CEN/ISSS invites everyone to attend the 4th CEN Industry Conference on Electronic Invoicing and Compliance. The conference takes place in the Diamant Building in Brussels on June 18th 2009.

After the completion of the CEN/ISSS eInvoicing Phase I Workshop in 2006, a Phase II workshop was launched in 2007. Now, during the Open Meeting on June 18th 2009, the final deliverables of this Phase II will be presented to reach out for public comments and reviews.

CEN/ISSS e-Invoicing Phase II: five Working Groups

Five projects have gone under way, with Working Groups:

1.      An adoption programme for increased electronic invoicing in European business processes

2.      Compliance of electronic invoice implementations with Council Directive 2001/115/EC and the national legislation as regards electronic invoices;

3.      Cost effective authenticity and integrity of electronic invoices and related business documents regardless of formats and technologies;

4.      Implementation of compliant electronic invoice systems in using emerging technologies and business processes;

5.      A framework for the emerging network infrastructure of ‘invoice operators’ throughout Europe.

 
Resulting in several deliverables, the Working Groups and the entire CEN e-Invoicing Workshop aim to stimulate further standardisation in the domain of electronic invoicing in Europe. It should be noted that the activities are explicitly not directed towards standardisation of a document format such as UN/CEFACT or UBL.

 
What kind of deliverables can we expect?
So what kind of results can we expect at the Open Meeting on June 18th 2009? To get answer on that question we could take a look at the presentations performed during the Open Meeting in 2008.

In short – to be honest: as far as the EEI Platform can see- it is expected that at least the following deliverables will be presented:

-          The Draft Good Practice Guidelines (Working group 2 and 3)

-          E-invoice Gateway (Working group 1)

-          Review of CWA 15576 (Working group 4)

-          Review CWA 15582 (Working group 4)

 
NOTE: The EEI Platform has been chair of Working group 4 for some time. It resigned from this position due to a conflict of co-operation with one of the Workshop chairs and a difference of vision with regard to the expected deliverables and their content. The EEI Platform proposed to deliver:

-          A Common Body of Definitions

-          An Interaction Framework

-          An E-invoicing Innovation Guideline

 
Progress put into perspective
So what progress has been achieved during the last twelve months? The only way to find out is to go the CEN/ISSS e-Invoice Open Conference. But not before you had a chance to look the presentations from 2008. That way you could put the new information en statements into perspective:
 
 
2008 – Working Group 1
Raising awareness of electronic invoices 

2008 – Working Group 2
Overview on compliance of electronic invoices  

 
2008 – Working Group 2:
Compliance of electronic invoices  

2008 – Working Group 2:
Legal and regulatory inhibitors  

2008 – Working Group 3:
Cost effective means to guarantee authenticity & integrity  

2008 – Working Group 4:
Emerging technologies and business processes

2008 – Working Group 5:
Interconnection of service providers 

 
With the final deliverables, the CEN e-Invoicing Workshop has stimulated further standardization work in the domain of electronic invoices in Europe, with a view to supporting:
- the compliance of electronic invoice implementations to Council Directive 2001/115/EC and the national legislation as regards electronic invoices;
- the effective implementation of compliant electronic invoice systems in using emerging technologies and business processes, in business-to-business as well as in business-to-government scenarios; and
- the emerging network infrastructure of invoice operators throughout Europe.

The eInvoicing Workshop Phase II is mandated by the European Commission to provide advice on the European electronic invoice implementation process. With more than 60 companies actively participating, the Workshop has become the sounding board of the electronic invoice industry – comprising software companies, service providers, end-users as well as tax authorities (e.g. Spain, NL, UK, Italy, Romania).

 
CEN/ISSS conference “Electronic Invoices & Compliance”
JUNE 18th, 2009 10:00 – 17:00 CET
DIAMANT BUILDING
Boulevard Reyers 80, 1030 BRUSSELS, Belgium

 
The Open Conference is free of charge !
For participation, please register before 10 June at: http://www.cen.eu/isss/meetings

If you have any question about the registration, please contact:
Emmanuelle Ramaz, Workshop Assistant CEN,
Innovation & Business Development Department
e-mail: emmanuelle.ramaz@cen.eu
Tel + 32 2 550 08 13

