Monday 8th December

Single Face to Industry (SFTI), a joint initiative in the Swedish public sector is recommending use of the PEPPOL infrastructure for e-procurement. It will enable the exchange of electronic messages between large groups of suppliers and contracting authorities in Sweden.

SFTI had previously decided to use PEPPOL as the messaging standard for documents, such as, electronic catalogues, purchase orders and invoices. It has also recently decided to recommend the use of the PEPPOL network for electronic procurement, which enables connected buyers and suppliers to easily communicate with each other.

Kerstin Wiss Holmdahl, responsible for promoting e-procurement at the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions says,

The new infrastructure will not only make national e-procurement easier but also cross border. PEPPOL se Norway as an example where the entire public sector is already reachable through the PEPPOL infrastructure.

"Sweden is now in the right phase of maturity to recommend the PEPPOL infrastructure. This will allow for an even more simplified and cost-effective transformation to e-procurement and e-invoicing. It will also bring new opportunities for e-procurement in the Nordic countries and for the rest of Europe. The decision in Norway to use this infrastructure has already resulted in a substantial increase of e-invoicing."

André Hoddevik, Secretary General of OpenPEPPOL says, "Other countries can follow the Swedish example and connect their national infrastructure to PEPPOL, and if they are in the process of establishing a national infrastructure for e-procurement, they should consider using PEPPOL as their starting point."