Procurements pave Espoo’s way to becoming the most sustainable city in Europe
The sea glittering in the sun, white sails quietly drifting on the waves. This is a good example of a typical Finnish summer idyll here on the shores of the Baltic Sea, including Espoo. When you stand on a beach and look out to the sea, you might not always realise that the boat sailing by is actually guided by numerous different maritime safety devices, that is, seamarks, of which there are a total of over 35,000 in the rocky waters of Finland. This the second highest number of seamarks in the world. While a significant part of both waterways and these safety devices are the responsibility of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, less than a third of the seamarks are taken care of by other actors, such as municipalities and cities.
Of this army of seamarks, Espoo is responsible for about 80 spar buoys in places such as the access routes to our ports. Maritime safety equipment is a current issue, especially because the City of Espoo is in the process of inviting tenders for the digitalisation, maintenance and servicing of boat channel buoys. In practice, this means that Espoo is looking for a partner that can carry out the annual location and condition inspections of the boat channel safety equipment under the responsibility of the city as well as any possible repairs. In addition, the current spar buoys will gradually be replaced by digital spar buoys that enable remote monitoring. Some of the current spar buoys that are in good condition can also be equipped with a digital positioning device, even under field conditions.
The digitisation of spar buoys is an excellent example of innovative procurements that help achieve economic and ecological benefits, as there is no need for extensive maintenance runs when the buoys’ locations in the spring can be checked directly with remote monitoring. Innovative procurements are an important way for Espoo to promote its goal of being a responsible pioneer: unprejudiced and creative, open, willing to question the status quo and bold enough to do things in a new way.
In addition to spar buoys, Espoo is constantly looking for new actors and suppliers for numerous other needs. With these actors and suppliers, the city wants to develop an economically, ecologically, socially and culturally sustainable Espoo. During this autumn, things for which Espoo will hold competitive tendering include an appointment booking system, retail purchases, music equipment, interpreting services, construction work, ventilation filters, several different machines and many other systems, goods and services. These and other major highlights from upcoming competitive tendering processes in Espoo can be easily accessed through the procurement calendar published on the city’s website at the beginning of the year. Link to the procurement calendar (in Finnish). The procurement calendar is updated four times a year. More detailed information about the already launched competitive tendering processes and market dialogue invitations can be found in the Hilma service(external link, opens in a new window). You can also set alerts in Hilma on the basis of criteria such as the common procurement vocabulary (CPV).
With successful procurements, new innovations and good supplier partners, Espoo is leading the way as an international pioneer city!
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