Agenda

09:30 Arrival and registration
10:00 Welcome and introduction CEN Secretary General Stefan Engel-Flechsig & Anders Grangard (CEN/ISSS Workshop Co-Chairs),
10:15 Perspectives on e-Business (Welcome note by the European Commission, DG Enterprise)
10.30 Summary of the Phase II results: Stefan Engel-Flechsig
11.00 WG2: Overview on compliance of electronic invoices – Joost Kuipers
11.15 WG2: CEN Compliance Guidelines – Christiaan van der Valk
11.45 WG2: Legal and regulatory inhibitors – Tony Nisbett

12:15 Lunch break

13:15 WG : Cost effective means to guarantee authenticity & integrity – Johan Borendal & Nick Pope
14:00 WG 4: Emerging technologies and business processes – Anders Grangard & Adrian Mueller
14:45 WG 5: Interconnection of service providers – Ahti Allikas & Jari Salo

15.30 Coffee & tea

16.00 WG 1: Raising awareness of electronic invoices – Georg Lindsberger & Helmut Aschbacher
16:30 Final discussions and recommendations from the audience
17:00 Wrap-up, close of meeting & networking
 
 
For participation please register before 10 June at: http://www.cen.eu/isss/meetings
 

GlobalSign, one of the longest established Certification Authorities (CA) and specialists in SSL Certificates and Digital Identities for securing PDF documents, has today announced the success of the Antwerp Port Authority project, designed to meet the requirements of Circulaire nr AOIF 16/2008 (E.T.112.081) for the creation and retention of e-invoices. In January 2004 the European Directive on invoicing (EC/115/2001) came into effect with 25 European member states, including Belgium, implementing the directive into their local VAT legislation; the resultant Circulaire was released in Belgium on the 13th May 2008.
 
Across Europe eVAT rules apply to both the supplier and to the recipient of goods and services. The supplier is obliged to select a technology that guarantees the authenticity and integrity of the e-invoice created – authenticity assures the message content was actually created by the person or legal entity that signed it, and integrity shows that no changes could have been made to the content of the e-invoice during transit without detection. Conversely it is up to the recipient to ensure the e-invoice is stored in such a way as to be assured of the authenticity and integrity during the storage period (7 years in Belgium).
 
Recognising the advantages of VAT corporate governance through e-invoicing, including reduced paperwork, reduced costs, as well as improved customer relations and greater operational efficiencies, the Port Authority sought a solution that would comply with current legislation. Stakeholders in the project also recognised the need to reduce their carbon footprint across the supply chain and therefore welcomed the initiative.

As an authorised participant in Adobe’s Certified Document Services (CDS) programme, GlobalSign’s DocumentSign solution enables the Port Authority to digitally sign their PDF documents and to embed the trust status of the e-invoice and the creation time for recipients to easily view and store. The solution leveraged the expertise of GlobalSign, Adobe and SafeNet to offer a compelling proposition to the Antwerp Port Authority to meet their e-invoicing requirements.
 
“We needed a reliable partner to generate added value for our business and for our customers”, said Jan Goossens, Software Development Manager, Antwerp Port Authority. “GlobalSign, with its extensive security expertise and leading technology is the best choice to prove the authenticity of our invoices and bring peace of mind to us and all our customers.”
 
“We’ve seen a marked increase in the number of projects across the whole of Europe in recent months as the worldwide economic climate causes enterprises both large and small to re-evaluate their invoicing processes to drive down costs and remain competitive,” said Steve Roylance, Business Development Director, GlobalSign. “DocumentSign is not only a cost effective and easy solution for businesses to use, but is also compliant with European e-VAT legislation.” Background on the Antwerp Port Authority The Antwerp Port Authority offers an ideal gateway to Europe with future expansion plans in place to meet the 8% increase on freight year on year through its central European location on the Belgium coast.
 
Antwerp is currently the second largest port in Europe and the fourth largest in the world with 170 million tonnes of freight volume. More than 200 forwarding companies based in Antwerp help to secure shipping contracts across multiple market sectors including steel, fruit, coffee and tobacco. Numerous stevedoring companies handle more than 16,000 seagoing ships and 65,000 barges annually that call at the port.
 
