Huge savings could be made if European member states transfer to electronic invoicing and procurement solutions, according to a new report.
All the 25 member states approved a plan to move to e-procurement and e-invoicing solutions in 2005 and the EC's Action Plan outlines the path that will be taken towards achieving that goal.
Several member states have already reported huge savings. E-procurement Italy led to €3.2 billion worth of cut costs relatively soon after its inception and a similar initiative in Portugal led to savings close to 30 per cent. Procurement accounts for about 15 per cent of total European Union GDP and the EC is committed to achieving 100 per cent availability and at least 50 per cent take up by the year 2010.
The EC also outlined four other key areas which it believes are critical to good implementation of e-governance.
Information and society commissioner Viviane Reding stated the important role e-governance is set to play in future years: "We are starting to see benefits from Europe's investments in 'e-government' over the last few years, but we need to be more active in learning lessons from each other and getting the benefits of scale from adopting common approaches across borders," she said.
"E-government is no longer just a political toy, it is the essential tool of government, for modernising Europe's public administrations."
Quelle/Source: Mikrofax eProcurement News, 05.09.2006
