Difi Difi provides access to European infrastructure for electronic procurement.

Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (Difi) invites businesses such as messaging providers and large invoice issuers and receivers can use PEPPOL’s infrastructure for the exchange of electronic trading messages in the standard format, and as such become an access point.

This means that all issuers of electronic invoice can reach all the recipients. This is difficult today due to the employment of different infrastructures and different solutions that do not communicate with each other. Allowing businesses to get access to the infrastructure will increase the prevalence of electronic procurement, both in Norway and across the European borders.

Pressed for time
Government agencies and health authorities should be able to receive invoices electronically in standard format by 1^st July 2011. An overview from Difi shows that too few are likely to meet this deadline.

According to Department Director Dag Strömsnes in Difi, several access points make it easier for public companies to implement electronic invoicing.

One access point is enough
- Because the access points are obliged to exchange information among themselves, several access points means that, in practice, a supplier can opt to relate to one accesses point only. This same principle applies to the recipients, i.e. the public sector, says Dag Strömsnes.

He states that new access point operators will contribute to increased competition in the supplier market. Both non-financial operators and financial operators, such as banks, are welcomed as access point providers.  

From Ehandel.no-format of the Elektronisk handelsformat (EHF)
Difi changes the name of the Ehandel.no-format to Elektronisk handelsformat (EHF).
This format is the standard format for electronic invoicing for public enterprises.
The format includes invoices, credit notes, reminders and eventually orders and catalog messages.

Information Meeting
Difi will be holding an open information meeting on the issue Monday 2^nd May at 9:00 to 12:00 at Difi’s office in Oslo.
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Facts:

Electronic invoice
Difi is leading a project for the introduction of electronic invoicing in the public sector. The goal is Government savings of 1.1 billion NOK over the course of ten years, with easier and safer invoicing by using electronic invoicing. To achieve this target sooner, Difi wants to invite several operators into the market.

PEPPOL
The EU will make it easier for businesses to participate in public procurement processes in other countries, and has therefore initiated a large-scale pilot project, PEPPOL - Pan-European Public Procurement Online. PEPPOL is partly funded by the EU through the ICT-component (ICT-PSP) of their competitiveness and innovation program (CIP) and is implemented by a consortium of 18 public enterprises from 12 different countries led by Norway.

Access Points (AP)
An access point is a player who uses PEPPOL’s infrastructure to receive and send messages, such as invoices, in a standardised manner. The advantage of an access point is that as a supplier or recipient you do not need to consider the other party. You provide the document to the access point, and the access point will send the document to the correct recipient.