Following an inquiry into e-Invoicing in the UK public sector, the recent Parliamentary launch of the resulting report established two key milestones. Firstly the confirmation that adopting e-invoicing could save the public sector at least £2 billion per annum. Secondly, that the launch was supported by Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General.
It was particularly gratifying to see the growing support for electronic data exchange. This is something that Causeway has been actively encouraging for many years and which we have supported through our Tradex solution. This report will clearly impact on government planning and gives real impetus to the roll-out of e-Invoicing in both the public and private sectors.
The launch of ‘Electronic Invoicing - The Next Steps Towards Digital Government’ is the result of an inquiry held during 2013 into electronic invoicing in the UK public sector, initiated by Stephen McPartland MP. I was pleased to have contributed to the inquiry for Causeway and is acknowledged in the report. Francis Maude MP was fully supportive of the report’s objectives and closed his presentation by saying: “We are on the case. This makes a huge load of sense. We are going to press ahead.
As noted, one of the key conclusions of the report, and one that certainly gets Ministers’ attention, is that greater adoption of e-Invoicing could save the public sector and its suppliers a minimum of £2 billion per annum. It also observes that there are already highly effective solutions available, so that there is no requirement for increased investment in IT infrastructure by government to realize these savings.
Causeway’s Tradex e-Invoicing solution is one of the leading e-Invoicing solutions and Causeway has played a key role in promoting this concept at government level. Indeed, I was pleased to have been instrumental in the creation of the Interoperability Charter published by the Business Application Software Developers Association (BASDA). The BASDA Interoperability Charter is referenced in the Government’s Information Economy Strategy paper and an amended version will soon be used to support greater interoperability across the public sector.
I have no doubt that the publication of this latest report will result in increased adoption of e-Invoicing by both central and local government bodies, while also encouraging the greater inclusion of SMEs in the public procurement process. Initiatives such as Tradex Active, which facilitates the adoption of e-Trading by smaller organisations, will play a key role in this.
To read more about the government’s progress in this area, download the full report.
