Review 2018 Berlin

The 17th edition of the Exchange Summit took place in Berlin on October 8 to 10, 2018. With over 200 participants and speakers from over 30 countries it was a great place to exchange first-hand experiences about E-Invoicing and for top networking with experts in this field.

With a deep dive into the legal, compliance and technical issues surrounding E-Invoicing on a global basis, it’s an event which consistently attracts industry bigwigs from EESPA, PEPPOL and a wide variety of solution providers as well as commentators and practitioners. In what could easily be an informative, but fairly dry two days, the organiser brings it to life by sprinkling the agenda with some excellent practitioner led sessions too.

Bengt Nilsson, EESPA co-chair and CEO Pagero kicked off the sessions by stressing the importance of open, interoperable networks and challenged fellow providers to see if it’s a future they can make possible. It’s a topic that the event keeps coming back to because interoperability is the golden chalice which has the capacity to significantly streamline business processes across the world. So far, so simple – but with a host of established regulations and standards, being able to come up with one that’s acceptable to all, remains a headache. But Nilsson pointed out that as we move further into industry 4.0, with end to end connected networks at home as well as in our working lives, the cost for any business of falling behind will be found in poor business decisions and performance. As ever, it’s the quality of the data that’s important. Connected bad data will just get bad things done faster.

So could blockchain be the answer? Well, Maex Ament, founder of Centrifuge thinks that it could well be…soon. Data ultimately comes down to trust. Do we trust what it is telling us? Do we trust where it has come from? Can we make accurate decisions based on it? For some organisations, in some countries, being able to answer yes to these questions is a luxury, and being able to do so consistently, may well prove to be the catalyst for driving blockchain use across the globe. Because the blockchain provides a consensus. A single source of truth that no government or other body can interfere with, and therefore, so the theory goes, it’s censorship resistant. Although, as Maex explained, there are some roadblocks ahead around legal restrictions and standards. But he believes it has the capacity to revolutionise the financial supply chain. For example, if we know for sure that a delivery has been made, proof of delivery could instigate payment. No need for an invoice.

And that probably will happen. And for some, it might not even be that long. But for now, most organisations are just getting to grips with the digitisation of their processes. Take Innogy for example, with 42,000 employees and 23 million customers, their disjointed systems no longer provided the clarity of data that the business needed. So GPO Peter Stotzem and the team set out a plan for change. They soon found out that although it was a technology journey, its success depended on relationships – with the suppliers, their chosen solution provider and crucially, with procurement. Once they had the buy in of procurement and the wider business, the programme accelerated rapidly. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of implementing new tech and forget that as with most things, it’s how we connect the people with the problem and the solution that matters most.

To view the presentations visit www.exchange-summit.com/events/europe/presentations

We say thank you to all participants, speakers and partners that made this edition of the Exchange Summit a huge success. Great feedback like this encourages us to start the planning for the next editions in 2019 in Miami, Bonn and Vienna!

"Full to the brim with relevant topics and contributors and a very friendly environment to informally meet and discuss with subject matter experts."
Declan McCormack, Office of Government Procurement, Ireland