A procurement contract is a binding agreement between at least two entities to do and/or not to do specific tasks. The document complies with a predefined set of rules based on statutory authority, policies, and regulations. It is a vehicle for public transportation agencies to obtain services and products from an outside entity when staff or other civil service employees lack the expertise or knowledge to acquire or perform these requiredtasks. There are a substantial challenges involved when a public agency tries to obtain and deploy innovative products with intellectual property protection (IP). They range from negotiation procedures to technical dialogue, specifications and conditions that allow the transfer of IP to the supplier. This paper aims to highlight two issues: 1) The challenges of procurement of innovative products for public agencies, and 2) The opportunities of using innovative procurement and public-private partnerships to accelerate the procurement and deployment of innovative products.
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