Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2025-03-26
Buyer: ANCI Toscana
Country: IT
Region: ITI14
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Innovation partnership
CPV classification: 73100000
Estimated value: 1200000 EUR
Submission deadline: 2025-05-09
EU fund: eu-funds

Technical requirements: This innovation partnership aims to develop and experiment new and innovative climate services in 5 EU cities:
Grenoble (FR), Issy-les-Moulineaux (FR), Prijedor (BA), Sofia (BG) and Pilsen (CZ). The urban challenges to be tackled and their environments were presented publicly in January 2025 during 5 preliminary market consultations, the proceedings of which can be consulted at the following web address: https://climaborough.eu/public-procurement/preliminary-market-consultations-of-follower-cities/. The deployment of solutions in each city environment constitutes a separate lot of this tender. The socio-technical solutions envisaged should assist citizens and/or urban policy makers in taking climate friendly decisions and actions supported by specific data and information on the carbon footprint of the human activities. At the end of the procurement procedure, there will be two awarded solutions per city. This Call is governed by the EU directive on public procurement, 2014/24/EU, and by the national legislation of Italy where the Contracting authority resides. In case of conflict between the European and the national legislation, the former will prevail. The competition is structured in five phases, namely: 1) Candidature; 2) Negotiation; 3) Tendering; 4) Award; 5) Solution deployment. 
The Contracting authority has set up the following timetable:
Deadline for enquiries regarding Phase 1: 5 May 2025, h. 23:59
Deadline for Phase 1 applications: 9 May 2025, h. 23:59
Tentative date of notification of invitations to Phase 2: 30 May 2025
Deadline for enquiries regarding Phase 2: 23 June 2025, h. 23:59
Deadline for Phase 2 submissions: 27 June 2025, h. 23:59
Tentative end date of Phase 2 negotiations: 31 July 2025
Deadline for enquiries regarding Phase 3: 25 August 2025, h. 23:59
Deadline for Phase 3 submissions: 29 August 2025, h. 23:59
Tentative date of notification of Phase 4 results: 30 September 2025
Tentative end of the waiting period: 15 October 2025
Tentative date of Partnership Contract signature: 30 November 2025
Maximum end date of Phase 5: 31 August 2026
This procedure is divided in 5 lots of identical value (240.000 Euros). Each economic operator can compete in all 5 lots. However, the same legal entity (single or associate) may not be invited to submit more than one Technical Offer per lot in Phase 2. At the end of Phase 4 the Contracting authority expects to award no fewer than 2 Tenderers per lot. However, in case one or more lots are not awarded or only partially so, the Contractor reserves the right of awarding more than 2 Tenderers in one or more other lots, following the order of their positioning in the ranking. There is no limitation to the number of lots an economic operator can be awarded. Any economic operator (single or associate) must fulfill the following conditions: 1) Suitability to pursue the professional activity; 2) Economic and financial standing; 3) Technical and professional ability.
This innovation partnership aims to develop and experiment new and innovative climate services in 5 EU cities:
Grenoble (FR), Issy-les-Moulineaux (FR), Prijedor (BA), Sofia (BG) and Pilsen (CZ). The urban challenges to be tackled and their environments were presented publicly in January 2025 during 5 preliminary market consultations, the proceedings of which can be consulted at the following web address: https://climaborough.eu/public-procurement/preliminary-market-consultations-of-follower-cities/. The deployment of solutions in each city environment constitutes a separate lot of this tender. The socio-technical solutions envisaged should assist citizens and/or urban policy makers in taking climate friendly decisions and actions supported by specific data and information on the carbon footprint of the human activities. At the end of the procurement procedure, there will be two awarded solutions per city. This Call is governed by the EU directive on public procurement, 2014/24/EU, and by the national legislation of Italy where the Contracting authority resides. In case of conflict between the European and the national legislation, the former will prevail. The competition is structured in five phases, namely: 1) Candidature; 2) Negotiation; 3) Tendering; 4) Award; 5) Solution deployment.
The Contracting authority has set up the following timetable:
Deadline for enquiries regarding Phase 1: 5 May 2025, h. 23:59
Deadline for Phase 1 applications: 9 May 2025, h. 23:59
Tentative date of notification of invitations to Phase 2: 30 May 2025
Deadline for enquiries regarding Phase 2: 23 June 2025, h. 23:59
Deadline for Phase 2 submissions: 27 June 2025, h. 23:59
Tentative end date of Phase 2 negotiations: 31 July 2025
Deadline for enquiries regarding Phase 3: 25 August 2025, h. 23:59
Deadline for Phase 3 submissions: 29 August 2025, h. 23:59
Tentative date of notification of Phase 4 results: 30 September 2025
Tentative end of the waiting period: 15 October 2025
Tentative date of Partnership Contract signature: 30 November 2025
Maximum end date of Phase 5: 31 August 2026
This procedure is divided in 5 lots of identical value (240.000 Euros). Each economic operator can compete in all 5 lots. However, the same legal entity (single or associate) may not be invited to submit more than one Technical Offer per lot in Phase 2. At the end of Phase 4 the Contracting authority expects to award no fewer than 2 Tenderers per lot. However, in case one or more lots are not awarded or only partially so, the Contractor reserves the right of awarding more than 2 Tenderers in one or more other lots, following the order of their positioning in the ranking. There is no limitation to the number of lots an economic operator can be awarded. Any economic operator (single or associate) must fulfill the following conditions: 1) Suitability to pursue the professional activity; 2) Economic and financial standing; 3) Technical and professional ability.
