Management of benchmarking pilot projects
The European Commission, DG III, has published an invitation to tender (III/97/37) for the provision of technical assistance with the management of the pilot projects for the development of benchmarking in Europe. In its communication on "Benchmarking the competitiveness of European Industry" the Commission proposed to develop benchmarking as a policy tool for improving European industrial competitiveness. The Industry Council encouraged the Commission to pursue this action in its conclusions on benchmarking of 14 November 1996. The Commission subsequently set out the steps to be followed in its communication on benchmarking, "Implementation of an instrument available to economic actor and public authorities", adopted on 16 April 1997. Within this context, the Commission and the Member States are working to define pilot projects in up to four areas relating to the development of benchmarking. These cover: - Logistics and transport; - Human resources and skills; - The operation of capital markets, including financing of innovation; - The introduction of information technologies and new organizational forms. The Commission requires technical assistance with the management of these pilot projects. Requests for tender specifications should be sent to: European Commission DG III - Industry Unit III/A-3 200 rue de la Loi B-1049 Brussels 15 rue de la Science 5/168 B-1049 Brussels Tel. +32-2-2963089/2965092; Fax +32-2-2963028 Tenders are to be submitted to the same address.