Digitalising Global Trade: A Roadmap for Achieving Interoperable, Inclusive, and Trusted TradeAn initiative of the International Chamber of Commerce focused on creating the standards and infrastructure required for interoperable, inclusive, and trusted digital trade. ^^ A stakeholder-led roadmap published by the ICC Digital Standards Initiative to advance digitalisation of global trade and supply chains through interoperability, digital trust, and inclusivity.Submitter's Note: This StratML rendition was compiled from the source by ChatGPT, which also inferred the performance indicators. It was then edited in the XForm at https://stratml.us/forms2/Part2Form.xml to capture the stakeholder roles. ^^ While those roles should be more discretely documented in individual elements for each of them, that is more than we have taken on in this demonstration of the usage of the StratML Part 2, Performance Plan/Report, schema. ^^ Hopefully, plan and report authors will take it upon themselves to render such information more usefully in open, standard, machine-readable format. In light of ICC's mission, they would be a good candidate for enlightened leadership toward that end.ICC Digital Standards InitiativeDSI_75dfe66c-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea00The Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) aims to accelerate the development of a globally harmonised, digitised trade environment, as a key enabler of dynamic, sustainable, inclusive growth. We engage the public sector to progress regulatory and institutional reform, and mobilise the private sector on adoption, implementation and capacity building.Governments, Trade Policymakers & Multilateral Development BanksLegal certainty and modern public infrastructure are the platform on which private investment is built. National authorities and MDBs therefore carry the system-level responsibility for turning global principles into enforceable, day-to-day rules:Rulemaking* Anchor domestic law to recognised international models: Align statutes with the UNCITRAL MLETR and prepare to incorporate the forthcoming Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents so rail and road shipments gain the same legal clarity as maritime trade. ^^ * Treat digital trade as a whole-of-government programme: Because data moves across customs, finance, transport and innovation silos, a cross-agency task-force -- Australia's Simplified Trade System offers a template -- should own policy coherence, allocate budgets and track progress against a single roadmap. ^^ * Upgrade border systems for data, not documents: When modernising a National or Regional Single Window, embed KTDDE mission-critical fields and publish an API that accepts KIGconformant payloads. The WCO Digital Customs Maturity Model, Single Window Interactive Map (SWIM) country dashboards and the GNC framework all provide diagnostics and reference implementations. ^^ * Prove concepts via corridor pilots before scaling nationwide: Digital chapters in bilateral or regional agreements allow two administrations to test the full stack --KIG data structures, reliability-assessed platforms, mutual recognition of trust services --then extend what works. Singapore's network of digital economy agreements shows the acceleration possible when pilots and policy travel together. ^^ * Enable globally portable business identity: National business registration and digital identity systems should align with international standards, such as the Global LEI System, to facilitate the unique identification of businesses across borders. Making such digital identities genuinely portable means embedding them in key trade processes like customs declarations, licensing portals and trade-finance messages, or working towards interoperability between nationally bound digital ID systems and global frameworks. ^^ * Pair legal reform with funding for capability building: Grants for training, sandbox licences and SME onboarding -- be they under WTO’s Third Country Training Programme, bilateral trade corridor development programmes, or sector-specific training resources -- ensure smaller traders can comply with the same standards as multinationals. ^^ * Use multilateral development banks as catalysts, not just financiers: MDBs can embed digital trade milestones in policy loans, co-fund national interoperability roadmaps and back neutral, open-standards platforms. Their convening power helps keep reforms transparent, balanced and adaptable as technology evolves.PerformerStandards Development OrganisationsTo effectively support digital trade, SDOs must position standards as a single, navigable ecosystem rather than a catalogue of separate artefacts. Global trade relies on horizontal foundations (ISO, UN/ CEFACT), sector-specific extensions (DCSA, BIMCO, FIATA), and cross-cutting identifiers (GLEIF, GS1). Senior SDO leaders should present this landscape to markets as one coherent "map," making it clear which specification to use and how each relates to the others. Visibility, not additional documents, is the first accelerant of adoption:Presentation & Relationships* Provide decision-makers with confidence in predictable evolution: Company boards and ministries invest in digital trade only when they know today's choices will remain valid tomorrow. SDOs can create that confidence by committing publicly to clear, principle-based change management: advance notice of significant updates, explicit rationales for any discontinuity, and transitional guidance that protects past investments. ^^ * Anchor coordination in outcome-driven alliances: Initiatives such as the FIT Alliance and