Procurement is a request for something proven, where innovation is a journey into the unknown. However, the five basic principles for procurement (non-discrimination, equal treatment, proportionality, transparency and mutual recognition) are reasonable guidelines for any interaction between the public sector and suppliers.

Innovation is a discovery driven experimental process

Innovation is usually a co-creation process between users and solution providers. Success cannot be analyzed beforehand, it can only be experienced. The process has to allow for co-creating in a series of competitive steps, each step reduces risks and uncertainties and eliminates those not able to meet the needs and requirements.

Needs, requirements and solutions are exposed, evolved and sharpened by the interaction with and the use of the innovation in its different shapes: slideware, mockups, prototypes, MVP etc. This means that: - The understanding of the need will change throughout the process - The possible solutions need to get into the process as early as possible - Since solutions are co-created, the suppliers need to get into the process as early as possible - Therefore, the formulation of the problem/need is not the ending point of a needs assessment. It's the starting point of an integrated needs assessment

Scalability has to be included in all steps of the process, from the market potential of a need, to the assessment of business potential of the solution, and the supplier's ability to scale the business. Without scalability - The first and only customer has to carry all development costs and the form has only one source of income. - The value-in-use is captured by one customer only and cannot be shared by the potential customer base on the market, thereby limiting the societal value of the innovation - The first and only customer must carry all maintenance cost – no single customer is able to compete with a solution that is forced to be improved on a competitive market This also means that it is in the interest of the customer that the supplier succeeds with growing into a sustainable business - and that the customer should strive for the suppliers to succeed .

Firms must own the intellectual assets developed during the process. This principle can be combined with the principles of co-creation in the following way: - The supplier owns their idea (concept/prototype/product etc), but not the need's owner's insight that are a result of interaction with the idea (concept/ prototype/product etc) - All insights that emerge during the process are to be shared between all participants - including all suppliers in the process. That way the collected effort of all participants of the process leads to a deeper understanding of the need, and the final product will benefit from all the insights that have emerged during the process.

Most innovation efforts fail. Ability to embrace failure and iteratively learn what works and doesn't work is the key to success, and is a necessary mindset for successful innovation procurement using demand acceleration methodology. Other pre-requisites are: Resources for innovation needs to be allocated, and a strategy for when and how to use those resources Anchoring and mobilization from the need's owner - all necessary roles need to be involved, and have necessary mandate and resources - management, legal, procurement, operations, IT etc Intermediary that addresses the market potential of need, solutions and secures leverage, and links to the incubation process