The International Chamber of Commerce’s Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) is restructuring to focus on delivering interoperable trade record exchange at scale amid concerns about a splintering digital trade ecosystem.
The DSI is setting up new technology and standards advisory boards comprising major software companies and trade heads from across the supply chain in a bid to increase interoperability in the industry.
The changes came after the DSI governance board – which includes the ICC, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the secretariats of the World Customs Organization and the World Trade Organization – “viewed the accelerating fragmentation across the digital trade ecosystem with a high degree of concern” and concluded that “new approaches were needed to mitigate this trend”, the ICC said in a statement.
Digital trade records have traditionally been issued and transferred through platforms that focus on specific documents or functions – for instance, some are geared towards electronic bills of lading only, while others are dedicated to financial or customs data. But many in the industry have warned that data doesn’t flow seamlessly between platforms.
DSI’s managing director Pamela Mar told GTR earlier this year that this “spaghetti bowl” of platforms was a key reason progress towards digital trade at scale had been slow.
Meanwhile, concerns about fragmentation have been reignited by banks’ growing appetite for bespoke AI tools, with industry figures recently warning that tailoring tools to individual banks’ data and workflows could make the ecosystem more fragmented.
As part of the overhaul, DSI will create a technology advisory board to develop a consolidated approach to the use, sharing and interoperability of trade records across the whole supply chain.
Some of the industry’s largest ERP and trade finance software companies will join the board, with names likely to be unveiled in November, Mar told GTR.
At the same time, a standards advisory board will bring together standards development organisations, including those already affiliated with the DSI, she added.
Both boards will work alongside a “refined” industry advisory board, a cross-industry group of trade heads from companies along the supply chain, including finance, according to the ICC.
This group will define the foundational requirements across standards, trust and identity for digital trade records to be deployed by industry, then work with the other advisory boards to refine and implement solutions.
The ICC added that the DSI’s new structure combines industry, technology and standards in a single work programme, which it described as “particularly important” for small- and medium-sized businesses wanting to fully digitalise their trade.
The digital initiative’s work through its legal reform advisory board is unaffected, the ICC said, as legal reform is “absolutely necessary” but must be accompanied by practical technical and standards work to increase interoperability in practice.
The DSI began as an ICC-led initiative with seed funding from the ADB and the Singapore government to develop open standards that better connect digital trade platforms. Its aim is to achieve a digitalised, interoperable trade ecosystem by 2030.
