Ehandel.no to support procure to pay electronic public procurement

Ehandel.no – new functionality under preparation

The 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.

Both Doffin.no and Ehandel.no are initiatives handled by the eProcurement Secretariat under the Ministry of Government Administration and Reform. The eProcurement Secretariat seeks to implement fully electronic processes in public procurement. This is in conformance with the "Strategy and actions for the use of electronic business processes and electronic procurement in the public sector", which is a follow up to the “eNorway 2009 – the digital leap”. These documents represent the Norwegian equivalents to the EU “Action plan for the implementation of the legal framework for electronic public procurement” and the i2010 Communication. Important elements of public procurement processes in Norway may already be carried out electronically, through tendering via Doffin.no and placing orders based on existing framework agreements and electronic catalogues on Ehandel.no. Thanks to the ongoing competition for the new end-user procurement application, Ehandel.no is about to be further augmented. With the functionality for reopening competition within framework agreements already in force and tools for electronic invoice-handling, the only link missing from the complete procurement chain comprises the tools for electronic sourcing. Once these are in place, Norway will be ready to launch a fully electronic public procurement process.

Comprehensive e-procurement

A new set of public procurement rules is scheduled to enter into force in Norway by the start of 2007, making it possible to implement comprehensive e-procurement, as prescribed in the current EU-directives. The eProcurement Secretariat has started its efforts to provide electronic tools to support the competitive aspects of the procurement process. The head of the Secretariat, Mr. André Hoddevik, points out that the preparations as well as the competition to design these tools are being administered as special projects.

“We are going to prepare a set of specifications, based on the IDABC functional requirements (see http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/4721/5874) and Norwegian experience from a pilot project carried out in 2005. The goal is to place the basis for a contract in the market by the end of 2006, and to sign contracts in the last part of April the coming year,” says Mr. Hoddevik. After that we will invite some public agencies to test the new tools by using them to perform real procurements before we make them publicly available. The test period should be completed in early autumn next year.

For the inexperienced and the experienced

According to Mr. Hoddevik, the tools will cover the needs of both inexperienced and experienced public procurers alike. That means that the new service must offer a simplified set of tools that includes support for secure use according to the regulations, and the capacity to produce protocols and such. Additionally, there should be a more advanced set of tools tailored to the needs of the very professional procurer. This package must include tools for complete electronic use while establishing the necessary documents for the competitive aspects of the process, accepting and evaluating the offers, awarding the contract, e-auctions and the follow-up of the existing contract.

Participation in voluntary initiative

“We invite users to participate in our efforts to expand the scope of the services on Ehandel.no,” Mr. Hoddevik points out. “We have invited public entities as well as the suppliers to participate in this initiative, and we have received positive signals from both indicating that they would to join us in our efforts.”