Public procurement of innovation as an instrument for collaborative knowledge construction: challenges for its effective development in Colombia

Abstract

Some theoretical perspectives have pointed out that a feature of contemporary administrative law is the necessary collaboration between public administrations and individuals for the achievement of state purposes. A characteristic of this governance model is the recognition to citizens of the possibility of participating in the configuration and execution of public policies. Within economic administrative law, public procurement is an area in which this cooperation scheme is appreciated. As an example of this, the objective of this paper is to argue that the public procurement regime of technology and innovation in force in Colombia is an instrument that allows the collaborative construction of knowledge, since it makes state entities position themselves as promoters of research, instead of being simple consumers of goods and services pre-existing in the market. Based on the current regulations and some works on the subject, it is concluded that, although the legal system allows innovation to be promoted through public procurement, it is essential to provide civil society with real epistemic possibilities to participate equitably in the administrative procedures of contractual selection aimed at the materialization of scientific and technological developments.