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The conference “Environment, ethics and efficiency improvement in public procurement” Environmental criteria for public ICT procurement A new set of recommended criteria for the Norwegian public sector when procuring ICT equipment was launched at the procurement conference hosted by the Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (Difi) on November 26th. The conference had record high participation; as many as 450 participants took part in the arrangement. – Our market power will be used to make clear environmental demands by being demanding customers, said Minister of Government Administration and Reform, Heidi Grande Røys at the conference. |
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PEPPOL launched 23rd of May 2008 Norway coordinates EU wide eProcurement project The European Commission has given Norway the task to coordinate a project that shall make it easier for public sector entities in all European countries to conduct cross border procurement. The project - Pan European Public Procurement OnLine (PEPPOL) is a key project to develop the inner market in the EU, and is part of the ICT Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP) in the EU Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP). |
European Eproject proposal Simplifying cross-border procurement An integrated electronic solution that will remove the barriers for public procurement across national borders. That is the objective of a comprehensive project proposal that was recently submitted to the EU Commission from an international consortium with participants from nine countries. The Norwegian eProcurement secretariat is the coordinating body for the proposal and the possible pilot project. The implementation of the solution across borders will capitalise on each nation’s strength/advantage in existing national systems and conjointly facilitate the enabling of an EU-wide interoperable solution for public eProcurement. If the solution proves successful, it may be taken into more permanent use across Europe. |
Electronic Guide for the Development of a Procurement Strategy The Ministry of Government Administration and Reforms’ eProcurement secretariat has created an online guide for the development of a procurement strategy for public enterprises. This guide will assist public entities in achieving the Norwegian government’s target of beginning the work on developing targets, strategies and action plans for their procurements which includes the use of electronic tools, before the end of 2007. |
Public Procurement and eProcurement to be Merged into New Agency from 2008 On 1 January 2008 a large new player enters the Norwegian public procurement arena when the “Agency for Public Management and eGovernment” (DIFI) will be established. The new directorate will be responsible for socially useful, cost-effective public procurement. eProcurement, environmental requirements and skills upgrading are at the top of the new directorate’s targets for next year. André Hoddevik, the leader of the Ministry of Government Administration and Reforms’ eProcurement secretariat is pleased with this development, which enables an overall responsibility for public procurement. |
Ehandel.no to support procure to pay electronic public procurement eSourcing services available by the end of 2007 As from 1 December this year, public procurers will have access to framework agreements on eSourcing services for carrying out procurement processes. The Ministry of Government Administration and Reform and the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) have conducted a tender process which resulted in two eSourcing framework agreements signed on 3 July 2007. The agreements will be available for public sector entities and their suppliers from 1 December 2007, after a thorough test- and approval period starting medio August. The agreements will result in easy and affordable access for public procurers to a tool box of electronic means that will enable them to implement safer, better documented and more efficient procurement processes. Their suppliers can use the service for preparation and submission of tenders etc. for free. |
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The race for e-invoice is on It appears that the race is on in Northern Europe to create the framework needed to introduce the use of e-invoice in the public sector. In addition, according to Senior Advisor Knut Øyvind Granli in the e-Procurement Secretariat under the Norwegian Ministry for Government Administration and Reforms, the eagerness to find out what is happening in the North is fast spreading southwards on the Continent. This applies in particular to Spain and the Netherlands. In the middle of February this year all the European countries will be invited to Brussels for a closer look at the efforts that the Northern Europeans are making. And Norway is there! |
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Offering an extended range of e-services Starting on 1 December 2006, public procurers who are currently making use of the Electronic Public Procurement Portal, Ehandel.no, or who intend to do so in the future, will find an extended range of Internet-based services – both in number and breadth. Five new contracts have recently been signed regarding the provision of services tied to the end user applications. "For users of the portal, we are talking about a really wide spectrum of services related to the introduction of electronic business from ordering to handling of invoices. The new services include assistance in management of conversion and integration towards individual systems", states Senior Adviser Knut Øyvind Granli in the eProcurement Secretariat under the Ministry of Government Administration and Reform. Granli has headed the project to develop the new contracts, which aim to lend a helping hand to public entities seeking to convert from paper-based to electronic ordering and invoice-handling. |
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Ehandel.no to support procure to pay electronic public procurement Ehandel.no – new functionality under preparationThe range of Internet-based tools and services for electronic public procurement in Norway will be further developed. Efforts are well underway to incorporate functions on Ehandel.no that facilitate electronic sourcing processes. The aim is to provide electronic support throughout the entire purchasing process using the national tenders publication database, Doffin.no, and the Electronic Public Procurement Portal, Ehandel.no. At present, services provided by Doffin.no include support for the tender of competitions as well as publication of the necessary documents for tendering. While the main functionality of Ehandel.no has largely been targeted toward execution of business in relation to existing agreements, the scope of operations for the portal is currently undergoing expansion. A competition has been launched to generate new end-user procurement applications which also encompass functionality for reopening of competitions within framework agreements already in force and tools for electronic invoice handling. |
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E-procurement gaining ground The use of electronic public procurement is proven to give substantial benefits both for administrations and businesses. Experiences from Norwegian public sector entities indicate a potential for 20-40 % time reductions on handling of orders, goods receipt and invoices, and between 2-10 % price reductions in operations related procurement expenditures. Yet, the biggest challenges to further savings are that leaders in public sector entities fail to engage themselves in their procurement activities. Consequently they fail to investigate the potential savings from handling their procurement related processes electronically, and they never come out of their start blocks. |
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A wake-up call for the leaders We urge the leaders of public authorities and other entities to make the use of e-business and e-procurement their personal and major objective in the weeks and months to come. Recently this message sounded loud and clear from a major strategy conference as well as from the results shown by an e-procurement project in the municipality of Trondheim. A report from the latter shows that if the leaders involve themselves and allocate the necessary resources, introduction of e-procurement can generate substantial savings and a basis for improved control of operations related procurement spending. |
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E-invoice in public sector by 2008
The eProcurement Secretariat, which is reporting directly to the Ministry of Government Administration and Reform, now puts much of its capacity into the deployment of electronic invoice handling in the public sector. If they succeed, e-invoice can be the standard payment-device in the Norwegian public sector by the end of 2008. In the first weeks of the 2006 the Norwegian Government showed their strong support for the use of electronic means in the public sector. The platform for the overall eGovernment work is the central government-initiative “eNorway 2009 – the digital leap” and the local and regional authority plan “eMunicipality 2009 – the digital leap”. As a follow- up to eNorway 2009, a separate document, “Strategy and actions for the use of electronic business processes and electronic procurement in the public sector”, has been prepared. |
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Legal package released Breakthrough for e-procurementShortly before Easter 2006 the Norwegian Government released its long awaited legal package with updated rules for future public procurement. Hereafter this event will be remembered as the day when electronic means in public procurement was fully adopted. |
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Voluntary publishing of small tenders Norway is working towards establishing a solution for voluntary publishing of small tenders. The solution is planned to be part of the national tender notification service Doffin and will cover tenders below national thresholds. Today, use of Doffin is mandatory for publication of tenders above national and EU thresholds. |
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