Public procurement notice: Prior Information Notice Without Call For Competition
Published: 2025-04-07
Region: BE100
Contract type: Services
CPV classification: 72220000: Systems and technical consultancy services | 73000000 | 73400000 | 73420000 | 79111000
Estimated value: 3200000 EUR
Submission deadline: 2025-05-15
EU fund: eu-funds

Technical requirements: In the context of the Hub for EU Defence Innovation, EDA intends to launch a tender to procure consultancy services in support of technology scouting, technology watch and landscaping, and military utility assessment, including market consultations, as well as defence innovation education and training.  As part of the forthcoming tender, EDA is organising an information session on 27 May 2025. 
The services are structured in 4 LOTS:  

LOT 1: Technology Watch and Landscaping: Provision of a regular and structured AI supported assessment of worldwide technological developments across both defence and non-defence sectors, identifying emerging trends, weak signals, and dual-use innovations that could impact EU security and defence;  

LOT 2: Military Utility Assessment: Focuses on evaluating the potential military applications of emerging technologies, assessing their operational utility, and identifying pathways for adoption into defence capability development;  

LOT 3: Market Research and Market Consultation: Provision of expert consultancy support for conducting market research and facilitating structured market consultations to bridge gaps between innovation suppliers and defence users;  

LOT 4: Defence Innovation Training Courses: Development and delivery of a structured, high-quality Defence Innovation Course. The first specific contract will focus on an Intermediate Level while potential follow-up contracts will address Basic and Advanced levels. The course is aimed at fostering a harmonized understanding of defence innovation across EU Member States while equipping participants with practical skills for managing and implementing innovation projects within innovation ecosystems. 

 
LOT 1 to 3 are services within the HEDI portfolio, the so-called “Defence Frontier Insights”.  

The Defence Frontier Insights (DFI) service is a key component of the portfolio of activities in HEDI. By scanning and analysing advancements across both defence and non-defence industries and research organizations, DFI serves as an early identification system for technologies and their potential application which could impact the EU security and defence landscape (from both – defensive and offensive perspectives). This service not only identifies new players and technologies but also tracks weak signals that may indicate longer-term trends in the technological environment. 

Through DFI, HEDI aims at providing a wide spectrum actionable intelligence that informs various aspects of the innovation process:  

Research & Technology: By keeping a pulse on the latest research developments (i.e. weak signals analysis, patent landscaping, emerging dual-use areas, industrial and institutional reports), DFI is to provide a systemic EU (and worldwide) outlook that complements and augments efforts at the national level, ensuring that MS remain informed and up to date on potentially disruptive military technologies. 

Capability driven prioritization: DFI is to outline how technological innovations can potentially be transformed into actionable defence capabilities. By integrating findings from R&T and innovation pipelines, the service is to provide insights on the operational utility of new technologies, contributing through other HEDI/EDA services to a long-term capability development planning.  

Innovation ecosystem definition: DFI is to map out innovation ecosystems’ maturity and ability to accommodate innovation, identifying key players assessing technological readiness levels, and potential barriers to adoption, including legal consultancy, and to identify the most suitable areas for targeted support by other EDA (and wider – EU) working bodies.
Provision of a regular and structured assessment of worldwide technological developments across both defence and non-defence sectors, identifying emerging trends, weak signals, and dual-use innovations that could impact EU security and defence;
Focuses on evaluating the potential military applications of emerging technologies, assessing their operational utility, and identifying pathways for adoption into defence capability development
Provision of expert consultancy support for conducting market research and facilitating structured market consultations to bridge gaps between innovation suppliers and defence users;
Development and delivery of a structured, high-quality Defence Innovation Course. The first specific contract will focus on an Intermediate Level while potential follow-up contracts will address Basic and Advanced levels. The course is aimed at fostering a harmonized understanding of defence innovation across EU Member States while equipping participants with practical skills for managing and implementing innovation projects within innovation ecosystems.