PEPPOL
The OpenPEPPOL Association was established in 2012 after a successful completion of the Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line (PEPPOL) project, which saw PEPPOL specifications being implemented in several European countries solving interoperability issues for electronic procurement.
Through an agreement on specifications for cross-border procurement processes, the PEPPOL project has contributed to the development of a pan-European, standards-based IT infrastructure. PEPPOL has not replaced, but built upon, the existing strengths of national eProcurement systems by using information and communication technologies to enable them to connect with each other.
PEPPOL provides a set of technical specifications that can be implemented in existing eProcurement solutions and eBusiness exchange services to make them interoperable between disparate systems across Europe.
PEPPOL is based on three major pillars:
- the network (PEPPOL eDelivery Network)
- the document specifications (PEPPOL Business Interoperability Specifications ‘BIS’)
- the legal framework that defines the network governance (PEPPOL Transport Infrastructure Agreements – TIA)
PEPPOL enables trading partners to exchange standards-based electronic documents over the PEPPOL network (based on a 4-corner model). These documents include eInvoices, eOrders, eAdvance Shipping Notes, eCatalogues, Message Level Responses, etc.
PEPPOL Access Points connect users to the PEPPOL network and exchange electronic documents based on the PEPPOL specifications. Buyers and suppliers are free to choose their preferred single Access Point provider to connect to all PEPPOL participants already on the network. (‘Connect once, connect to all’).
PEPPOL is governed by a multi-lateral agreement structure which is owned and maintained by OpenPEPPOL. (For more information please visit: www.peppol.eu)