OpenPeppol Organisational framework

OpenPeppol

OpenPeppol is a member-driven non-profit Association set up as an Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif (AISBL) under Belgian law.

OpenPeppol has full responsibility for the Peppol specifications, service areas and implementation around the world. Volunteers from member organisations play a leadership role in the management and development activities of OpenPeppol, supported by a small Operating Office.

Governance of OpenPeppol is provided through the Statutes and Internal Regulations of the AISBL, supported by the organisational design.

Governance of the Peppol eDelivery Network and Peppol Specifications is provided through the Interoperability Framework.

Organisational design

The following chart shows the relationships between the different elements of the organisational design, which are explained in greater detail below:

Note: CMB = Change Management Board

Members

There are four categories of OpenPeppol membership:

• End Users

• Service Providers

• Peppol Authorities

• Observers

In accordance with the OpenPeppol Statutes, all members are eligible to attend the General Assembly, and all (except Observers) have one vote.

General Assembly

The General Assembly is the highest Authority in the Association and decision body for the member community.

A General Assembly is held in Brussels in March of each year to review performance for the prior year’ to approve plans and budgets for the coming year; and to elect volunteers to key positions in the organisation in line with the Statutes of the Association. Extraordinary meetings of the General Assembly may be called by decision of the Managing Committee.

Election Committee

The Election Committee ensures the availability of eligible and qualified candidates for election to the Managing Committee.

Members of the Election Committee are elected by the General Assembly.

Secretary General

The Secretary General has day-today responsibility for oversight and management of the Association.

The Secretary General is elected by the General Assembly and is the highest authority in the Association in between each General Assembly.

Managing Committee

The Managing Committee holds overall responsibility for overseeing the activities undertaken by the Association.

The Managing Committee is composed of the Secretary General (Chairperson), together with six further members, each elected by the General Assembly, made up from two representatives from each of the Stakeholder Communities.

Communities

Currently, there are three Stakeholder Communities and three Domain Communities.

Each community provides a forum for collaboration and knowledge sharing and members participate in face-to-face meetings in March and October of each year, with regular online participation throughout the year.

The different Stakeholder Communities represent the interests of their member types.

The three member groups represented are:

• End Users

• Service Providers

• Peppol Authorities

OpenPeppol members self-allocate to their relevant stakeholder community on first registration as a member of OpenPeppol.

The members of each stakeholder community formally elect:

• a community leader;

• representatives to cross-community bodies.

The leader of each stakeholder community participates in the OpenPeppol Coordinating Committee.

The different Domain Communities lead the development of Peppol specifications and oversee the activities of subject-specific work groups.

The three Domains are:

• eDelivery (eDeC)

• Pre Award (PrAC)

• Post Award (PoAC)

Service Provider members of OpenPeppol must join eDeC. Additionally, Post Award Service Providers must join PoAC and Pre Award Service Providers must join PrAC. Peppol Authority members of OpenPeppol must join eDeC and may optionally join PrAC and/or PoAC.

The members of each Domain Community formally elect:

• a community leader;

• representatives to their relevant Change Management Board;

• representatives to cross-community bodies.

The leader of each domain community participates in the OpenPeppol Coordinating Committee.

Each Domain Community has an associated Change Management Board that reviews change requests and prioritises the work of the Community. Each CMB has four members elected by the OpenPeppol Members in the relevant Domain Community. CMBs are chaired by the relevant Domain Community Leader.

Coordinating Committee

The Coordinating Committee ensures cross-Community collaboration and alignment of activities between the Communities.

The Coordinating Committee is composed of the leaders of each of the Domain and Stakeholder Communities, and is chaired by one of its members, with the Chairperson elected either by the Committee members or appointed by the Managing Committee.

Agreement Revision Board

The Agreement Revision Board is responsible for development of the Service Provider Agreement and the Peppol Authority Agreement, which provides the legal basis for participation in the delivery of Peppol services.

