This February, Lina Konstantinopoulou, Head of Innovation and Deployment of Transport and Logistics at ERTICO – ITS Europe, spoke at The World Customs Organization (WCO) on the importance of the digitalisation of customs related processes.

“In one of the living labs we have seen that customs processing can add uncertainty to planning, resulting in a misalignment of supply of truck and train loading slots with demand, resulting in delays”, Mrs Konstantinopoulou said. Through the AEOLIX network, customs can be asked to clear goods ahead of time, so that terminals can support the flow scheduling on a streamlined continuous basis. Using the AEOLIX platform architecture, available multi-modal hub data exchange platforms will be used as reference IT architecture. AEOLIX is a cloud-based, multi-enterprise “many-to-many” network, which captures and streams data in real-time and automatically translates “data format” from different IT systems, giving companies and authorities the ability to rapidly respond to issues through a customised dashboard. This open network enhances end-to-end visibility across the supply chain, supporting the workflow across companies and authorities and facilitates the automation of data flow, ensuring the flexible relationship management of logistics actors.

The attendees who were present at the conference represented national Customs authorities. Particular interest was set on the governance of the platform and issues such as privacy and security.

About the WCO

The World Customs Organization was established in 1952 and is an independent intergovernmental body representing 182 customs administrations across the globe. It collectively processes approximately 98% of the world trade and its mission is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of customs administrations.