Digital Trade and Commerce

References

Digital Trade PolicyThe Fourth Industrial Revolution – driven by rapid technological change and digitalization – has already had a profound impact on global trade. Global e-commerce generated trillions of dollars in economic activity in 2016 and continues to accelerate. The ability of data to move across borders underpins new business models and has boosted global GDP by 10% in the last decade alone. Data flows can enable the use of distributed ledger technologies in trade processes, such as initial proofs of concept on supply chain finance and digital customs. However, digital trade barriers including outdated regulations, fragmented governance and unbalanced data localization policies could potentially hamper these gains. At the same time, questions abound for decision makers on the right policy settings that meet societal preferences in the digital space, drive future economic growth and ensure entrepreneurs can plug into digital global value chains. Divergent national responses to these questions can create cross-border regulatory complexity – calling for responses from trade policy as well as other international economic governance forums. The World Economic Forum Digital Trade Project supports the development of policy frameworks that maximize the benefits of digital trade and data flows. The work is organised around three tracks: e-commerce, cross-border data flows and “track tech.” Public and private experts contribute to shaping best practices and piloting application to test theories on impact. The Enabling E-commerce initiative with partners aims to drive public-private dialogue on small businesses best practices. The community has produced knowledge products on e-payments, logistics, e-signatures and more. We engage in international and regional policy dialogue to unpack best practices. Together with the Inter-American Development Bank, we are also working to address e-payment and logistics challenges in Pacific Alliance economies. On cross-border data flows, discussion with the community is contributing to the drafting of national data policy standards. On trade tech, we’re scoping steps for applying distributed ledger technology to foreign trade single windows, with analysis ongoing in Argentina.

Report abuse