On 28th November and 7th December 2011, Consip, the Italian PEPPOL partner that acts as central purchasing body for the government sector, published the first two tenders where awarded suppliers will be asked to submit their product catalogues in electronic format, and to be ready to receive electronic orders. In both cases PEPPOL compliant documents transmitted over the PEPPOL infrastructure will be used.

 

Specific clauses have been published on the eProcurement portal “Acquisti in Rete della Pubblica Amministrazione” (Public Administration Web purchases), to ensure that PEPPOL compliant documents are included in the two tenders, one for the purchase of PC Notebooks and the other for the purchase of Radiology equipment (remote controlled and portable digital devices). The estimated value of the two tenders is € 14,6 M and € 11,9 M respectively, and the contracts will generate thousands of electronic orders.

 

After having integrated the PEPPOL components into their Open Source eProcurement platform, the inclusion of provisions requesting that suppliers exchange PEPPOL compliant eCatalogues and eOrders will gradually become the standard in the tenders run by Consip. This represents a significant trigger for the Italian eProcurement market, considering that, on average, around 50 framework contracts are in force on Consip’s platform, accessed by thousands of public administration entities, generating hundreds of orders for the awarded suppliers.

 

In addition, the same platform hosts MEPA, the Italian Marketplace for purchases below European thresholds, where each month hundreds of contracts are awarded using electronic catalogues, and thousands of orders are generated for the suppliers (98% SMEs).

 

 

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