparation, one can run into difficulties that ultimately might impede eligibility to participate. The balance sheet statements or the turnover of the bidder might not be satisfying enough, or the bidder might be lacking previous experience in tendering – all of which can be specified as eligibility requirements in the tender notice.

Furthermore, it is easy to run into technical problems if you have the expertise needed to carry out a contract, yet lack the manpower to do so to the full extent. In this case, the best solution is to engage with a partner who has similar interests and objectives, and at the same time complements your own capabilities, so that the created consortium is eligible to participate in bidding and able to carry out the contract.

Additionally, if you decide to participate in international bidding, language or similar administrative barriers surface. In these instances, you might turn to a local expert, who has excellent knowledge of the language and the legal frameworks related to the contract. This form of a partnership can also be useful if it is the first time you have conducted business in a certain region. Backed up with the experience and expertise of a local partner, you increase your chances of having the winning offer.

Deciding to look for a partner is the easy part – it’s finding a suitable one that can prove to be somewhat difficult. Fortunately, it is in these moments you can turn to the Tenderio helpdesk. We keep track of all the winning tenders and their values in your sector. In other words, we keep a list of your competitors, whom you can turn into partners if needed. Additionally, we carefully select local experts who can offer their expertise and embark on the bidding journey as your partner. While it can’t be promised the whole process will be easy and headache free, the Tenderio team will make sure to free you of as much burden as possible!

Don’t hold back – reach out to our team with any dilemma you come across.

Identify your tender, team up with partners and bid!

Click here to get in touch with the Tenderio team and find out how we can help your business grow and stay ahead of the tendering game.

If you’d like to start benefitting from the various business services Tenderio has to offer, click here to register free of charge.

www.tenderio.com