Autumn Group’s Post

AfCFTA Digital Trade 101: Pathways Towards Digitalisation of Trade Processes Introduction The digitalisation of global trade and supply chains is a priority for both the public and private sector. For the former, digital trade promises more efficiency, less fraud, expanded trade flows, and opportunity to grow the role for small- and medium-sized enterprises both in their respective economies and internationally. For the private sector, digital trade responds to the need for supply chain efficiency, agility and resilience, coupled with the opportunity presented to drive business competitiveness and expansion by aggregating structured data and turning it into insights and services. It is frequently said that ‘only’ 1% or 2% of global trade is digitalised. The KTDDE analysis shows that, across global supply chains and the key trade documents that power them, there is a fair amount of standardisation of electronic and digital versions of key trade documents. Additionally, some digital documentary processes are already seeing meaningfully adoption by industry. To achieve trade digitalization and paperless trade success, calls for stakeholders to focus on the following issues below: 1. Digital infrastructure: Exporters, importers, financial institutions, and logistics service providers should actively participate in developing and using digital platforms or exchange protocols that are compatible with multiple major standards and are designed for intentional interoperability. 2. Streamlining data exchange with global data standards: All trade actors, including regulatory bodies, should adopt best practices for Key Data Elements as outlined in the Key Trade Data Glossary. This principled approach to leveraging standardisation can help to ensure the exchange of uniform data elements across documents and would benefit from leveraging standardised identifiers for subjects and objects, enhancing the accuracy and reliability of global trade data. 3. Addressing digital identity challenges: Promote the use of globally-unique, interoperable identifiers for legal entities, locations, functions and objects of trade,1 aligning with standards like ISO 17442 and ISO/IEC 15459, as well as the ISO Technical Report ISO/TR 6039:2023, and collaborate with identity registrars to establish verifiability and trust. 4. Regulatory collaboration and uniform rules for digital information sharing: Governments and regulatory bodies are encouraged to collaborate to identify and establish forward-thinking regulations that bolster digital trade. These regulations should focus on secure, verifiable transactions and interoperable frameworks for digital information sharing. .

Global trade faces numerous hurdles, but we break down three common challenges and how to overcome them in our latest article, “Problems & Solutions: 3 Common Challenges in Global Trade.” Learn how businesses can address issues such as limited visibility, regulatory compliance, and supply chain disruptions using cutting-edge solutions like real-time tracking, predictive analytics, and technology-driven compliance tools. Discover how to tackle these global trade challenges head-on at https://bit.ly/3XO1HEP.

The International Chamber of Commerce’s Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) has completed the mammoth task of attempting to find common digital data standards for a raft of widely used trade documents. Finding uniform data points for trade documentation, and ways of transmitting them, is seen as a necessary step to achieve interoperability between financial institutions, trading companies, logistics providers and port and customs authorities. In turn, digitalisation advocates argue that interoperability is needed to achieve a widespread move away from traditional paper-based trade documents. The DSI’s Key Trade Documents and Data Elements (KTDDE) project has worked over the last two years to identify 36 key trade documents in use globally. “We’ve created a common thread, so that by adopting our recommendations, any organisation will be on the road to interoperability,” DSI head Pamela Mar told GTR ahead of the report’s launch at the Commodity Trading Week event in London on April 24. “It’s only if parties are using data in the same way, where you will actually have interoperability,” Mar said. In practice, this means using common data fields and filling them out in a uniform way. The effort was chaired by Robert Beideman of GS1, an organisation that governs standards for barcodes. It was decided early on that instead of trying to create brand new standards for each document and attempt to apply them globally, the project would identify the most commonly used digital standards for each document, if any existed. “We recognise that no new data standards have to be developed in order to digitalise the trade processes covered by the documents in this report,” says Gerard Hartsink, the founding chair of the DSI advisory board, in a foreword to the report. Read More:  https://lnkd.in/eNf8AdMt

Global trade faces numerous hurdles, but we break down three common challenges and how to overcome them in our latest article, “Problems & Solutions: 3 Common Challenges in Global Trade.” Learn how businesses can address issues such as limited visibility, regulatory compliance, and supply chain disruptions using cutting-edge solutions like real-time tracking, predictive analytics, and technology-driven compliance tools. Discover how to tackle these global trade challenges head-on at https://bit.ly/4ewKDsF.

