In 2003 a Danish law on public sector payments was passed paving the way for the mandatory use of the electronic invoice when raising an invoice on the Danish public sector. As a pre-requsiste for the project, the Danish Finance Ministry required a unique, unambiguous numbering identification system for public sector entities based on two primary requirements: ? To be a tool for routing electronic messages via the VANs (Value Added Networks). ? Be a mechanism to identify public sector entities in electronic messages To solve these issues, the Danish government purchased 1,000,000 GLNs, Global location numbers (formerly known as an EAN number) from GS1 Denmark as a main component of the electronic invoice. The GS1 Global Location Number (GLN) is now a mandatory element of the Danish government’s eInvoicing initiative where each public sector institution is required to have a GLN for use in the Danish public sector eInvoice initiative. Over the last two years, the application of eInvoicing within Denmark has become a European showcase for a successful implementation of Business to Government e-commerce. Many countries are now looking towards Denmark’s eProcurement model as a successful blueprint for their own government initiatives. The adoption of the GS1 GLN in the public sector is an example of the type of application which is serving to add value to the public sector supply chain whilst being in harmony with established private sector GLN usage.

Technology solution

What is the GS1 GLN in Denmark? As the name implies, the Global Location Number, like in every other MO, is a 13 digit GS1 identification key for locations. The GLN in Denmark is used in a variety of ways, specifically in electronic messages as a routing mechanism by Value Added Networks and as a location and legal entity identification key, and is also a mandatory component of the GS1 Denmark datapool. The GLN can be used to identify physical locations and official entities where there is a need to retrieve pre-defined information (Master data) to improve the efficiency of communication within the Danish supply-chain. In Denmark, GLNs are of course a prerequisite for GS1 XML eCom messages but also mandatory in the GS1 Denmark simple electronic business profiles based on EANCOM.

Main results, benefits and impacts

Post implementation (2008) of the Danish eInvoice in the public sector: 1. eProcurement savings to the Danish government, €300,000,000. Estimated to date 2008

Return on investment

Return on investment: Larger than €10,000,000

Lessons learnt

1. The GS1 GLN a good choice for the public sector location and routing in EDI/XML a) The GLN is a major VAN global routing key. Ensured GLN adoption by VANs as a routing key for EDI messages. The GLN is the de facto routing key for Danish EDI and is well established. b) The GLN is a major global location identification key. GLN adoption by supply and retail in Denmark has been huge and is widely adopted in the private sector as part of GS1 Denmark’s simple electronic business concept based on master data alignment. c) Guaranteed Number Capacity. Large availability of numbers makes the GLN a scaleable solution and is an unambiguous identification scheme. d) Numbering integrity. Strong GS1 governance and control of the GLN system. The check digit algorithm helps number integrity. e) Non-significant GLN number . Secure, GLN has no meaning attached to it (in Denmark) apart from identifying it as a GLN allocated to the Danish public sector. f) The GLN is cost effective (Minimal investment) The cost for the government of purchasing the 1,000,000 GLNs from GS1 Denmark for the project is only 0.006 % of the annual gains achieved by applying eInvoicing in the Danish public sector. 2. After the implementation of the eInvoice in Denmark’s public sector there have been several lessons learned to come out of the project. One major consideration worth emphasising has been that the implementation of globally applicable standards that have already gained traction in the commercial market place is an effective method of ensuring adoption and success of an eInvoicing eGovernment initiative. Scope: National