Background on the three way partnership for success – GlobalSign, Adobe and SafeNet
In 2003 Adobe Systems Inc took the visionary steps and created a compliant solution known as Certified Document Services (CDS) to address the growing need for document Authenticity and Integrity across multiple markets. The key components of the service leverage core skills from Certification Authorities such as GlobalSign to deliver digital identities to organizations under a defined certificate practice statement including certificate status information and secure time information. SafeNet Luna SA hardware security module (HSM) is used to store digital signatures and protect cryptographic keys. SafeNet HSMs provide reliable protection against compromise for applications and information assets to ensure regulatory compliance, reduce the risk of legal liability, and improve profitability. Both elements are essential to the overall framework of the CDS solution aiding the Port authority to meet the requirements of the directive.

www.globalsign.com

Belgian Billing Service Provider D Soft has decided to become a Founding Partner of EEI Platform.In addition to their membership in Dutch e-invoicing awareness initiative Platform ELFA, D Soft’s awareness of the potential and advantages of the European Electronic Invoicing Platform has resulted in a Founding Partner membership. The EEI Platform welcomes all European organisations linked to e-Invoicing, invoice automation and related subjects such as credit management and digital signatures to become a Founding Partner or member.

About the EEI Platform
The EEI Platform’s main objective is to support the penetration of electronic invoicing and automated invoicing in Europe in order to enable anyone to benefit from the great advantages that it offers. The EEI Platform focuses on the activation of individual companies, trade associations and the public sector to apply electronic billing and payment. In addition, participants will achieve results on publicity, penetration of electronic invoicing, standardization, accreditation and promotion of the participants. EEI Platform is a variant of the Dutch Electronic Invoicing Platform (ELFA), a grouping of organisations in the Netherlands that play an important role in the implementation process. as well as substantive information, news, background and developments in the fields of electronic invoicing.

About D Soft
D Soft develops solutions for the market around  E-Forms, E-Delivery, E-Contract and E-Invoice. Over the past few years, D Soft has established a unique kind of expertise in terms of electronic forms and document management. Apart from developing electronic forms D Soft has also been specializing in consulting and implementing overall solutions in these areas. Furthermore, D Soft has developed a variety of products that need to stimulate and simplify the use of electronic documents. Consequently, D Soft’s activities are perfectly tuned to the technology of digital management of rights and the spread of protected documents.

More information:

D Soft nv
Deinsesteenweg 108
9031 Drongen – Belgium

T +32 9 372 70 41
F +32 9 372 41 66
E info@dsoft.be
W www.dsoft.be

Participation in the EEI Platform
Participation in EEI Platform is not only for providers of electronic invoicing and automated invoicing. Participation is also open to users, public institutions, educational institutions and industry associations. Moreover, organizations whose activities border to electronic billing services -such as credit organizations and financial institutions- are also invited to join.

Visit www.eeiplatform.com for more information. Here you can check the latest European news, the EEI Platform business case and the subscription form.

The Belgian software designers are the first party to join the European Electronic Invoicing Platform.AdValvas Europe has committed itself as a Founding Partner to the recently established European e-invoicing initiative. The software company is the first Billing Service Provider who joins the EEI Platform, which is expected to welcome more European organisations on a short term. These parties will form the basis of the knowledge and information platform about electronic billing and automated invoicing. AdValvas Europe has also decided to take part in the Dutch e-Invoicing initiative, Platform ELFA.

About the EEI Platform
The EEI Platform’s main objective is to support the penetration of electronic invoicing and automated invoicing in Europe in order to enable anyone to benefit from the great advantages that it offers. The EEI Platform focuses on the activation of individual companies, trade associations and the public sector to apply electronic billing and payment.

In addition, participants will achieve results on publicity, penetration of electronic invoicing, standardization, accreditation and promotion of the participants. EEI Platform is a variant of the Dutch Electronic Invoicing Platform (ELFA), a grouping of organisations in the Netherlands that play an important role in the implementation process. as well as substantive information, news, background and developments in the fields of electronic invoicing.

About AdValvas Europe
For more than a decade AdValvas has been developing software solutions for sending and receiving electronic invoices. In this period, many large parties have become convinced of the product qualities of AdValvas Europe, which for instance designs modular solutions for incoming and outgoing e-invoices or scanned paper invoices. AdValvas also focuses on e-Business and e-Documents and has already been of value for the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Belgian government.

More information:

Derbystraat 23 B
B-9051 Sint-Denijs-Westrem (Gent)
Belgium

E:  info@advalvas-group.com
T: +32 (0)9 241 87 87
F: +32 (0)9 241 87 80
www.advalvas-group.com

Participation in the EEI Platform
Participation in EEI Platform is not only for providers of electronic invoicing and automated invoicing. Participation is also open to users, public institutions, educational institutions and industry associations. Moreover, organizations whose activities border to electronic billing services -such as credit organizations and financial institutions- are also invited to join.

Look at www.eeiplatform.com for more information. Here you can check the latest European news, the EEI Platform business case and the subscription form.