Dutch service providers jump from Dutch ELFA to international EEI Platform. Read More
Just before the Holidays, we received three more subscriptions of organisations that want to become a Founding Partner of the EEI Platform:
– Anachron
– Isis Papyrus
– OB10
We welcome these three well respected companies, active in the e-invoicing and e-billing market, to the expanding group of EEI Platform Founding Partners.
Click here to view the current list of Founding Partners
To read more about how to become a Member of the EEI Platform, please dowload the documents below:
Number of Founding Partners EEI Platform approaches the desired twentyfive for 2008. Read More
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.
The use of electronic communication in government related services has grown rapidly. This development is visible in the public as well as the private sector. The focus on specific national issues however might cause a slowdown in cross-border transaction markets. The conversion from nondigital to digital services requires identification and signatures.
Several facilitating instruments have been dealt with within the current European Union framework. Nevertheless, a number of barriers stil need to be cleared. The Action Plan presented below is composed to supply these instruments. It focuses on several practical and organisatorial issues in order to simplify the implementation of the required aspects of e-signatures and e-identification.
Below you can read the Action Plan set up by the Commission of the European Communities:
Source: European Commission
OB10, the global e-Invoicing network, has been awarded an internationally recognised Green Apple Award for its environmental best practice for the second year running. OB10’s global e-Invoicing solution helps companies of all sizes to eradicate vast amounts of paper each year by eliminating the need for paper invoices. The OB10 e-Invoicing network helps to simplify and streamline the invoice-to-pay process by extracting invoice data from a supplier’s billing system and sending it to their customer’s accounting system – eliminating the need to print, mail, process, manually key-in, store and then finally dispose of paper invoices.
To make the whole invoice process completely paperless, OB10 also archives invoices electronically, providing access for both suppliers and buyers via the OB10 Portal. Conducting the invoicing process in this way saves vast amounts of paper (as well as postage, logistics, transportation, etc. for delivering invoices) and helps the finance function to become more environmentally compliant.
The award is run by the Green Organisation, an independent non-profit, non-political group supported by the Environment Agency and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. Green Apple Awards are presented to Companies that have recognised the benefits that can be gained from environmental best practice, and also realise the business benefits of being green. Jamie Gunn, CEO, OB10, commented, “We are delighted to receive this Green Apple award for the second year running from the Green Organisation. It’s great news that the environmental benefits of e-Invoicing are being recognised. Businesses need to be fully aware of the damaging consequences of paper invoices. It is not only the cost and efficiency savings that can be made, but with the amount of paper invoices in circulation, in Europe alone – that equates to 763 housand tons of paper or almost 13 million trees, not including the fuel and landfill space that is also saved.”
In the past year alone, OB10 has electronically processed more than four million transactions on behalf of its global customer base, the equivalent of 85 tons. Using standard industry calculations1, that saving represents 1,443 trees which have been spared, as well as enough fuel to run 100 cars for over 1,000 miles, fuel a home for 42 years and 208 cubic metres of landfill space. With OB10’s year-on-year global growth, and the increasing acceptance of electronic invoicing, the environmental savings are set to increase even further. To put it into context, the 1,443 trees that OB10 saved last year could have absorbed up to 231,485 kilograms of Co2 in just one year, and released enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support a staggering 2,886 human beings.
About OB10
OB10 is the leading global B2B e-Invoicing network. OB10 simplifies and streamlines the complex invoice-to-pay processes. Neither client organisations nor their suppliers are required to implement any hardware or software, and OB10 is independent of data file formats. OB10 can reduce the cost of paper invoice processing by typically 60 percent and can deliver an ROI in less thana year if the programme follows OB10’s best practice guidelines. Operational across Europe, North America and Asia, OB10 is compliant with the requirements of VAT, tax and e-Invoicing legislation and receives invoices from suppliers in over 100 countries. To ensure unrivalled and rapid supplier enrolment, each new customer’s suppliers are supported by an implementation services team responsible for getting them up and running on the OB10 network. Customers include: Agilent Technologies, Barclays, BP, Cargill, DHL, DSG International, Eli Lilly & Company, Fisher Scientific, General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Kellogg’s, Logica, Lufthansa, Mohawk Industries, Norwich Union, SaraLee, Shaw Industries and Steria.
Source: www.OB10.com
Solution developer TIE Kinetix has chosen to become a Founding Partner in the European initiative. Read More
Océ, an international leader in digital document management, has outsourced the IT support for its European sales companies to Atos Origin, an international IT services provider. This will result in 65 Océ staff working for Atos Origin in 16 countries. Effective 1 November 2008, the contract has been signed for a duration of 7 years and pertains to the implementation and support of standard IT solutions provided by Atos Origin.
