Empowering Global Trade

A Strategic Alliance to Reshape International Trade

TL;DR:
The IOTA Foundation joins key partners to revolutionize global trade with TLIP, leveraging IOTA's tech for secure and transparent data exchange, eliminating fraud-prone physical documents. A Collaboration Agreement, signed at the WTO conference, formalizes the commitment. TLIP is a digital infrastructure for trusted exchange of trade data and with this commitment, the partners aim to establish an impartial and collaborative governance structure of the technology, inviting stakeholders to co-design international trade's future. Together, we aim to empower global commerce and drive positive cross-border change.

At the forefront of innovation and collaboration, the IOTA Foundation is proud to announce its partnership with esteemed entities such as the World Economic Forum, Trademark Africa, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, the Institute of Export and International Trade, and the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation. Together, we are embarking on a transformative journey to revolutionize international trade through the creation of the Trade Logistics Information Pipeline (TLIP).

International trade has long been burdened by inefficiencies, bureaucracy, and lack of transparency. The cumbersome process of trading goods across borders involving numerous documents, multiple actors, and intricate regulations often leads to delays, errors, and even fraudulent activities. Recognizing the urgent need for a reliable and transparent digital trade infrastructure, our coalition is committed to fostering a neutral governance framework for TLIP.

TLIP aims to streamline information exchange and promote collaboration across borders. It builds on IOTA’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) to provide data immutability and security. It performs the same function as a government stamp on a trade certificate to prove authenticity – just made digital. So, for example, customs in destination markets will not need a stamped physical Certificate of Origin when using TLIP. However, while physical documents are subject to fraudulent risks, the TLIP system ensures transparency and immutability of the relevant details of uploaded documents.

Not only does this exclude the risk that changes are made to documents in retrospect, but it also provides the ability to unmistakably identify the point of failure throughout the supply chain in case of problems. TLIP ensures that a digital certificate is authentic and prevents it from being tampered with. IOTA also provides distributed controls, so each trade actor can manage their data and give access permission without outsourcing the permission controls to a centralized entity enabling a digital-based collaboration much like how the free market of trade works manually today. Furthermore, using IOTA’s DLT enables parties to interact securely online without requiring a centralized platform that stores all information and is vulnerable to hacking or manipulation.

Collaborative Governance for TLIP

On February 27th, amidst the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Abu Dhabi, the IOTA Foundation and its partners formalized this commitment by signing a Collaboration Agreement. The agreement signifies our collective dedication to driving forward the TLIP initiative.

Central to our vision is the establishment of a collaborative governance framework for TLIP, uniting stakeholders from both the public and private sectors on a global scale. By prioritizing the collective good over individual interests, we seek to build digitally powered ecosystems that benefit all participants.

The TLIP infrastructure, built upon open-source technology, embodies our commitment to inclusivity and transparency. Through a permission system, participants retain control of their data while facilitating seamless information exchange along the supply chain. This open nature of TLIP enables stakeholders to collaborate in the establishment and operation of an interoperable digital ecosystem. Thus providing a shared non-profit infrastructure common to all, and allowing companies to build out commercial models on top of this infrastructure to drive value and use cases for all.

Moreover, our initiative draws upon the experiences gained from implementing TLIP in countries like Kenya and the UK, paving the way for further development and improvement. We invite governments, development agencies, and private sector actors to join us in shaping the future of international trade by introducing new applications and influencing the evolution of the TLIP ecosystem.

We see this as a starting point – not only for making cross-border trade digital and paperless but also for our ecosystem to build new applications and solve the challenges facing international trade. With a shared digital infrastructure for trade data, it is possible to reinvent trade finance models, build more precise carbon calculation tools on the full scope of a product from farm to consumer, and build true circular economy models. We are excited to see how our ecosystem and partners will innovate and reimagine our economies.

Join us on this journey as we unlock the full potential of the digital trade and create a more prosperous future for all. To stay on top of all things happening around TLIP, follow it on LinkedIn and Twitter.