The Agreement Revision Board is established by the Managing Committee. Any need for decisions relating to the main agreement documents will be raised to the Managing Committee, whereas proposed changes to Annexes 3 or 4 will be raised to the relevant Domain Change Management Boards.

Operating Office

The Operating Office provides day-to-day support to the Secretary General to ensure the smooth running of the Association.

A small team looks after the business-level activities of the Association, to organise and manage finance, administration, compliance, communications, events, and development.

Work Groups

OpenPeppol establishes formal work groups to manage specific initiatives to ensure the development and sustainability of the Peppol specifications and network.

Work groups may be established at an organisational level or within stakeholder and domain communities. Each work group has a documented mandate, setting out the areas of responsibility and the expected deliverables.

Work groups are run by a work group leader and populated by volunteer representatives of OpenPeppol members. Work group members commit to actively participate in the discussions and activities of the group, supporting the work group leader in completing the agreed deliverables.

Current Work Groups:

• PoAC – International Invoicing:
• PoAC – Core Invoice Response;
• PoAC – Peppol BIS Development;
• PoAC – Peppol Test Team;
• Peppol Agreement Revision Board;
• Peppol Activity Reporting.

OpenPeppol members wishing to join a Work Group should contact the relevant Work Group Leader (contact details are provided in the Who-is-Who section).

Domain community initiatives

All community initiatives are approved by the General Assembly.

eDelivery (eDeC)- key initiatives for 2019/20:

• manage migration from the AS2 to AS4 security protocol;
• improve the onboarding process for Access Points and SMPs by using the testbed for AS4;
• examine the potential for using the testbed for monitoring compliance and interoperability of existing Access Points;
• manage the insourcing of the SML from the European Commission;
• prepare for the migration of the SMP specifications to meet the upcoming OASIS BDXR SMP 2.0;
• promote use of the Peppol Directory;
• ensure the ongoing sustainability of the eDelivery network;
• ensure a resilient, secure and scalable eDelivery network;
• ensure communication and transparency with stakeholders.

Post Award (PoAC) – key initiatives for 2019/20:

• deliver a new Catalogue Business Interoperability Specification;
• improve Peppol BIS message types to strengthen the stability and functionality of the Peppol network;
• deliver a Core Invoice Message Response in collaboration with EESPA to increase standardisation inside and outside the Peppol network;
• undertake a pre-study on the use of BIS Billing outside EU/EEA;
• examine potential for an Advance Ordering work group;
• issue two releases of Peppol BIS updates (Spring and Fall);
• ensure communication and transparency with stakeholders.

Pre Award (PrAC) – key initiatives for 2019/20:

• become operational with specification issue handling, review and production, and start up a development and test team;
• set up an eTendering Production work group;
• enable the first Peppol-compliant eTendering platforms to go live;
• coordinate efforts on ESPD towards a self-contained version;
• ensure communication and transparency with stakeholders.

OpenPeppol Statutes

OpenPeppol is a not-for-profit, member-owned organisation established as an Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif (AISBL), established under Belgian Law. The OpenPeppol Statutes provides the rulebook by which the AISBL operates.

The Statutes cover the sections listed below and a complete copy can be found in the website Library. Any revision to the Statutes may only be agreed by a vote at the General Assembly in accordance with Section V of the Statutes.

The most recent version of the OpenPeppol Statutes was adopted at the General Assembly on 30th October 2018.

OpenPeppol Internal Regulations

The Internal Regulations document governs the internal workings of the OpenPeppol AISBL and supplements the OpenPeppol Statutes.

The most recent version (0.99) of the OpenPeppol Internal Regulations was created in September 2014 and an update is in development.

Any revision to the Internal Regulations may only be agreed by a vote of the Managing Committee in accordance with Article 22 of the Statutes.

The Internal Regulations cover the sections listed below and a complete copy will be placed in the website Library once an updated version has been approved by the Managing Committee.

It is intended to create OpenPeppol process manuals to cover the detailed day-to-day routines of the Association.