Public End-Users Driven Technological Innovation (PDTI) in Urban Scenarios

Abstract

The use of disruptive technologies—as the robotic one—to solve societal challenges is described in this article through the innovative PDTI (Public end users Driven Technological Innovation) instrument, were the public entity drives the research and development of innovative solutions assisted by a technological expert team. The PDTI and the use case developed in urban scenarios through the ECHORD++ European Project offered us the opportunity to check the procedure of the innovative public procurement PCP (Pre Commercial Procurement) instrument and propose changes and improvements in order to improve public services or create new ones boosting robotic SMEs, products and services to the market. This novel procedure, the PDTI, is based in the participation of all the stakeholders involved along the process. The ECHORD++ Urban PDTI results bring two pre commercial robotic solutions waiting for a large order to be commercialized and 14 innovative robotic challenges proposed by European cities that could be the starting point for new innovative public procurement PCPs or PDTIs. The specific results obtained in this robotic use case could be generalized to other technological domains and to other scenarios.