the UNECE-ICC Joint Call to Action already convene the right actors; what executives now need is a concise, shared roadmap that lists the next synchronisation milestones -- for example, completing a common data spine for transport and finance documents -- so resources and political capital can be deployed against a visible timetable. ^^ * Focus alignment efforts on high-impact commonalities: Perfect convergence across every data field is unrealistic and unnecessary. By concentrating first on elements that unlock the greatest network effect -- entity identifiers, product codes, location references and core trade dates -- SDOs deliver immediate systemic value while preserving room for sector-specific innovation. ^^ * Underwrite adoption with clear, non-technical guidance: Executive teams and regulators require short, concept-level briefs -- why a standard matters, where it fits, what benefits it secures -- rather than schema diagrams. Issuing such guidance alongside technical releases ensures that strategic decisions keep pace with technical progress, closing the last mile between standard setters and market uptake.PerformerFinancial Institutions, Credit Insurers & Trade Finance InnovatorsFinancial institutions, credit insurers and trade finance innovation ~ Banks, fintechs, and FIs are crucial for building digital trust, funding innovation, and bridging the trade finance gap. When banks and fintech platforms accept digital bills of lading or electronic invoices, the rest of the market follows; when they reject them, paper persists. Their strategic importance in any digital trade agenda cannot be overstated:Funding Innovation* Adopt a common data language: This is the most immediate lever to unlock liquidity and efficiency gains available to the sector. Banks have historically relied on proprietary data formats and closed systems. The KTDDE shows that just seven key trade documents provide 50 - 70% of the data needed for LCs, collections, and supply chain finance.18 The ICC Banking Commission’s Bank-Defined Dataset initiative translates those KTDDE elements into an operational "minimum viable payload" that satisfies bank requirements. Mapping internal schemas once to this shared dataset is far cheaper -- and far more future-proof -- than maintaining a patchwork of bilateral formats that must be rebuilt every time a new counterpart enters the picture. ^^ * Leverage global digital identity: Global digital identity is now an asset for market access, not merely a reporting requirement. Embedding LEI or forthcoming vLEI codes in every trade message allows KYC and sanctions checks to run in near-real time, reducing onboarding friction and freeing compliance budgets for higher-value tasks. Jurisdictions that explicitly recognise LEI-tagged transactions will give their domestic banks a measurable speed advantage. ^^ * Embrace embedded finance: The next competitive frontier is embedded finance delivered at the moment operational data are created. Pilots like the UK ETDA workflow, the BIS "Project Dynamo," and Hong Kong's Commercial Data Interchange demonstrate a future in which financing decisions are triggered inside a logistics or ERP system, not through a manual upload portal. For banks, this shifts the primary constraint on growth from balance-sheet capacity to data-processing capability. ^^ * Utilise richer operating data for broader, safer credit: Richer operating data open the door to broader, safer credit -- if risk models evolve to use them. Aggregated performance data -- ontime shipment records, verified ESG metrics, chain-of-custody proofs—can serve as new proxies for creditworthiness, bringing deep-tier suppliers into the formal finance net. Institutions that treat these signals as first-class inputs, rather than exotic exceptions, will set the benchmark for inclusive trade finance. ^^ By embracing shared semantics, portable identity and event-driven workflows, financial institutions can convert the technical assets described in this paper into the economic incentive that finally tips global trade from paper to digital.PerformerCredit InsurersCredit insurers, historically focused on protecting sellers against buyer default, are now positioned to become major enablers of digital trade. InsuranceIn a world of DNIs and structured supply-chain data, credit insurance can move from paper-based indemnity to real-time credit enhancement. By digitally wrapping a bill of exchange or similar instrument with a guarantee (aval), credit insurers can transform a seller’s receivable into a financeable, liquid asset—accessible even to small exporters and emerging-market suppliers. This lowers the credit risk faced by banks and alternative financiers, expands funding availability, and accelerates working-capital cycles. ^^ Beyond individual guarantees, credit insurers could offer portfolio solutions that bundle trade receivables and digitally track risk exposure in real time—creating entirely new risk-transfer products for digital trade corridors. Together with MDBs, credit insurers can thus play a transformative role: not just mitigating risk but actively creating new liquidity for digital supply chains.PerformerMarine Insurers & P&I ClubsMarine-risk insurers have a unique ability to normalise fully digital trade, but only if cargo underwriters and P&I clubs advance in tandem.InsuranceCargo insurers safeguard the value of the goods; P&I clubs cover the shipowner’s third-party liabilities. These risk guarantees oil the logistics chain, and both must recognise electronic evidence with the same confidence they once reserved for paper: ^^ * Rally around a harmonised