Terms of use

Terms of Use

1 General

1.1 Object

The object of these Terms of Use is the use of the web platform "CPI Innovation Platform" (hereinafter "Platform").

After registration, a usage agreement is concluded between the user and the platform operator.

The use of any services offered on the Platform is only permitted in accordance with these Terms of Use. The User's general terms and conditions do not apply, even if they have not been expressly contradicted.

The user must expressly confirm that he or she accepts the Terms of Use when registering. The current version of the Terms of Use can be accessed via the Platform at any time.

1.2 Operator

The www.plataformacpi.pt Platform is operated by the National Innovation Agency (ANI), S.A as the Service Centre for public innovation procurement (hereinafter referred to as the "PROCURE+i Competence Centre").

1.3 Definition

"User" - means any natural person who registers on the Platform.

"Entity" - is an organization other than the User, on whose behalf the User acts on the Platform.

"Contracting authorities" - entities that conclude a contract in the exercise of materially administrative functions, for which the composition is imperatively subject to the procedural regime provided for in Part II of the Public Procurement Code, in particular those provided for in Article 2.

"Company" - is an entity engaged in the production and supply of goods or the provision of services.

"Guests" – natural persons who are not registered on the Platform. Guests can view public content, but cannot create content or perform other actions themselves. Guests do, however, have the opportunity to ask questions during the challenges without having to register.

"Services" – all interactive functionalities that are offered to the Users on the Platform.

"Contents" - are all texts, images, graphics, links or other information deposited on the platform by the PROCURE+i Competence Center, or by the Users themselves, that is made accessible to third parties.

"Innovation" - is the realization of new or significantly improved goods, services or processes, new marketing methods, new organizational procedures related to business practice or operations in the workplace.

Based on this definition, innovation public procurement means the use of new approaches in the procurement process and/or the procurement of new/better and more effective solutions ("innovations") in relation to previously used solutions. From the perspective of PROCURE+i, in addition to the degree of innovation, applicability in public administration is relevant.

1.4 Costs

The user agreement between the PROCURE+i Competence Centre and the Users is free of charge. No costs are incurred through the use of the Platform until revoked.

2 User account

2.1 Completion of Registration

Upon registration, each User must set up a user account. For this purpose, at least a first and last name, a valid email address and a password must be provided.

The email address is used as the username.

Only natural persons with unlimited legal capacity may register as Users. Multiple registration is not allowed; Each person can only be registered once.

The user must register for the user account under his or her correct and full name. The use of pseudonyms is not permitted.

2.2 Validation

Once the user account is created, a validation link is sent to the email address provided by the user. By clicking on the link, the registration is completed and the Terms of Use of the platform are accepted.

From this moment on, it is possible to login and use the services on the platform.

2.3 Data

The user can enter various data in the user account. All data can be edited by the user at any time.

This data includes:

• Access data
  • Email address*, also used as a username
  • Password*
• Personal data
  • Surname*
  • First name*
  • Profile picture
• Organisational data shall be provided if the User is acting on behalf of the legal entity. In this case, the data of the represented legal entity shall be listed as organisational data.
  • Name - the full official name of the organization - no pseudonyms
  • Address
  • Phone number
  • Logo
  • Category - indicate whether the organisation is a "contracting authority" or a "company"

Data marked with * are mandatory fields and must be entered during registration.

2.4 User profile and public performance

The user's first and last name, as well as the profile picture, if saved, are displayed for all user-created content.

If a contact person is provided for the content, other users and guests are given the opportunity to send emails directly to the specified address of the respective User, thus giving them access to the email address.

2.5 Transfer of user account

An entity has the right to have any user account associated with its organisation transferred to another person. This shall be done in compliance with the statutory provisions and, in particular, the provisions of data protection law.

To this end, an authorised representative of the legal entity shall submit a written request to: apoio.cpi@ani.pt.

The written application shall include:

• First and last name of the user account holder
• First name, last name and email address of the new user account holder
• Proof of the requesting person's authority to represent the organisation concerned

The legal entity shall ensure the consent of the new user account holder as required by data protection law.

