DECEMBER 2019CIOAPPLICATIONSEUROPE.COM9compliance tasks can prove to be a great disadvantage from a temporal point of view and regarding the susceptibility to errors.Many companies are still taking far too little advantage outof new technologies for trade compliance activities - the new technologies are already in the digital starting blocks.Can new technologies improve international trade? One way or another could be the question trade compliance organizations and their experts need to address. There is no doubt that the answer to this question can only be yes - but companies must also accept the question of whether they are ready. In this context, it is up to Trade Compliance Professional and the IT department to find solutions to identify and establish a digital trade compliance platform.But how much digital trade management platform is needed? A general answer to this question is not possible. A solution out-of-the-box does not exist. Every company must deal with this. Benchmarking can help define the starting point and derive best practices from it. The implementation, however, must be done by the companies themselves.Opportunities and offers are there sufficiently, the use cases for this must be worked out by the enterprises themselves. Artificial intelligence, backed by automation and big data, will make the day-to-day handling of trade compliance, as we know it today, a thing of the past. It is therefore important for companies not to miss the connection and take appropriate measures to comply with trade regulations.What is certain is that no trade compliance expert can wake up in the morning and implement the digitization of the department in the short term; rather, it is a logical further development of the processes in the company that initiate digitization. The right focus plays a special role, because which processes need to be further developed? The focus is on the processes in which no digital solution exists or has been established. Since these are carried out by people and systems today, they must be equally involved in the consideration. The further development of international trade will depend on the development of people, processes and systems.Looking at new technologies and their implications for international trade from a different perspective, it may make sense for many companies to optimize internal processes first. In this case, it is easier for organizations to recognize and apply megatrends such as block chains, process automation (RPA), optical character recognition (OCR), and artificial intelligence (AI) to the processes. If one recognizes weaknesses in the processes, companies can ask the question, which technology can help to remedy the weaknesses. The departments will be forced to ask these questions, because in the process of digitalization, it is not just about going to establish trade compliance effectively within the company, but also or precisely with efficiency. And this is where new technologies can support.However, software and technologies are just the tools that want to be used to shift the focus from today's more operational tasks to strategic tasks for trade compliance experts, thus lifting trade compliance to a new level.The interaction between departments is very important to ensure a basic understanding of the requirements on all sides and must not be ignored. In addition to the close cooperation, the trade compliance processes, which must be continuously subjected to the improvement cycle, must be part of the company's work to be effective.The exchange of data between companies will require more attention in the future. The times of the vertical cooperation with the strict separation of resources are over. The age of horizontal collaboration and platforms will transform trade compliance processes and bring the desire for smart trade compliance technology solutions to the forefront.Trade Compliance Tech is becoming a challenge that will provide businesses with many opportunities, provided the departments have the knowledge they need. In terms of compliance with trade regulations, automation and the use of technologies are very interesting, as sooner or later all internationally active companies will have to deal with this issue. Therefore, it is even more important not to lose the connection.One thing is certain, the future of international trade is changing. The digital revolution in international trade has begun. However, it can only succeed if cross-departmental departments work together and complement each other in the best possible way. Digitization and Trade Compliance Tech is a journey for trade compliance professionals rather than a goal. Then Trade Compliance Tech will do what it promises to be a solution that makes processes more efficient. CHRISTIAN SCHMIDT
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