Atos Origin will contribute significantly to Océ’s transition to a central European IT organization, which will make it easier and less expensive to provide support to its operating companies and result in greater flexibility at lower cost.
“Outsourcing the IT support for our European sales companies helps us improve our operational processes. The move is part of our previously announced cost savings program, in which 950 job positions are being eliminated. In so doing we will realize € 130 million in savings in 2008 and 2009,” said Jan Dix, member of the Océ Board of Executive Directors, responsible for IT. By outsourcing its IT services, a total of 65 Océ staff will transfer to Atos Origin and an additional 20 jobs disappear due to attrition, resulting in a reduction of 85 IT job positions at Océ.
Atos Origin will be responsible for the management of over 6,000 workplaces and the management of current local applications in Océ’s sales companies in 16 European countries. Other services that Atos Origin offers involve network, server and LAN management, and the management of Océ’s telephone network in Europe.
Continuity and flexibility
“In Europe, Atos Origin has a proven track record in outsourcing and in implementing this kind of IT project”, said Wilfred de Herder, CIO at Océ. “This agreement contributes to strengthening our market position, achieving cost reductions, and improving flexibility. Atos Origin offers our IT staff a solid perspective. All 65 are highly qualified specialists who will be employed in a challenging and professional environment at Atos Origin.”
“This agreement with Océ enables Atos Origin to significantly strengthen its position on the European outsourcing market and to further establish our leading position in the high-tech market”, says Rob Pols, CEO at Atos Origin in The Netherlands. “The agreement offers an excellent opportunity to demonstrate that we have the necessary expertise and experience to manage and implement large and complex international IT projects.”
About Océ
Océ is one of the world’s leading providers of document management and printing for professionals. The broad Océ offering includes office printing and copying systems, high speed digital production printers and wide format printing systems for both technical documentation and color display graphics. Océ is also a foremost supplier of document management outsourcing. Many of the world’s Fortune 500 companies and leading commercial printers are Océ customers. The company was founded in 1877. With headquarters in Venlo, the Netherlands, Océ is active in over 90 countries and employs some 24,000 people worldwide. Total revenues in 2007 amounted to € 3.1 billion. Océ is listed on Euronext in Amsterdam. For more information on Océ, visit the corporate website: www.oce.com.
About Atos Origin
Atos Origin is an international information technology services company. Its business is turning client vision into results through the application of consulting, systems integration and managed operations. The company’s annual revenues are EUR 5,8 billion and it employs over 50,000 people in 40 countries. Atos Origin is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic Games and has a client base of international blue-chip companies across all sectors. Atos Origin is quoted on the Paris Eurolist Market and trades as Atos Origin, Atos Worldline and Atos Consulting.
European e-Invoicing Platform welcomes Integration Service Provider from Amersfoort (NL) Read More
French Billing Service Provider b-process announced a strategic agreement with Accenture Supply Chain Services (ASCS) to standardise ASCS’ electronic invoicing services across the globe. It covers a deal to standardise e-invoicing processes on b-process’ billManager™ platform across 20 countries worldwide.
b-process’ electronic invoicing platform, billManager™, was selected following the completion of a rigorous tender process by ASCS, designed to select a platform and support capable of providing tax-compliant e-invoicing services across the globe which is also tailored to meet country specific legal requirement.
Currently supporting over 1,000 clients in Europe including American Express, the leading global payments, travel company, Eurocopter, leader in civil or military helicopters transport, Aoste Group, France’s leading meat wholesaler, and Crown, leading supplier of packaging products, b-process is Europe’s largest e-invoicing provider.
b-process’ billManager™ is an ASP platform for electronic invoicing and payments offering tax compliant e-invoicing designed for companies managing a large number of invoices in emission and/or reception mode. The solution offers companies an integrated e-invoicing service covering legal and fiscal compliance, data traceability, invoicing and trade process optimisation, payment and electronic finance.
billManager™ quickly and effectively handles invoices from emission to payment, thus reducing costs traditionally associated with the handling of invoices (generation, delivery, routing, reception, follow-up, accounting treatment, follow up, query handling, archiving,…) by up to 60%. billManager™ modules can also integrate complementary functionalities such as invoice reconciliation, dispute handling, legal archiving and online payments.
More information:
www.b-process.com