The Contracting authority will hold an online workshop on 3 April 2025, at 11:00 CET. Further announcements will be given on the Climaborough website (https://climaborough.eu/public-procurement/follower-cities-climaborough-tender/), as well as through social media and the public press. The workshop will be in English and its proceedings will be recorded and stored on the same website. For the sake of practical planning and identification of participants, interested parties will be asked to register on Eventbrite until 3 calendar days before the workshop, stating their affiliation. On top of the event recordings, the Contracting authority will prepare a short report from the orientation workshop, which will subsequently be published on the same website.
The Contracting authority will hold an online workshop on 3 April 2025, at 11:00 CET. Further announcements will be given on the Climaborough website, as well as through social media and the public press. The workshop will be in English and its proceedings will be recorded and stored on the same website. For the sake of practical planning and identification of participants, interested parties will be asked to register on Eventbrite until 3 calendar days before the workshop, stating their affiliation. On top of the event recordings, the Contracting authority will prepare a short report from the orientation workshop, which will subsequently be published on the same website.
Grenoble-Alpes Métropole is in the process of finalizing its roadmap towards more responsible uses of digital technology. The digital sector already accounts for more than 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, and the expected trajectories are alarming. In France, IT equipment is responsible for nearly 70% of the overall environmental impact of that industry. Extractive pressures and water usage are also worrisome. Extending the lifespan of equipment is therefore a crucial issue. This however involves developing a dedicated sector to the maintenance of these devices throughout their lifecycle, strengthening the second-hand marketplace to allow citizens finding high-quality used products, and fostering a broader behavioural change towards reusing reconditioned equipment. A new French law requires local authorities (with over 50,000 inhabitants) to ensure that at least 20% of their purchases of IT equipment come from reuse. However, the
existing supply is not yet structured to meet this demand. Very little data is available and most of the information comes from organisations engaged in collection. Further, it only concerns dismantled equipment. Although this data is not consolidated at the regional level, most organizations hold a great deal of evidence from managing their own assets and IT infrastructure. Our region is fortunate to host many actors from the social economy as well as private companies that can address the identified needs, but until now, these actors have been very poorly coordinated. They have started to be
called upon as part of a responsible digital community roadmap and are beginning to engage in small awareness-raising events for the general public. There is also some resistance to change, mainly due to the lack of a structured supply, which in itself has consequences on the quality and price of refurbished equipment. The inability to meet sizable demands, the heterogeneity of used IT equipment, the lack of predictability regarding its availability, the absence of clear and shared standards, the difficulty in offering a comprehensive and secure solution, and the lack of traceability, are all huge
obstacles. Today, whether required by the law or not, IT managers express the need to extend the lifespan of equipment and promote its reuse. However, there is also some cultural resistance on the side of end users, both businesses and natural persons. As a result, it is important to make the purchase of reused equipment more attractive, especially when acquiring the latest generation assets is highly valued socially. The goal is to first build a supply sector capable of addressing all the previously identified needs, from maintenance to dismantling of equipment. Key actors already exist, but they are largely unaware of each other and operate in a siloed manner. Coordination of their interventions relies heavily on the possibility to adopt common standards and frameworks, ensure traceability of equipment, and share relevant data. It is also essential to develop a comprehensive offering that addresses demand and its peculiar
aspects more holistically, while finding a way to share value that can guarantee a viable economic model for all parties involved.
Solutions envisaged: socio-technical systems based on smart combinations of software (such as IT platforms or apps) and hardware (such as physical tags or labels as identifiers) that can facilitate the creation of an electronic marketplace for used IT equipment.
These solutions should:
• Provide visibility of the existing supply from players residing in the territory, including through consolidating data produced by internal asset and IT equipment management tools;
• Enable the pooling of IT equipment collected from decommissioned racks by linking responsible departments with actors interested in reuse;
• Facilitate coordination between involved stakeholders (in collection, sorting, refurbishment and resale of IT equipment) including special provisions for the vulnerable groups (see below);
• Ensure traceability for large accounts. The first users of the solutions should be the actors of the value chain at the urban and metropolitan levels in Grenoble. The goal is to allow those actors to be more efficient, thanks to measurement and traceability, coordinate their activities and actions, and foster the creation of a network of local stakeholders who can take ownership of the solution. Once deployed, the system should address the needs of IT managers from key public and private entities in the region, as well as individuals, particularly vulnerable people, for whom access to IT equipment is also part of their rights.
Specific requirements include one or more of the points below:
• Solutions that are freely accessible and operational 24/7;
• Solutions that facilitate the creation of a community involving actors from the supply side (local authorities, businesses etc.) as well as from the demand side (NGOs, businesses, individuals);
• Solutions that are interoperable with the IT systems of the participating actors;
• Solutions that receive and update information from other IT systems with high frequency, if not in real time;
• Solutions that allow relevant datasets visualisation, both for monitoring purposes and to improve decision making;
• Solutions that use French as leading language;
• Solutions that include guidelines on how to use the technologies and services provided;
• Solutions that embed gamification aspects;
• Solutions that are promptly available as applications (for smartphones and tablet PCs, on Android and/or IOS operating systems). These solutions are expected to operate at a small-scale (closed groups of buyers and sellers) proving also their scalability to the entire City/Metropolitan Area.


Winner: Publications Office of the European Union