Persistent problems demand novel solutions and this is particularly the case for trade facilitation, given many of the challenges confronting the movement of goods across borders have endured for decades.
Despite the rapid march of automation in many fields, especially in the business-to-business context, paper processes and physical inspections of goods are still the norm in many developing countries, hampering their trade competitiveness and denting business confidence. We think it’s time to look for fresh ideas.
The Alliance is leveraging today’s technologies to deliver new solutions to seemingly intractable problems in border and customs processing, discovering innovative answers by looking further afield.
One of our approaches to innovation is to concentrate minds from different backgrounds on quickly resolving specific trade facilitation challenges, complementing our project work in dozens of countries worldwide.
Through innovation sprints (otherwise known as hackathons), for example, we are tapping the creativity of sectors such as academia, tech start-ups and entrepreneurs who traditionally have had little to do with trade problems but who nonetheless might offer new perspectives and insights that can save time and cut costs in getting goods across the world.
We also want to discover what benefits might flow from wider use of new technologies, such as blockchain or artificial intelligence, to reduce the strain on public sector authorities, for example in establishing product origins and tracking goods throughout the supply chain.
As a public-private partnership, the Alliance can readily reach and convene the key actors in trade facilitation reform and connect them to those who are pioneering new approaches to making trade simpler and less costly. Those pioneers participating in the Alliance’s innovative work can try out their ideas in ways that stand to win recognition and support from both the public and private sectors.
Our outreach to wider audiences also allows local companies and communities to contribute to trade facilitation reform in their own countries, where previously they might have struggled to get the access to offer suggestions and ideas.
Ultimately, the Alliance is building a community focused on an array of trade facilitation challenges that will benefit from our ongoing support and encouragement. Companies and individuals are able to brainstorm ideas and refine them in a collaborative environment, honing their proposals to give them a better chance of adoption.
We invite all stakeholders in trade facilitation to consider ways that the Alliance might work with them and this growing, global community of innovators to apply leading edge thinking to steep trade challenges.
