The 2017 WCO Information Technology (IT) Conference and Exhibition will discuss highly topical strategic approaches and operational IT border management solutions while addressing the role of data in their application.
Data-driven decision-making is at the core of border operations constrained by high trade and travel growth. Data optimisation solutions are critical in addressing the multiple challenges posed to both business and customers, as well as to Governments.
Tremendous growth of e-commerce is presenting high demands on operating skills and digital solutions available to border agencies and other stakeholders. Being capable of exchanging data and monitoring data flows expeditiously throughout the supply chains ensures that Government objectives such as safety, security and revenue collection are met, while in parallel customer demands are fulfilled.
There are various ways of managing data to enhance border performance. In that respect, data standards are critical for ensuring inter-operability and inter-connectivity of systems and enhancing sustainable and reliable data flows across borders. On the other hand, risk management is largely dependent on data quality, as only decisions made on precise data from relevant sources are sound decisions.
Big data provides the potential to increase border management capabilities by allowing for governments to go beyond the use of an already large pool of data which they have access to and to make use of the wide scope of open source data and beyond. Customs is therefore increasingly seeking data analytics applications to employ big data in support of both enforcement and facilitation requirements.
Data governance, including data security and privacy, are also some of the aspects which the Conference will explore in the context of desirable border management optimisation.