data core: Cargo underwriters should rally around one concise, industry-endorsed data core for the insurance certificate and make it digitally verifiable. A harmonised field set -- e.g. voyage particulars, insured value, commodity description, digital ID tagged parties -- would let underwriters issue cover in hours rather than days, embed proof of insurance directly into shippers’ digital workflows, and tap richer operational data for more accurate pricing. For clients, that means faster confirmations and simplified compliance; for insurers, it frees capacity now lost to manual checks and could expand addressable markets to include smaller and niche shipments. ^^ * Embrace electronic bill of lading platforms: P&I clubs have already signalled a breakthrough by granting deemed approval to eBL platforms that meet recognised reliability tests. Doing so shifts the discussion from legal uncertainty to operational readiness and gives shipowners, charterers and banks a predictable basis for adoption. ^^ Together, these moves would align risk cover with the digital documents and data flows now emerging across trade finance, customs and logistics. The result is systemic: lower documentation risk premia, faster policy issuance, and a trade environment where emerging-market shippers gain the same friction-free access to insurance and finance as their established counterparts -- precisely the inclusiveness digital trade is meant to deliver.PerformerIT Infrastructure & Corporate ERP ProvidersInfrastructureIT infrastructure and ERP service providers have the ability to ensure interoperability and connectivity of the "first mile" and "last mile" of any supply chain transaction. By enabling any company -- especially those SMEs without the capacity to bilaterally configure every supply chain undergoing digitalisation -- to generate globally interoperable data, IT infrastructure providers can enable scale, automation, and access to every company. ^^ The key is to use system upgrades as opportunities to standardise any of the 189 core data elements which are either sourced or must be read by corporate ERP systems, thereby allowing them to be automatically connected to the trade process in a globally interoperable format. PerformerIndustry Associations & Chambers of CommerceConvening, Education & RepresentationIndustry associations and chambers of commerce are uniquely positioned to convene, educate, and represent. They are often the connective tissue between governments, standards bodies, and the business community -- particularly in sectors where large enterprises rely on extended networks of SMEs. ^^ * Set clear, sector-wide roadmaps grounded in commercial priorities: By aggregating members' goals -- cycle-time targets, regulatory deadlines, ESG metrics --associations can signal to solution providers and authorities which digital-trade capabilities matter most, reducing the risk of fragmented rollouts. ^^ * Convert pilot results into concise, reusable playbooks: Whenever a digital-trade trial proves its worth -- be it a cross-border eBL flow or a digitally signed inspection certificate -- associations should capture the essentials in plain language: who did what, under which legal basis, using which standards or tools. Disseminating that knowledge lets peers replicate success without starting from scratch. ^^ * Scale capability across the entire supply chain pyramid: Large brands already profit from digital efficiencies; the value multiplies when their SME suppliers and logistics partners join in. Sector bodies can broker group training, pool sandbox licences and coordinate vendor support so smaller firms clear the same digital-readiness bar as their larger customers. ^^ * Channel frontline evidence back into the standards and policy cycle: Rather than advocating abstract positions, associations can feed concrete "what worked/what stalled" insights into standards meetings and regulatory consultations. This feedback keeps updates grounded in operational reality and guards against rules that inadvertently exclude newer or smaller market entrants. ^^ By focusing on road-mapping, knowledge transfer, capacity building and evidence-driven feedback, industry associations can turn scattered initiatives into coherent, scalable progress -- advancing digital trade for every firm that depends on global supply chains.PerformerInternational Chamber of CommerceThe International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is the institutional representative of more than 45 million companies in over 170 countries.BusinessICC's core mission is to make business work for everyone, every day, everywhere. Through a unique mix of advocacy, solutions and standard setting, we promote international trade, responsible business conduct and a global approach to regulation, in addition to providing market-leading dispute resolution services. Our members include many of the world’s leading companies, SMEs, business associations and local chambers of commerce.PerformerAn interoperable, inclusive, and trusted digital trade ecosystem enabling seamless cross-border data and document exchange for all participants._75dfe7de-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea00To establish the technical and governance infrastructure required to operationalise digital trade at scale through shared semantics, portable trust, and inclusive stewardship._75dfe838-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea00AuthenticityReliabilityTrustInteroperabilityInclusivityCoherenceSemanticsAlign and harmonise key trade documents and data elements to create a common semantic foundation for digital