3 Data and content management

3.1 Data maintenance

The user is obliged to keep their data updated. In particular, a valid email address should always be stored in the system

The user must keep their personal access data (e-mail address and password) secure. If the access data is lost or becomes accessible to third parties, the user must immediately inform the PROCURE+i Competence Centre and, if possible, change their password.

3.2 Data processing

Without the consent of the PROCURE+i Competence Centre, the user cannot automatically read the data of the platform and cannot store, process, alter, transmit or misuse it in any other way.

3.3 Content posted by the user

Each User is responsible for the content their content on the Platform. The User must ensure that the content does not violate applicable law, the Terms of Use or morality. Likewise, care must be taken that no content is posted whose publication infringes the rights of third parties.

Attention must be paid to polite and businesslike behaviour. Offensive or disruptive content is to be refrained from. This also includes the mass sending of data or repeat posting of the same content (spam).

The content on the Platform shall be designed in such a way that competitors are not portrayed badly, insulted or defamed. The sole purpose is to promote one's own product or service.

The content of other Users may not be used without their consent, unless already permitted by law.

3.4 Sharing content on other platforms

This platform offers the technical possibility to share content on other platforms (e.g. Facebook, Twitter). However, the PROCURE+i Competence Centre cannot guarantee that the necessary consents have been obtained from the rights holders. The sharing of content on third-party platforms is therefore at the user's own risk.

4 Platform Services

4.1 Dashboard

Every registered and logged-in User has access to their own dashboard. This online cockpit provides the user with a structured overview of all the user's activities on the platform and the tasks currently pending in these activities.

4.2 Challenge

The "Challenge" service is a service for public procurers based on Open Innovation Challenges and is an instrument for market exploration. The respective users publish their organisation's current challenges on the platform and thus invite an unspecified number of individual companies or several cooperating companies ("consortia") to submit proposals for innovative solutions. The proposed solutions are products and services of the company that contribute in whole or in part to meet the published challenges.

4.2.1 Publish a challenge as a public procurer

Users who have registered as representatives of a purchasing public entity can initiate a challenge as a challenge sponsor. To do this, the challenge sponsor first outlines the key data of the challenge to be solved (including title, description, question, market situation and desired outcome of the challenge).

The challenge sponsor then has the option to (1) discuss this description with an innovation expert from the PROCURE+i Competence Centre and then prepare further details for the online challenge. Alternatively, the sponsor has the option to (2) prepare for the subsequent presentation of the challenge without consultation.

In the course of the subsequent publication process, the sponsor will provide further details (challenge process from the moment of publication, call for proposals, benefits of the challenge and evolution of the project, criteria for the evaluation of the proposed solutions, jury composition for the evaluation of the proposed solutions). In addition, a person from the PROCURE+i Competence Centre will be attributed as a moderator who will follow the challenge from the time of publication until the final result. The sponsor also has the option to upload images, additional documents and logos. Before the sponsor finally submits the challenge for publication, the sponsor has the option to check all the information entered on a summary page and, if necessary, change it.

The challenge sponsor decides during the publication process whether the jury is posted with names or is anonymous. The moderator is always presented as the contact person in the challenge.

The challenge sponsor has a summary of all information entered about their challenge before it is submitted for review by the PROCURE+i Competence Centre prior to publication.

At this point, The PROCURE+i Competence Centre checks whether the topic submitted is suitable for a challenge. However, the PROCURE+i Competence Centre is not responsible for any consequences that may arise from a challenge, the challenge sponsor is responsible for any damage that may arise from the publication of the challenge.

The PROCURE+i Competence Centre may refuse to publish the submitted challenge if it does not correspond to the objective of the platform, in particular, a challenge will be refused if:

• it is not about innovative solutions,
• is not sufficiently and/or clearly described, or
• it violates the law or morality.

