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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. On behalf of the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) and the Ministry of Government Administration and Reform (MGAR), the eProcurement Secretariat has conducted a tendering process to obtain new framework agreements for services delivery relating to end user applications for the Ehandel.no portal. The new contracts were signed at the end of November this year, and will replace the current contract with IBX AS which has been in effect up to this time. However, IBX AS will continue to be one of the suppliers under the new contract – in collaboration with Atento AS, Exense Software AS, Posten Norge AS and Visma Unique AS. The services offered on the Ehandel.no portal now consist of an e-business platform and five alternative end user applications. The contract on delivery of the e-business platform with IBX AS roughly covers production and maintenance of catalogues and electronic exchange of messages between buyers and sellers. The new agreements for the end user applications offer services for access to functionality for ordering, invoice and contract handling, integration towards the e-business platform and the systems maintained by the different entities, as well as support for implementation and training. The end user applications on the Ehandel.no portal will typically be used by public entities that do not have their own tools for ordering and invoice handling. Future needs"The main purpose of the new agreements is to establish a functionality which can cope with the needs of the future. Since this is an Internet-based service, importance has been attached to focusing on requirements for accessibility and reliability for users. The new services available on the Ehandel.no portal starting on 1 December are expected to be very attractive to the vast number of public entities that can utilise the agreements", comments Senior Adviser Knut Ø. Granli. Mr. Granli stresses that the effort to establish e-business is consistent with similar large-scale efforts underway in the EU through the follow-up of the i2010 plan, adding that the eProcurement Secretariat will increase its efforts to promote the use of e-invoicing. An initiative to extend the services available on the Ehandel.no portal to cover eSourcing tools is already underway. Expanded service"All the public entities that currently are or become users of the Ehandel.no portal may make use of the services established through the new framework agreement. As there are now five suppliers, together with their sub-contractors, Ehandel.no is able to offer a substantially greater line of services", Mr. Granli points out. In addition, the conditions for those in need of help are very beneficial. The expanded service offer related to invoicing handling covers organising the use of e-invoicing at the individual public entity. Scanning services or forwarding of e-invoices from the drawer are not included, however. At present it is up to the entity itself to obtain such services if they are not already in place. - What do public entities need to do to make use of the services contained in the new framework agreement? "The agreement is in compliance with the rules for public procurement", says Mr. Granli. The individual public entity must first review the service offerings on www.ehandel.no, and then conduct a simplified tendering round between the contracting suppliers when the need for one of the services arises. The eProcurement Secretariat intends to develop necessary guidelines manuals, and the dialogue with the public entities, for instance through meetings with the users, will provide an important basis for enhancing competence and obtaining insight into how the new agreement is being applied in practical terms. The price model is as simple as possible, and has been designed to correspond with the model for services relating to the e-business platform - The eProcurement Secretariat is taking part in a cooperative effort between Northern European countries (NES), and is thus involved in developing and creating a framework for a specific message format (UBL 2.0) for the purpose of e-invoicing. Does the recent agreement take into account that this particular format will probably form the foundation for public e-invoicing in Norway? "We have chosen not to submit a unique request for the NES-version of UBL 2.0 at this time", Mr. Granli states. "In the short run it is most realistic to request use of the National E2B-format for e-invoicing, but we do hope that a demand for NES UBL in Norway will emerge in the longer run as well. If and when this is the case, it will take place through the recently established national reference catalogue for standards to be used in the public sector and through changes in the relevant statutory framework. The contracting entities are obliged to implement such changes", Senior Adviser Knut Ø. Granli in the eProcurement Secretariat asserts. |
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