trade._75dfe86a-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea001Framework & GuidesApply the Key Trade Documents & Data Elements (KTDDE) framework and Implementation Guides to the 36 documents driving supply chain processes._75dfe892-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea001.11.1.1Trade DocumentsNumber_pi-0111-ktdde-docsPLACEHOLDER_1Number of trade documents with KTDDE Implementation Guides publishedStatusPublished36[To be reported]Data ElementsPrioritise harmonisation of mission-critical and core data elements across trade documents to enable interoperability._75dfe8ba-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea001.21.2.1Core Data ElementsPercentage_pi-0112-core-dataPLACEHOLDER_2Percentage of mission-critical data elements harmonised across trade documentsStatusHarmonised80[To be reported]TrustEstablish digital trust at scale to enable verified, authenticated, and secure trade data and document exchange._75dfe8e2-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea002AuthenticityImplement globally recognised identifiers and accredited trust services to provide portable proofs of authenticity._75dfe90a-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea002.1Verify Once Use Many2.1.1JurisdictionsNumber_pi-0211-verified-idsPLACEHOLDER_3Number of jurisdictions adopting globally recognised business and digital identity systems (e.g., LEI/vLEI)StatusAdopted50[To be reported]2.1.2Digital Trade MessagesPercentage_pi-0212-leitag-messagesPLACEHOLDER_4Percentage of cross-border trade messages tagged with LEI/vLEI or equivalent identifiersStatusTagged75[To be reported]ReliabilityAdopt frameworks such as the ICC DSI Reliability Assessment to certify platform-level compliance with legal and technical trust requirements._75dfe95a-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea002.22.2.1PlatformsNumber_pi-0221-certified-platformsPLACEHOLDER_5Number of digital trade platforms certified through the ICC DSI Reliability Assessment frameworkStatusCertified100[To be reported]2.2.2Cross-Border TransactionsPercentage_pi-0222-reliable-transactionsPLACEHOLDER_6Percentage of cross-border digital trade transactions conducted via reliability-assessed platformsStatusConducted60[To be reported]InteroperabilityBuild an interoperability layer separating common protocols and standards from commercial applications to ensure scale and innovation._75dfe98c-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea003Documents & Data FlowsIdentify and prioritise high-impact documents and data flows for digitisation and alignment._75dfe9b4-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea003.1Supply Chain Mapping3.1.1High-Impact DocumentsNumber_pi-0311-documents-mappedPLACEHOLDER_7Number of high-impact trade documents and data flows mapped for digitisation and harmonisationStatusMapped20[To be reported]Implementation GuidanceDevelop and deploy KTDDE Implementation Guides (KIGs) for priority trade documents to standardise semantics and APIs._75dfe9dc-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea003.23.2.1Implementation GuidesNumber_pi-0321-kigs-publishedPLACEHOLDER_8Number of KTDDE Implementation Guides (KIGs) developed and published for priority documentsStatusPublished15[To be reported]3.2.2DocumentsPercentage_pi-0322-kigs-adoptionPLACEHOLDER_9Percentage of priority trade documents exchanged using KIG-conformant data structuresStatusExchanged70[To be reported]Pilots & ScalingConduct cross-jurisdiction pilots and establish feedback loops to validate and scale the interoperability layer._75dfea0e-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea003.33.3.1Cross-Border PilotsNumber_pi-0331-pilots-launchedPLACEHOLDER_10Number of cross-jurisdiction pilots conducted using interoperable data and trust frameworksStatusConducted25[To be reported]3.3.2PilotsPercentage_pi-0332-pilots-scaledPLACEHOLDER_11Percentage of successful pilots scaled to national or regional deploymentStatusScaled60[To be reported]GovernanceMaintain inclusive stewardship of the digital trade ecosystem, ensuring standards, platforms, and capacity-building remain in sync._75dfea36-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea004Inclusivity & CoherenceApply a governance model balancing inclusivity and coherence, particularly supporting SMEs and emerging markets._75dfea5e-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea004.1SMEsLight-Touch Stewardship4.1.1SME ParticipationPercentage_pi-0411-sme-participationPLACEHOLDER_12Percentage of SMEs actively engaged in digital trade ecosystems supported by governance frameworksStatusEngaged50[To be reported]4.1.2Governance ForumsNumber_pi-0412-governance-forumsPLACEHOLDER_13Number of multi-stakeholder governance forums convened to oversee digital trade frameworksStatusConvened10[To be reported]Resources & TrainingProvide resources and training to enable all enterprises and governments to participate in digital trade ecosystems._75dfea90-8b2f-11f0-946a-fc1c0e83ea004.2EnterprisesGovernmentsCapacity Building4.2.1Training ProgramsNumber_pi-0421-training-programsPLACEHOLDER_14Number of training and capacity-building programs delivered to enterprises and governmentsStatusDelivered100[To be reported]4.2.2Participant ReadinessPercentage_pi-0422-readinessPLACEHOLDER_15Percentage of trained participants reporting improved readiness to engage in digital trade ecosystemsStatusReady80[To be reported]_53d8db60-8b33-11f0-838f-45e97cbabdf62025-09-06https://dsi.iccwbo.org/_files/ugd/8e49a6_7a5499c90eb74137ad639b669e5bff6a.pdf_53d8dbce-8b33-11f0-838f-45e97cbabdf6OwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net