History of OpenPeppol
Introduction
The OpenPeppol Association was established on 1st September 2012 after successful completion of the Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line (PEPPOL) project which saw Peppol specifications being implemented in several European countries solving interoperability issues for electronic procurement.
Background of the PEPPOL Project
The Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line (PEPPOL) project was a pilot project funded jointly by the European Commission and the PEPPOL Consortium members. The PEPPOL project was initiated in 2008 with the aim of simplifying electronic procurement across borders by developing technology standards that could be implemented across all governments within Europe. The overall objective was to enable businesses to communicate electronically with any European government institution in the procurement process, increasing efficiencies and reducing costs.
Through agreement on specifications for cross-border procurement processes, the PEPPOL project has contributed to the development of a pan-European, standards-based IT infrastructure. PEPPOL has not replaced, but built upon, the existing strengths of national eProcurement systems by using information and communication technologies to enable them to connect with each other.
PEPPOL enables access to its standards-based IT transport infrastructure through Access Points, and provides services for eProcurement with standardised electronic document formats.
PEPPOL developed the Business Interoperability Specifications (BIS) for common eProcurement processes such as eCatalogue, eOrders, and eInvoices to standardize electronic documents exchanged and validated through an open and secure network, between sending and receiving Access Points for public sector buyers and their suppliers across Europe. A Virtual Company Dossier was developed for suppliers to submit company information in a standardized ‘re‐usable’ format, an eCatalogue for use in the tendering process, and a pan‐European e‐signature validation service.
The PEPPOL ‘BIS’ implements the results of the CEN workshop on Business Interoperability Interfaces for Public Procurement in Europe (CEN WS BII). Through PEPPOL and implementations in several Member States and associated Countries, results from CEN WS BII have already been thoroughly tested and have proved their usefulness in practice.
The PEPPOL consortium was comprised of seventeen partners (mostly leading public eProcurement agencies) within 11 countries: Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
At the end of August 2012, the PEPPOL project was finalised and its services and responsibilities were taken over by the non-profit association OpenPeppol.
To better understand the aims of the project, watch the PEPPOL video.
PEPPOL Final Report
As the PEPPOL project has reached a successful completion, the final report shines a light on its accomplishments while showcasing a variety of organisations that have benefited from its digital services. Peppol components have now been implemented successfully in various European countries, with a growing number of Peppol Access Points established and interest increasing from outside of the EU.
The final report reveals the extent of these key successes and identifies the challenges faced within cross-border e-procurement. It also highlights in detail how PEPPOL overcame these obstacles and finally addresses the transition to OpenPeppol and the involvement of future parties.
The PEPPOL Final Report.