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CommonSource

The marketplace for public-sector innovation

Procurement that turns hard problems into scalable solutions.

CommonSource brings public bodies together around shared challenges, connects them with credible innovators and creates a clearer route from early market engagement to contract and scale.

Built for public bodies, innovators, accelerators and framework operators.

Procureby CommonSource
Illustrative data
OverviewChallengesDemand clustersSuppliersConsortiaFramework routesValidationTest environmentsOpportunity board

Healthy and resilient public buildings

Demand cluster · draft · evidence review required

Challenge submitted 3 public bodies matched Demand cluster formed

Common need spanning heat, ventilation and energy. Human confirmation required before any cluster progresses.

6

Public bodies

18

Affected assets

4

Solution categories

3

Potential framework routes

Participating organisations

  • Northgate City Council
  • Riverside NHS Trust
  • Eastvale County Council
  • Harbour Housing
  • Moorland Fire & Rescue
  • Westbrook University

Surfaced innovators — human confirmation required

  • Thermaflow SystemsConfidence: medium

    Retrofit heat controls deployed across three comparable estates.

    Unknown: performance in listed buildings.

  • Airsense LabsConfidence: high

    Ventilation and CO₂ monitoring with published pilot data.

    Unknown: integration with legacy BMS.

  • Gridwise EnergyConfidence: low

    Energy optimisation for mixed public estates.

    Unknown: evidence at multi-site scale.

Potential routeEstates & facilities framework — lot 4 Subject to authority review

Which best describes you?

I'm a public body

Solve a challenge.

Share an unmet need, find other organisations with the same problem and explore credible routes to a solution.

See the public-body walkthrough

I'm an innovator

Get discovered and win work.

Get matched to real, aggregated demand and demonstrate why your solution is credible.

See the innovator walkthrough

I'm a framework operator

Originate demand and build pipeline.

Spot emerging needs early, aggregate buyers into multi-buyer opportunities and check supplier coverage against them.

See the framework-operator walkthrough

Why CommonSource

Public-sector innovation often breaks before procurement begins.

  • Fragmented demand

    The same unmet need appears in dozens of organisations, but each one carries it alone and too small to act on.

  • Hidden innovation

    Capable suppliers never see the problem, and buyers never see the suppliers who have already solved something similar.

  • Evidence does not travel

    A pilot proves something in one place, then the evidence stays there and the next buyer starts again.

  • Disconnected routes to market

    Early market engagement, validation and established procurement routes rarely connect into one pathway.

How it works

From hard problem to scalable solution

  1. Stage 01

    Share the challenge

    A public body describes an unmet need in plain language, with scope, constraints and timing.

  2. Stage 02

    Pool the demand

    Similar needs are clustered across organisations. Every cluster is confirmed by a human before it progresses.

  3. Stage 03

    Scout and match

    Credible innovators are surfaced with reasons, confidence levels and the unknowns still to test.

  4. Stage 04

    Prove what works

    Validation and test environments generate evidence buyers can reuse and reference.

  5. Stage 05

    Procure and scale

    Qualified opportunities progress into an established route to market, subject to authority review.

Two ways teams use CommonSource

For Ecosystems

Connect the full pathway around innovation.

Give programmes, accelerators, universities and testbeds one connected pathway from challenge capture to supplier engagement, validation and deployment.

For Ecosystems
For Frameworks

Turn emerging demand into framework opportunities.

Spot needs earlier, aggregate buyers, qualify commercial potential and hand off stronger opportunities into established routes to market.

For Frameworks

Two journeys, one shared pathway

1

Describe the challenge and the outcome you need.

2

See which other organisations share it and how demand pools.

3

Review curated innovators with reasons, evidence and unknowns.

4

Identify potential routes and the next actions required.

Platform

A shared workspace for turning demand into action.

Procure by CommonSource holds challenges, demand clusters, supplier evidence, validation and potential routes in one place, so every organisation involved sees the same picture.

  • Cluster detail with participating organisations and shared scope
  • Supplier evidence with reasons, confidence and unknowns
  • Next actions, owners and activity history
  • Potential framework routes, subject to authority review
Procureby CommonSource
Illustrative data
OverviewChallengesDemand clustersSuppliersConsortiaFramework routesValidationTest environmentsOpportunity board

Healthy and resilient public buildings

Demand cluster · draft · evidence review required

Challenge submitted 3 public bodies matched Demand cluster formed

Common need spanning heat, ventilation and energy. Human confirmation required before any cluster progresses.

6

Public bodies

18

Affected assets

4

Solution categories

3

Potential framework routes

Participating organisations

  • Northgate City Council
  • Riverside NHS Trust
  • Eastvale County Council
  • Harbour Housing
  • Moorland Fire & Rescue
  • Westbrook University

Surfaced innovators — human confirmation required

  • Thermaflow SystemsConfidence: medium

    Retrofit heat controls deployed across three comparable estates.

    Unknown: performance in listed buildings.

  • Airsense LabsConfidence: high

    Ventilation and CO₂ monitoring with published pilot data.

    Unknown: integration with legacy BMS.

  • Gridwise EnergyConfidence: low

    Energy optimisation for mixed public estates.

    Unknown: evidence at multi-site scale.

Potential routeEstates & facilities framework — lot 4 Subject to authority review

Principles

A clearer pathway, with human judgement built in.

  • Fair engagement

    Opportunities are visible to all eligible suppliers, with the same information and the same timelines.

  • Human confirmation

    AI proposes clusters and matches with reasons, confidence and unknowns. People decide what progresses.

  • Auditability

    Decisions, participants and rationale are recorded to support an audit-ready process.

  • Appropriate routes

    We support preliminary market engagement and identify potential routes. Contracts are awarded through established procurement.

AI-generated clusters and matches always require human confirmation before they progress.

See how a single challenge becomes a scalable opportunity.

Walk through the demo as a public body or an innovator, or talk to us about your programme.