The Big Science Industry Forum Spain 2025 (BSIFS 2025), held in Madrid, served as one of the most relevant regional events for Southern Europe under the INPROCAP project. The forum brought together industry, scientific infrastructures, academia, and public administration to explore how innovative procurement and new contracting models can strengthen Europe’s Big Science ecosystem. With participants from Spain and across Europe, BSIFS reaffirmed its position as a key meeting point for companies seeking to engage with large scientific facilities.
For INPROCAP, the event provided a highly strategic opportunity to advance its mission: building capacity in innovation procurement and improving collaboration between Big Science Organisations (BSOs), Industrial Liaison Officers (ILOs), and companies across Europe.
Approximately 100 participants attended the INPROCAP plenary session, out of the 477 that attended the BSIF S2025, including:
- Industry – 39 %
- Research & Technology Organisations – 27 %
- Big Science Organisations – 4 %
- Academia – 17 %
- Public administration – 12 %
This diverse mix underlines the strong interest in innovation procurement across the full science–industry–policy value chain.
INPROCAP Contribution to the Forum
The plenary session “Innovative Procurement: Towards a greater involvement of the Science Industry in the procurement and development of large scientific infrastructures” featured contributions from:
- Rebeca Frías, CDTI Innovación
- Javier Serrano Martínez, Fusion for Energy (F4E)
Rebeca Frías described the project stressing the importance of involving industry at early stages of procurement for Large Scientific Infrastructures.
Javier Serrano presented F4E’s Technology Development Programme Call 2025. Through Pre-Commercial Procurement, it challenges innovative players on the market, via an open, transparent and competitive process, to develop new solutions for a technologically demanding mid- to long-term challenge that requires new Research and Developments (R&D) services.
The open debate held showed the great value of the Technology Development Programme put in place by F4E, identifying clear benefits for all stakeholders, such as obtaining better calls’ proposals, increasing SME participation and allowing industry to become more competitive.
Their intervention highlighted the growing importance of innovation procurement as a mechanism for both accelerating technological development and increasing industrial participation in Big Science.
While traditional procurement often focuses on fully specified, market-ready solutions, innovation procurement enables co-design, prototyping and development of technologies that do not yet exist. This isa crucial factor for scientific facilities with unique, cutting-edge needs.
The session reinforced the idea that innovation procurement is still underutilised, despite its potential to:
- foster deeper collaboration between industry and research infrastructures,
- reduce technological risk,
- leverage European industrial competitiveness,
- drive socio-economic impact from public investments.
Key Themes Relevant to INPROCAP
- Innovative Procurement as a Strategic Tool
Large scientific infrastructures represent a significant European public investment and rely heavily on high-tech suppliers. The session demonstrated how innovative procurement can:
- deliver customised, high-performance solutions,
- adapt procurement processes to address unmet technological needs,
- strengthen long-term industry–science collaboration.
This message strongly supports INPROCAP’s methodology and training strategy.
- Importance of Industrial Liaison Officers (ILOs) and Capacity Building
A central topic was the role of ILOs as:
- interpreters of technical needs,
- facilitators between BSOs and industry,
- enablers of successful innovation procurement.
The presentations confirmed INPROCAP’s focus on strengthening ILO capabilities through training manuals, webinars, and practical tools.
- Practical Use Cases
Several applied examples demonstrated how innovative procurement has led to:
- faster technology development,
- reduction in procurement risk,
- improved engagement with small and medium-sized enterprises,
- new industry capabilities that extend beyond single projects.
These cases provide valuable material for INPROCAP’s training resources and future Community of Practice discussions.
International Participation and Networking Impact
The forum attracted companies and technology centres from France, Sweden, Portugal, Germany and Poland, as well as international references such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
For INPROCAP, this broadened the outreach of the project’s mission and supported:
- new industry contacts for future training activities,
- deeper alignment with other national and regional innovation procurement efforts,
- opportunities to integrate lessons learned across European Big Science ecosystems.
The presence of stakeholders from multiple countries also reinforced the value of INPROCAP’s pan-European approach.
Conclusion: Added Value for INPROCAP
Participation in BSIFS 2025 significantly contributed to INPROCAP and broader project objectives by:
- increasing awareness of innovation procurement among Southern European stakeholders,
- validating INPROCAP’s methodological approach against real industry and BSO needs,
- expanding partnerships for future webinars, trainings, and the Community of Practice,
- aligning INPROCAP with ongoing national initiatives led by CDTI, Fusion for Energy, and major scientific facilities in Spain,
- positioning the project as a reference point in discussions on procurement innovation in Big Science.
As innovation procurement continues gaining visibility in Spain and beyond, INPROCAP is well-positioned to support its wider adoption. We aim to help companies participate more effectively in the development of next-generation scientific infrastructures.
