Trust The Truth – 2025 the year of connectivity and interoperability

Global Trade 2.0 series, Chapter VIII Final

This year I have written a series of articles here on LinkedIn where I have reflected and explored a new emerging trade landscape, Global Trade 2.0 (GT2). This new trade paradigm have four characteristics, namely; (I) Trade digitalization and Data, (II) International Framework Legislation, Technical Agreements and agile Harmonization, (III) Use of existing trade infrastructures for multiple purposes (systems, models, certifications, commercial data pipelines) and (IV) Trust.

This is final chapter for the year of my journey to explore what these changes will bring and how we together can transform problems into opportunities if we want to embrace this transformation.

The Data Enigma  

This year we have talked about trade digitalization and digitalization of our domain is finally starting to happen on the ground. It took some time for reasons explained previously in this series. I have during 2024 participated, delivered key note speeches and engaged in panel debates on conferences and events all around the world, about digitalization. This is good, but my conclusion is that we should talk more about 'data' than 'digitalization' going forward. They are closely linked, but data is the key factor for success.  

Everybody wants data. More data. This leads to relevant follow-up questions, like; What data? For what purpose? Can we handle the data safety? Can we even process all data we get? We are talking massive big data from international trade. How can we use it wisely? What role could Artificial Recognition, Machine Learning and Pattern recognition play to make global trade more safe, secure, efficient, predictable and resilient?

Does it have to be that difficult? Let’s have a look.

The idea of a trade passport

This year at the successful World Customs Organization (WCO) Technology Conference and Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, Maersk together with our partner Altana launched our ‘Maersk Trusted Value Chains Powered by Altana’ model. This is a way to supervise integrated value chains from a customs and trade compliance perspective by creating a trust badge, a digital product passport for goods. We combine a number of lairs of knowledge, like; supply chain visibility data, supply chain stakeholder risk mapping (powered by AI), AEO trusted trader data and compliance records, goods supervision smart container data (track and trace) and the relevant data from existing reporting - and integrate into a dynamic identity batch, that can be used as a ‘passport for goods’.    

I have written before about the inspiration from movement of people. We all know what it means to have a passport for travellers. The global stamp that holds my identity, my profile, my status (ETA, ESTA, VISA, Fast Track, Global Entry, Ready Lanes), and my history of travelling – my travel compliance record.  It is a beautiful thing.  When arriving at a border it is all that is needed. If it is a digital border, with passport readers or even facial recognition - no queues or delays.   

The digital product passport for goods enables us to design and implement intelligent Digital Trade Corridors (iDTCs) and Trusted Value Chains powered by Artificial Intelligence and machine learning - using source commercial data and Big Data from millions of data points.

Time for Customs 2.0 and Borders 2.0

The industry is transforming. The world of trade is transforming. We are making trade digital. Data has become the currency of international trade, the enabler of growth in a complex world getting more complicated every day.  

We are making trade smarter. We call it Global Trade 2.0. Now we also need Customs 2.0, Smart Customs and Smart Borders. We need to connect and make our systems interoperable, in private sector and with government border agencies.  

It is all about data, collected at source, analysed, refined, managed, supervised, used and re-used - All The Way.

It is time to make customs fully digital, including the introduction of a new elevated version of AEO, an AEO++ designed as a Smart Border Partnership programme. Let’s call it Digital AEO 3.0. This is a call-out to WCO and Customs agencies to take the next step.

Countries need to make their AEO concepts and trusted trader programmes fully digital in all parts of the process. These programmes should be tiered and holistic, including all Government agencies. Making compliance programmes digital is a win-win that not only makes it easier and more cost efficient for companies to apply, implement and foster compliance, a prerequisite to get the important SME sector involved, it also makes management and monitoring of AEO for Government agencies more efficient, while providing opportunities to generate new benefits for compliant low risk operators. Will we see this next year? Let's hope - it is needed.

2025 – The year of connectivity and interoperability?

In 2025 Its time to move from trusted traders to trusted goods to trusted value chains. The answer to the challenges we have identified over the last years is in front of us. It is connectivity and interoperability.

If International Institutions, Governments, Academia and Business want to ‘Trade with Trust’, making borders safer and more resilient – we can do it. it is time and we are ready. 

Some people in the technology space and software industry says we only need the source data and safe technology like blockchain to protect that data, but that is not entirely correct. They sometimes say that ‘truth is better than trust’ and that trust isn’t scalable. I have had great discussion with colleagues, peers and friends about this, again as late as a few weeks ago at the World Customs Organization flagship Technology Conference and Exhibition 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

I disagree.

When they talk about the 'truth' it is only half of the truth. I had a mentor and friend many years ago that always said, ‘remember one thing, goods does not do illegal things – people do’. So we need to combine supervision and compliance of all the elements, the various streams of data that constitutes international trade, into a dynamic picture. We need a multidimensional view of trade in real time, then we have the truth and we can 'trust the truth'.

The real truth is a truth badge carrying the three elements of trade 'who', 'what', where' – or in other words, the information about: the people involved, the goods and the financial stream. When we join these elements together, we get to the truth. As close as we can to the truth. Then we also can start to build real trust.   

Going forward it will be essential to start connecting our systems and data pipelines into digital trade corridors. If we secure the data and start using advanced analytics we can then evolve these data foundations to intelligent digital trade corridors (iDTC). We need interoperability so we can exchange validated consolidated data to manage it end-to-end od supply and value chains.   

In summary (remember where you heard it first)

It has been a pleasure to explore a trade world of change together with you in this Linked article series during this year. I have written eight articles about various perspectives of customs and trade development. I hope that you have enjoyed it too, I have received hundreds of comments and questions and it has triggered many conversations about these topics.

What I have written are my reflections from where I stand, and based of my forty years in customs, borders and international trade. It has been a great journey to discuss this with you.

Now we have to do it. Is it possible? Nothing is impossible. We are on our way. 2025 will be an interesting year for global trade.

We have the data, now it is time to organize it and start exchanging it, develop a digital version of our legacy trade system. It is time to re-invent the future.    

Can we make 2025 the year when are focus became connectivity and interoperability of international trade and data?

I know one thing - if we do this, I am convinced that we will se outstanding results in growth and prosperity. Remember to ‘trust the truth’.

Lars Karlsson, Global Head of Trade and Customs Consulting, Maersk