The PROCURE+i Competence Centre will provide feedback on the challenge submitted for publication within five working days. After a positive response, the publication will be carried out by the PROCURE+i Competence Centre in consultation with the challenge sponsor.

As long as the challenge has not yet been published, the PROCURE+i Competence Centre may place the challenge inactive upon written request from the challenge sponsor.

If the challenge is moderated by an external consultant (i.e. not by a staff member of the PROCURE+i Competence Centre), the consultant must complete a half-day training course before the start of the challenge, which provides information on how to use the Platform.

Training on platform handling is regularly offered by the PROCURE+i Competence Centre. There is no cost for this training.

4.2.2 The challenge after publication

With the publication, the challenge goes through several phases:

• Call and submissions: Companies submit their proposals for solutions.
• Queries: Challenge sponsor sifts through proposed solutions and submits queries to the companies through the platform.
• Jury evaluation: a jury of the challenge sponsor evaluates all the proposed solutions and rates them.
• Announcement of the winners: the companies with the best rated solutions are invited to a dialogue with the challenge sponsor.

Users and guests of the platform have the opportunity to support the challenge via a "like" button at all stages since the publication of the challenge. The number of supporters is displayed in the challenge. The names of the supporters are not displayed.

After the publication of the challenge, users and guests of the platform have the possibility to forward the challenge by email and share it via Facebook and Twitter. The number of times this is done is displayed on the platform.

The PROCURE+i Competence Center may make changes to the content of the challenge in justified cases, even after publication, at the written request of the challenge sponsor. The challenge sponsor must agree in advance on the changes with the moderator and the PROCURE+i Competence Centre.

The PROCURE+i Competence Centre reserves the right to be present at the jury meetings or innovation dialogues held in the context of the P+i challenges.

4.2.3 Submit a proposed solution to a challenge as a company

Submission is only possible during the "Call and Submissions" phase and can only be made by registered Users who are assigned to a "company" in the user account (see Point 2.3). The submission is attributed to the respective company.

The proposed solutions are submitted via an online form with the following fields: " title", "description" and "added value" which will made publicly available. In addition, public attachments can be submitted in "pdf" file format (maximum file size 2 MB). There is a confidential entry field for information that should not be published. This information is only accessible to the challenge sponsor, the PROCURE+i Competence Centre, the jury and the moderator.

The proposed solution can be created as a draft and (temporarily) saved and edited at any time. The title, description and added value of the proposed solution are mandatory fields for each submission. The submission is not finalised until the "Submit" button is clicked on. From this point on, the proposed solution can be viewed by all users on the platform. From this moment on, it can no longer be edited by the user who submitted it.

Submission is also possible by an association of companies ("consortia"). In this case, the User only has to be assigned to one member of the consortium. Appropriate image files (logos) can be uploaded to visualise the members of the consortium and will be displayed upon publication.

In the event of demonstrable technical problems with the submission on the platform, the user has the option to submit the solution proposal via email to apoio.cpi@ani.pt or to the respective moderator. In any case, this must be done within a maximum of 15 minutes after the end of the Call and Submissions phase. The proposed solution submitted in this way will be placed online by the PROCURE+i Competence Centre within two working days. In this case, the same requirements (mandatory fields) apply as for the submission via the online form.

The proposed solution, including attachments and the submission date, will be displayed publicly on the platform. This does not apply to entries in the field explicitly marked as "confidential" on the registration form.

The personal and organizational data of the User is also displayed in the published solution proposal.

With the submission the user confirms, therefore, that it has the rights to all the contents of the submitted solution proposal required for publication and grants the PROCURE+i Competence Center the rights to use these contents, as long as they are required for publication. In addition, any intellectual property rights are not affected by the submission, in particular the challenge sponsor and the PROCURE+i Competence Centre do not acquire any rights to implement the proposed solutions without the separate consent of the rights holders.

The challenge sponsor, the PROCURE+i Competence Centre, the moderator and the challenge jury have access to all submitted solutions.

