INPROCAP took part in the Research and Technology Infrastructures (RTI) Summit 2025 in Copenhagen on 22–23 October. It was an event held under the Danish EU Presidency and convened leading RTIs, Big Science Organisations, industry, and EU-funded projects. INPROCAP partner PEDAL Consulting, s.r.o. presented the project’s training pathway and capacity-building work to advance innovation-friendly procurement across the Big Science ecosystem. It engaged with RTI leaders and companies on skills needs, practical tools, and opportunities for collaboration.
Across two days, the programme traced a clear line from strategy to implementation. The high-level opening with Christina Egelund (Danish Minister of Higher Education and Science), José Luis Martínez (ESFRI), and Nobel laureate Morten Meldal set the tone: RTIs are engines of competitiveness and impact. A subsequent session on the “Impact of RTIs on Industry and Society,” featuring Jesús Valero (EARTO/TECNALIA) and Mike Lamont (CERN), highlighted how RTIs accelerate industrial innovation—ground where well-designed procurement can translate needs into market solutions.
The European Commission then introduced the new EU approach to Research and Technology Infrastructures in a dedicated session led by Jean-David Malo and Maria Christina Russo (DG RTD). Panelists from ESS ERIC, the Danish Technological Institute, and national agencies debated how to close the research-to-market gap—exactly where outcome-oriented procurement, market dialogue, and challenge framing matter most. The day concluded with a reception at the Copenhagen Planetarium, including IMAX features on CERN, Fusion for Energy (ITER), and ESA, and extensive exhibition time where around 40 infrastructures and projects presented their impact.
Day two shifted to delivery. The sessions focused on six parallel tracks:
- clean energy;
- materials circularity and critical raw materials;
- accelerators and superconducting magnets;
- microelectronics, semiconductors and quantum;
- pharma and biotechnology;
- innovation ecosystems and the role of technology.
All of them—mapped domains where procurement can speed technology translation by specifying outcomes and incentivising solutions.
A financing session with the European Commission, the EIB, ESRF and the Novo Nordisk Foundation connected strategy to investment models that can de-risk adoption and scale promising technologies.
In the closing plenary, ESA’s Advenit Makaya showcased “Metal 3D Printing on Orbit,” an illustration of how clearly articulated demand and cross-border collaboration can stimulate breakthrough innovation.
INPROCAP’s contribution
INPROCAP’s participation centered on practical training and hands-on tools that enable Big Science Organisations (BSOs), Industrial Liaison Officers (ILOs), and companies to use innovation procurement for real-world impact.
PEDAL Consulting, s.r.o. —an INPROCAP partner—represented the project on site. Lucia Birasová (Senior Project Manager) and Jozef Kubinec (Procurement Expert & Lawyer) engaged with RTI leaders and industry to pinpoint immediate capacity-building needs, align upcoming training content with RTI strategy and financing discussions, and open concrete avenues for collaboration.
Throughout the Summit, INPROCAP’s contribution remained firmly action-oriented: equipping stakeholders to run innovation-friendly procedures end-to-end, from early market engagement and challenge formulation to evaluation designs that reward novelty, performance, and value for money. By aligning its training journey to the Summit’s policy and financing priorities, INPROCAP helps organisations move from intent to implementation. In this way, the procurement becomes a deliberate lever for technology adoption rather than a compliance checkbox.
Procurement – a bridge linking research and market
The RTI Summit ultimately reinforced a message that resonates with INPROCAP’s mission: procurement is a strategic instrument to bridge research and market in complex, multi-actor ecosystems. INPROCAP’s webinars and training modules are built for this task—helping Europe’s RTIs and their industrial partners turn needs into deployable solutions and accelerate the journey from lab to society.
