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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. The Minister of Government Administration and Reform, Heidi Grande Røys, states that the “Strategy and actions” document forms a good basis for the work to come – The Government is determined to reform the public sector, the Minister emphasises. Electronic procurement is thus a very important tool in our work to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector. - National projects are at the heart of the Government according to the and Soria Moria-declaration (the political platform for the Norwegian coalition government), and through widespread up-take of electronic procurement and more efficient purchasing processes in the public sector, we see the possibilities for better management and usage of the community resources in total - says the Minister. On the go
It is the eProcurement Secretariat that has been doing the work in the field, and, on behalf of the team, the head of the Secretariat, Mr. André Hoddevik, receives this testimonial from the Minister Grande Røys: - They have initiated and carried out a number of specific actions that have made it easier to exploit the full potential of cashable and non-cashable benefits in electronic public procurement. This is highly appreciated. Mr. Hoddevik confirms that the most important new initiative under way is the introduction of electronic invoicing in the public sector. His team took part in the competition for European eAwards for eGovernment at the EU-ministerial meeting in Manchester last November. They came in at a runner-up-position and were one of few competitors in the finals from outside the EU. - We do follow the EU-processes on developing electronic communications and -systems for use within the internal market very close. Though not an EU-member, Norway is a part of the European public procurement-market through the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement. The Manchester declarationThe Ministerial Declaration that was unanimously approved in Manchester, represents a great inspiration for the eProcurement Secretariat. The Ministers state in their declaration that eProcurement is one of the proven high-impact services that meet citizen’s and businesses’ needs. Over the period 2006-2010 emphasis will be put on such high-impact services, because they support progress towards the Lisbon goals. One of the EU-targets is that by 2010 all public Administrations across Europe will have the capability of carrying out 100 % of their procurement electronically, where legally permissible, thus creating a fairer and more transparent market for all companies independent of a company’s size or location within the single market. And by the same years at least 50 % of public procurement above EU public procurement thresholds will be carried out electronically. - The declaration represents an ambitious vision and serves as an important support for our efforts. We will do our outmost to keep Norway in the European lead in this process, states Mr. Hoddevik. The eProcurement secretariat also participates in working groups/expert groups on electronic public procurement under the Directorate General (DG) Internal Market and DG Information Society and in the IDABC programme. Services for operational electronic public procurementThe administrative responsibility for the Norwegian TED (the electronic portal for notification of tender notices – doffin.no) was transferred to the eProcurement Secretariat in 2005. Mr. Hoddevik and his team now operate on behalf of the Government both the two electronic portals in Norway for public procurement. And maybe there are some more operational services coming up soon? - Our top-priority goal now is to prepare the public sector for e-invoicing from the year 2008 - continues Mr. Hoddevik - but it is not the only service we focus on. Based on the “Strategy and actions” document, our aim is to make it possible for public sector entities to conduct all their procurement activities by electronic means.
To achieve this, all the steps in the “value chain” for public procurement (see figure) must be supported. In order to take advantage of the new possibilities, all public sector entities shall according to eNorway 2009, have goals, strategies and plans for their procurement activities that involve use of electronic processes within 2007. Related links |
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