Wrote this in 2008:
Mr Somebody Else will not do it
We know that the best possible thing we can do right now in the area of digitalization and productivity is to
get rid of paper based invoicing - move to structured formats (not e-mail). Savings are massive - to say the least, the environment needs it (2,8m tons of CO2 to be eliminated), learning needs it, the real time internet logic needs it, customer
service needs it, the ladder needs the step to the next document layers and so forth.
We also know that EU will - when we get out of the starting economic downturn - have a rapidly worsening problem:
shortage of people in the working age - and much more old people to care for.
We also know that EU is now seriously committed to remove obstacles - tax (equal treatment as for paper ruling coming), varying rules for accounting, archiving etc to be addressed. So the landscape is getting much better.
A growing number of service providers - also from the banking sector are moving in - to bring more capability, sales power, wider networks, competition, interoperability, standardization and innovations. So there will be a lot of activities.
But - as we know from our "laboratory" here in Finland it is really up to you and me - as any progress depends on us changing our own and our service provider's behavior. We should - in our private and job roles demand e-invoices, send e-invoices,
charge for paper invoices and spread the message that paper invoices have NO future.
Mr Somebody Else will not do it for us