The moderators of a challenge named on the Platform at the time of publication of the challenge are the contact persons for any questions regarding the challenge. Submitting Users are required to adhere to this communication channel on the Platform.

4.2.4 The proposed solution after publication

Users and guests of the platform have the possibility to support ("like") the solution proposals presented through a button. The number of "likes" is shown in the solution page. Registered users can comment on the submitted solutions.

Users and guests of the platform can forward the solutions submitted by email and share them via Facebook and Twitter. The number of shares will be displayed on the platform.

4.2.5 Evaluation of the proposed solutions

When a challenge is published by the challenge sponsor, the evaluation criteria are announced. These are defined and weighted by the challenge sponsor and thus, in addition to the descriptions of the challenge and the vision for the future, represent important cornerstones to which every submission of a solution should have as reference. The proposed solutions are evaluated by a jury after checking compliance with the formal criteria (time, format specifications, scope). The jury consists of employees of the organisation behind the challenge and can be supplemented by external experts.

The persons involved are obliged to treat the solution proposals confidentially, unless it concerns content that has been published in the context of the challenge or are or become generally known for other reasons, were already known to the person before participating in the challenge or have come to the person's knowledge through a third party, without there being a breach of the duty of confidentiality incumbent on the person.  

4.2.6 Announcement of winners and innovation dialogue

If an Innovation Dialogue is planned, it will be announced when the challenge is published. Otherwise, the challenge will end with the announcement of the winners.

The companies or consortia that have submitted the winning solution proposals according to the criteria announced with the publication of the challenge will be invited to the innovation dialogue by the challenge sponsor. In addition, the challenge sponsor can also invite companies or consortia whose proposed solutions have received outstanding evaluation results in individual criteria - regardless of the overall ranking.

In the course of the innovation dialogue, the jury, the challenge sponsor and the company or companies behind a proposed solution discuss the details of the proposal. The dates, locations and duration will be determined as part of the respective challenge.

The participants in the innovation dialogue are obliged to treat the discussions confidentially, unless the content is published as part of the challenge or is or becomes generally known for other reasons, was already known to the participant before participating in the challenge or has come to the knowledge of the participant through a third party without a breach of the confidentiality obligation incumbent on the participant.

It is up to the challenge sponsor to decide whether and to what extent it will provide the submitting companies with feedback based on the jury's evaluation.

The solution proposals of the companies invited by the sponsor of the challenge to the dialogue on Innovation ("Winners") will be marked as such on the Platform. The full challenge, as well as the corresponding solution proposals, will remain visible on the platform. The company name and the contact person are displayed along with the proposed solution. The proposed solution is thus a permanent advertising showcase for companies through which other organizations and parties responsible for procurement can reach out.

5 Termination

5.1 Termination by the user

The User may terminate the user agreement and deactivate the account at any time.

To do so, the user must send a termination notice by mail to apoio.cpi@ani.pt.

5.2 Termination by PROCURE+i

The PROCURE+i Competence Center may terminate the User Agreement with a notice period of fourteen days to the end of each month.

The PROCURE+i Competence Center reserves the right to terminate the User Agreement at any time with immediate effect or to block the User if the User violates the User Agreement.

5.3 Consequences of termination

Content entered by the User on the Platform remains in place and can still be accessed by third parties on the Platform. The first and last name will continue to be displayed for all content, but there will no longer be a link to the user's profile. All data contained in the profile (e.g. profile picture) will be deleted.

6 Intellectual property

Registered users have the right to use the platform in accordance with these terms and conditions. Beyond that, however, all rights to use the platform remain exclusively with the PROCURE+i Competence Centre.

Users grant the PROCURE+i Competence Centre the right to use all information published on the platform as long as it is necessary for the functioning of the platform. This includes in any case the right to display on the platform itself, as well as the publication in reports, information brochures and similar publications related to public procurement.

In addition, the copyright and usage rights of the user or third parties in the content remain unchanged.

7 Exclusion of liability

The PROCURE+i Competence Centre is liable for any damage caused by using the platform only in the event of intent or serious negligence.