A recent article from Shipping and Freight Resource delves into the pivotal role of Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) in the digital transformation of supply chain management and global trade. As the digital economy expands, reliable, transparent, and efficient operations become paramount, and LEIs are at the heart of this transformation.   The article expertly discusses how LEIs go beyond mere tools for regulatory compliance and emerge as fundamental enablers of digital transformation. By providing a secure and standardized method for entity verification, LEIs are becoming indispensable for businesses looking to streamline operations and enhance transparency across various sectors.   Read the full article to learn more about how LEIs can benefit your organization in the modern digital economy: https://lnkd.in/g2ui2mDx   #LEI #DigitalTransformation #SupplyChainManagement #GlobalTrade #BusinessInnovation

Since the UK formally legalised the use of electronic trade documents last year, trade digitalisation experts have puzzled over what makes a digital trade platform a “reliable system” in the eyes of the law. Last month, the market received the closest thing it has so far to an answer, when the Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) of the International Chamber of Commerce distributed a draft model for assessing whether or not a digital trade system is reliable. But it is unclear yet if the DSI’s model can form the basis of a globally recognised system for assessing the reliability of digital trade platforms, or if divergent criteria and assessment methods will emerge in different countries, potentially creating headaches for platforms that need to be able to operate internationally.

New hope for secure digital trade: DSI proposes reliability assessment framework! The digital trade industry is taking a big step forward! The Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) just released a draft model for assessing the reliability of digital trade platforms. This is a game-changer for building trust and security in electronic trade transactions. Previously, there were no clear guidelines for platform reliability. The DSI's framework provides a much-needed way to evaluate factors like data protection and platform stability. While a global certification system is still on the table, this framework empowers businesses to compare platforms and choose reliable partners. What do you think about this development? Will it boost digital trade adoption? Link to the full article: https://lnkd.in/eUmPMqMY #digitaltrade #tradefinance #supplychain #eBL #DSI Global Trade Review (GTR) #MLETR #DocuTrade

📢 At the 42nd UN/CEFACT Forum, the International Chamber of Commerce and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe issued a powerful call to action to fast-track the worldwide adoption of unified digital trade standards. This joint call builds on the Key Trade Documents and Data Elements (#KTDDE) framework, launched by the International Chamber of Commerce Digital Standards Initiative (#ICCDSI) earlier this year, and the UN/CEFACT Buy-Ship-Pay Reference Data Model. More about the KTDDE framework 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eDBMqxKx More about the UN/CEFACT Buy-Ship-Pay Reference Data Model 🔗 https://lnkd.in/d2Ntq76Q Unified #DigitalTradeStandards are crucial for ensuring harmonious, efficient, and secure transactions across borders. Why? 🔁 They enhance interoperability, ensuring a smooth data and goods flow worldwide. 🕒 They increase efficiency, resulting in time and cost savings for businesses. 🔒 They improve security by protecting sensitive data and transaction integrity. ✅ They ensure regulatory compliance, simplifying adherence to international regulations. 🤝 They facilitate collaboration among global stakeholders. 🌎 The International Chamber of Commerce and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe now urge all stakeholders in #DigitalTrade to collaborate on data-level #interoperability for seamless data flow using core elements. Learn more about the call to action here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dz7Asx8C

📢 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the International Chamber of Commerce's Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) today issued a joint call to action to accelerate the adoption of globally interoperable #standards essential for achieving #digital #trade worldwide. The call to action was launched at UNECE-hosted 42nd UN/CEFACT Forum in #Geneva – an event that highlighted the critical role that standardized digital trade processes play in enhancing global trade efficiency, reducing costs, and building digital trust at scale. The Call to Action follows the development of the ICC Key Trade Documents and Data Elements (KTDDE) framework and of UNECE’s UN/CEFACT Buy-Ship-Pay Reference Data Model and Trade Finance initiative. Together, they support the digitalization of end-to-end #supplychains through standardized semantics, and can help create a more efficient, cost-effective, and interoperable global trade ecosystem. "The KTDDE framework has demonstrated significant results from collaborative efforts between standards organizations, intergovernmental bodies, and industry leaders," said Pamela Mar, Managing Director of ICC Digital Standards Initiative. "This joint call to action is the next critical step. It is essential for both the public and private sectors to commit to these standards to drive the #digitalization of supply chains forward." The call to action urges all stakeholders in digital trade to work together to align and drive interoperability at the data level to ensure seamless data flow using core data elements as connectors. Stakeholders are invited to submit their commitments and report them to the UN/CEFACT Plenary starting in 2025 and bi-annually thereafter. “In the current inter-connected global economy, standardized digital trade processes are key to enhancing global trade efficiency, reducing costs, building digital trust, and ensuring seamless integration into global supply chains. This is an extremely important area for transition economies, which still have limited integration into global trade processes,” noted Dmitry Mariyasin, Deputy Executive Secretary of UNECE. Learn more 👉 https://lnkd.in/gx9t6FB7 Elisabeth Türk Maria Teresa Pisani Sue Probert Nicole Norris Steven Capell Kamola Khusnutdinova Olivia Chassot Nadezhda Skotnikova (Sporysheva) Philippe Varin Maria Fernanda Garza Merodio John W.H. Denton AO Tom Shinya 新谷　哲之介 Felix Guimard