PEPPOL Project Status and Launch of OpenPEPPOL AISBL

As the Pan-European Public Procurement Online (PEPPOL) project reached a successful completion on August 31^st, 2012, with the PEPPOL specifications being implemented across Europe, the OpenPEPPOL Association has been set up to take responsibility for the maintenance of the PEPPOL specifications, building blocks and services, and to promote implementation across Europe.

OpenPEPPOL has been established as a non-profit international association under Belgian law, comprised of interested public and private members of the PEPPOL community and has begun official operations on September 1^st, 2012. Membership is now open to a wide range of organisations.

The Association provides the authoritative point of reference for networks of interoperable, PEPPOL-compliant infrastructure and the organisations that use it, ensuring high level governance and continuation of the agreement infrastructure.                     . 

The main goals of OpenPEPPOL are as follows:

1. Encourage European governments and their suppliers to continue implementing eProcurement using the PEPPOL specifications and promoting best practices.

2. Encourage the development of innovative PEPPOL-based ICT products and services, promoting their use also in the Business to Business context to harmonise processes across the private and public sectors, simplifying eProcurement adoption for small and medium sized enterprises.

3. Ensure that the PEPPOL network continues to grow in an open, accessible and compliant manner, supporting interoperability for European public services and helping Europe move towards a Digital Single Market.

With the future of the PEPPOL specifications assured and with the support of the European Commission, ICT vendors of all sizes are investing resources to support PEPPOL in their solutions. PEPPOL has been implemented successfully in 11 European countries to date and interest is now increasing from outside of the EU.

OpenPEPPOL Membership

By becoming a member of OpenPEPPOL, private and public organisations will have the unique opportunity to join forces and drive standardisation, process automation and connectivity across Europe. Membership is open to:

1. Contracting authorities (public sector buyers), economic operators (suppliers) and other end-users of PEPPOL specifications, building blocks and services;
2. Regional or other types of Authorities within the PEPPOL network;
3. Service Metadata Publisher providers, Access Point providers, eSignature validation service providers, Pre-award service providers;
4. Other organisations which are relevant to the purposes of OpenPEPPOL.

Contacts

For PEPPOL pilot organisations whose projects were underway before August 31^st, 2012, OpenPEPPOL will continue to provide support upon request by email to: info@peppol.eu.