The PROCURE+i Competence Centre is not obliged to verify the data provided by users. The PROCURE+i Competence Centre is therefore not liable for damages caused by false information provided by users.

8 Indemnification

The user shall indemnify and hold harmless the PROCURE+i Competence Center for all disadvantages that may arise for the PROCURE+i Competence Center due to the infringement of copyrights, utility models, patents or other rights of third parties by the user. The obligation to indemnify and hold harmless relates to all expenses incurred by the PROCURE+i Competence Centre from or due to a circumstance for which the user is responsible.

9 Modification of the Terms of Use

The PROCURE+i Competence Center reserves the right to change the Terms of Use at any time. The user will be informed of any planned changes to the Terms of Use via the email address the user entered into the system.

Changes to the terms of use take effect one month after the user has been notified. From that moment on, the use of the platform is only possible according to the amended terms.

The new terms of use are deemed accepted if the user does not delete the account before the end of that period.

10 Final provisions

10.1 Law

All disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use shall be governed exclusively by Portuguese law, without exception, to the exclusion of any other reference to foreign law.

10.2 Place of jurisdiction

The exclusive place of jurisdiction for legal disputes arising out of these Terms of Use shall be the Porto's administrative and tax court.

10.3 Termination Clause

If individual provisions of the User Agreement are either invalid in whole or in part or prove to be unenforceable, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. In such a case, by way of interpretation (also a supplementary one), the provisions which correspond, as far as possible, to the objective of the invalid provision shall apply. If the interpretation is inadmissible for legal reasons, the Contracting Parties undertake to conclude supplementary agreements accordingly. This also applies if a loophole arises that requires regulation during the implementation or interpretation of the user agreement.

11 PROCURE+i Service Center Privacy Policy

The personal data provided by users during the registration and use of the platform and associated services is processed in accordance with the applicable Portuguese and European data protection regulations. The legal basis for this is the need for processing for the provision of the platform and the processing of the services in accordance with the user agreement, as well as the consent of the user during registration.

The PROCURE+i Competence Centre stores the data only until the respective purpose for which it was collected has been fulfilled and any legal obligations of retention and documentation have expired. Controllers with whom an agreement is concluded pursuant to Article 28 of the GDPR are used for this data processing.

The PROCURE+i Competence Centre implements extensive protection measures of technical and organizational nature to prevent the misuse of data.

The data relevant in each individual case is transmitted to the following recipients, based on legal provisions or contractual agreements:

1. Users and Guests of the Platform in the context of the publication of content, to the extent provided for in the terms of use;
2. Jury members and other participants in meetings and discussions expressly provided for in these Terms of Use - see in particular points 4.2.5 and 4.3.6;
3. Other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter;
4. Government agencies and courts where disclosure of data is required by law;

You can contact us through the following contacts:

National Innovation Agency, S.A

PROCURE+i Competence Centre

Campus do Lumiar, Ed. O,1º, Estrada do paço do Lumiar 1649-038 Lisbon

T (+351) 214 232 100

F (+351) 214 232 101

Email: apoio.cpi@ani.pt

You can contact our data protection officer at: info@ani.pt

PSI Service Center Legal Notice

Users and Guests are generally entitled to the rights of information, correction, deletion, restriction, transferability of data and objection. To do so, they should contact the PROCURE+i Competence Centre.

If users believe that the processing of their data violates data protection law or that their data protection rights have been violated in any other way, the PROCURE+i Competence Centre requests that they contact their data protection officer as a matter of priority.

Data subjects have the right to complain to the competent supervisory authority in Portugal.

Contact:

CNPD - National Data Protection Commission

Av. D. Carlos I, 134, 1º 1200-651 Lisbon

T (+351) 213 928 400

F (+351) 213 976 832

Email: geral@cnpd.pt

Website: https://www.cnpd.pt/

Data subjects may submit to the National Data Protection Commission any complaints regarding our privacy policy and treatment of personal data.