European Commission taking bids for blockchain pre-commercial procurement

The European Commission is inviting tenders for the European Union blockchain pre-commercial procurement, or PCP.

In general, a PCP is a public sector purchase of research and development services to adapt new or emerging technology to its needs.

This PCP will focus on developing a novel blockchain solution that builds on the EU legal framework such as the General Data Protection Regulation, the Electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services regulation and the Network and Information Systems directive.

The process will involve awarding several research and development contracts in parallel to existing service providers considered to offer the best value-for-money.

These providers will then develop solutions in phases, with a reduction in the number of contractors passing through to each subsequent phase.

The PCP will be undertaken in cooperation with the European Blockchain Partnership, and will build on the work it has already carried out.

The EBP was formed in April 2018 with a commitment to establish a European Blockchain Service Infrastructure.

This aims to deliver EU-wide cross-border public services using blockchain technology. However, the ongoing work on the EBSI is focused on use cases that can be easily implemented using existing blockchain technologies.

The PCP aims to fill the gap between existing solutions and a bespoke system that fully complies with the EU legal framework, security, robustness, interoperability and sustainability.

As Cointelegraph reported, in September the EC and EBP announced plans to launch a pan-European regulatory sandbox by 2022.

This latest invite for tenders would seem to cement the EU’s commitment to investing in blockchain and distributed ledger technology. The tendering process is open until Jan. 28, 2021.