How and why e-timecards (digital timesheets) over Peppol - read the full interview with Lieke de Koe from the Ministry of the Interior, client to the NPa
SETU Standards and the Peppol Network
Introduction Last year, the Dutch Peppol Authority (NPa), in collaboration with SETU (Foundation for Electronic Transactions in the Temporary Staffing Industry), created the opportunity to send messages according to the SETU standard over the Peppol network. Staffing agencies and hirers of flexible labour often use different systems. To ensure smooth communication between these systems, SETU was established. This organisation standardises the electronic data exchange between staffing agencies and hirers within the temporary staffing sector in the Netherlands. This led to the creation of the SETU standards.
Recently, the learning project was completed where the SETU message that offers the most efficiency, the digital 'timecard' or timesheet, was successfully sent over Peppol from the hirer (the Tax and Customs Administration) to the supplier of flexible labour (Randstad Staffing Agency). In this learning project, eConnect acted as the 2nd corner in the Peppol '4-corner model': the digital timesheets were sent from the government via the ROAP (Rijksoverheid Access Point) built by eConnect.
We spoke with project leader Lieke de Koe at the CPO-office of the Ministry of the Interior about the potential of digital data exchange via Peppol for the staffing industry.
The Learning Project
This learning project is part of the "Realisation of New Messages" project. What does this project entail?
The Dutch government wants to conduct business from one profile as a purchasing organisation, manage and adjust its purchasing objectives more effectively, and be able to account for what and how we purchase and the social impact of it more quickly and accurately.
One of the goals to achieve this is "easy and clear business dealings." The government wants to minimise the burden on its business partners caused by the diversity of processes at various government agencies. At the same time, the government strives for accessibility: it wants to impose minimal costs on business partners or require complex integration processes into government purchasing systems. Therefore, there is a strong focus on using open market standards and open infrastructure. This is why we are working on realising 'new' messages via open market standards.
Lieke, what is your specific role?
In this particular learning project, the 'timecards,' I am the project leader. This means that I ensure that the right people with the right knowledge are at the table to execute the learning project. Now that the learning project is successful, we can move on to setting up the Basic Timecard Rijk (BTR).
Is the Basic Timecard Rijk the market standard?
The Basic Timecard Rijk (BTR) is a specification of how the e-timecard is applied nationwide for successful digital exchange with government services. The international open Peppol standard serves as the basis. The Basic Messages Rijk can be seen as a set of instructions for completing the extensive range of data types that Peppol offers.
What is the status of the learning project?
We are currently in the final phase of the learning project, which means we are looking ahead to the 'go-live' date!
Can you tell us more about the collaboration between NPa and SETU?
The Ministry of the Interior is policy-wise responsible for carrying out the tasks and responsibilities associated with the role of Peppol Authority. To shape the implementation, the Ministry of the Interior established the Dutch Peppol Authority (NPa). One of the NPa's ambitions is to expand the Peppol network. The collaboration with SETU is a good example of this. The collaboration between NPa and SETU will positively impact both the number of end-users and the number of exchanged procurement messages within the staffing sector.
How many timesheets are we talking about? What is the volume, and thus the intended efficiency gain?
The Tax and Customs Administration and OCW-DUO will be the first to go live, involving approximately 50,000 timesheets annually exchanged with Randstad.
How large is the potential market where the digital timesheet will make a difference?
The potential market is significant. Any organisation dealing with flexible labour can use not only the timesheets but also other SETU messages. Think of providers of flexible labour (staffing agencies or secondment organisations), hirers of flexible labour, and software suppliers that offer products supporting the hiring process.
Can you say something about the collaboration with eConnect in the learning project?
I am very satisfied with the collaboration with eConnect. Not only the collaboration but also the knowledge and expertise. The architect from eConnect has considerable expertise. Interestingly, he does not hesitate to collaborate with 'corner 3', a fellow service provider, to make the learning project successful. This demonstrates a proactive and collaborative approach, which is essential for the success of such projects.
What are the advantages of the e-timecard?
The advantages lie in the number of timesheets in the hiring process (usually submitted weekly per employee) and especially in the fact that a single approved timesheet is used, which can be entered into various systems if desired. Both the client and supplier work with the same approved timesheet.
That brings us to the question: how are we going to increase adoption?
We certainly cannot increase adoption alone. The most important thing is that not only the staffing industry but also hirers see the added value of digital data exchange in the hiring process through the Peppol network. By sharing our success, we hope to enthuse both the staffing industry and other hirers.
Can you say something about the role of Peppol Access Points, and what is the relationship with SMPs?
We need to inform and excite other endpoints (service providers) to embrace this document type as well. This goes beyond the timecard; it's about the entire hiring process and the previously mentioned document types.
Future
What comes after the staffing industry?
Are there similar document types to digitise that impact a large group of companies? For now, we are fully occupied with the SETU message set. Now that we have completed the timesheets, we can move on to the next SETU messages. However, we are also exploring with the NPa the extent to which we can connect other industries and sectors. Consider, for example, the logistics sector and the healthcare sector.
Do you see the timesheet taking off internationally?
As the Netherlands, we are pioneers in this field. We have already heard from other Peppol Authorities that they are closely following our developments and are very interested in adopting this in their own countries.
