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What is Singapore’s new 'National Trade Platform'

What is Singapore’s new 'National Trade Platform'

The National Trade Platform (NTP), developed by Singapore Customs in collaboration with the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), was one of the potentially game-changing projects recognised by OpenGov during its Singapore OpenGov Leadership Forum in May this year.

In June, the NTP project won in the e-business category of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS; a global summit under the United Nations) Prizes 2017.

NTP is designed to be a trade and logistics IT ecosystem connecting businesses, community systems and platforms, and government systems. It is going to be a one-stop trade portal for Business-to-Government (B2G) and Business-to-Business (B2B) services.

The NTP will help businesses improve productivity through digital exchange and re-use of data with their business partners and the government. In addition, NTP will be developed on an open architecture where third party solution providers or IT developers can leverage the toolkits provided to develop new services and applications based on market needs.

Background

Currently, there are two platforms which serve as National Single Windows for trade and logistics. TradeNet is the National Single Window for trade declaration.  Launched in 1989, TradeNet integrates import, export and transhipment documentation processing procedures and enables the trade and logistics communities to fulfil their trade formalities. Through TradeNet, Singapore Customs and other Competent Authorities monitor the movement of goods and enforce health, safety and other regulatory requirements.

Launched in 2007, TradeXchange is the platform connecting the trade and logistics community. It offers a single electronic window for integrated workflow, submissions and enquiries to the Sea Ports, Airports, Maritime Authorities, Customs and Competent Authorities.

In the 2016 Budget, the NTP was introduced and presented as an example of ‘industry-level transformation’. It was revealed that the cost expectation was SG$100 million, while it would bring an estimated SG$600 million worth of man-hour savings each year for Singapore’s firms.

When completed, the NTP will replace both TradeNet and TradeXchange.

Graphic credit: Singapore Customs

Functionalities

A company dashboard will provide an integrated view of company details (news, outstanding tasks, application statuses etc.), while a secure cloud based repository will enable companies to share data and documents with partners and the government.

Some of the government services which will be available on the NTP include:

1) Advanced HS[1] Code Search, to guide Traders in finding the right HS codes to facilitate accurate goods classifications;

2) Customs Advice Applications: Online submission for advice (e.g. relating to motor vehicles)

3) Declaration and Permit Management: Online permit and CO (Certificate of Origin) application with a dashboard view to track permit and CO application status

4) Inventory Management: Enhanced stock inventory control service to manage and track inventory & quota under the various Customs schemes and licences

5) Schemes and Licences Management: Online application for schemes & licences with customised display of eligible schemes and licences based on completed Trade FIRST[2] (Trade Facilitation & Integrated Risk-based System) Assessment

6) Trader Registration and Management: Self-service online platform for registration of accounts

NTP will include a Developers Sandbox and data library to help developers design and build applications for the NTP. Tools/ Apps will be provided to enable users to extract information from selected documents to auto-populate other documents. Data services will provide translation of data into standardised digital formats. An App store will serve as a one-stop shop for all business related applications.

Industry engagement

In response to a question on challenges faced in the development of NTP (included as part of OpenGov’s ROE invitation), Singapore Customs highlighted the different needs of the many different stakeholders. The reply was: “The NTP project involves many stakeholders ranging from traders and declaring agents to developers, solution providers and government agencies. Though they have different needs, their differing roles in the trade ecosystem are interlinked and interdependent as they are part of the same value chain. To ensure that NTP deliver value to different stakeholders, we adopted an outside-in approach and embarked on extensive consultation with industry users in order to co-design holistic solutions that works for them.”

The NTP team engaged extensively with the industry to gather insights, through interviews, ideation workshops, service concept workshops and usability testing, to develop a platform that is meaningful and relevant to the community.

For instance, more than 20 sessions were held in November 2016 with developers, TradeNet and TradeXchange users, business development executives, and business owners. The participants were invited to preview the wireframes – consisting of images that display the functional elements of the NTP website – and asked to complete a series of tasks. While they were navigating and completing these tasks, the moderators asked questions to ascertain whether they were able to navigate intuitively and understand the site structure, page layout, and the content, so that the feedback could be incorporated into the NTP design.

Value-added services 

We had also asked Singapore Customs about future potential applications or services. The reply was: “Through extensive engagement with industry users, we received over 300 ideas on potential applications or services that could be developed and integrated into the NTP.”

Some of the ideas – such as document digitisation and process automation – have been incorporated into the NTP’s design and will be released as core platform functionalities. Other ideas such as an e-application portal for trade finance are proposed as value-added services. To enable their development, NTP has been designed as an open platform.

Examples of available value-added services include e-freight management (enables shippers to share data with their supply chain partner) and Marine Cargo Insurance Service, which enables freight forwarders and shippers to apply for marine cargo insurance through NTP to reduce the preparation and processing time for their applications by up to 90% and enjoy instant approvals for their cargo insurance applications.

Roll-out

The NTP will be progressively rolled out from end-2017.

The January-March 2017 Singapore Customs newsletter also mentioned that the team has engaged the TradeNet front-end solution providers, TradeXchange value-added service providers, and various competent authorities early, to ensure business continuity when the NTP is launched. Besides validating their needs with the new NTP functionalities, the team is also working closely with them to ensure the smooth transition of the existing B2G permit-related services, and adding B2B value-added services to the new platform.

Explore the development and features of NTP through this microsite.

[1]The Harmonised System is an international nomenclature developed by the World Customs Organisation for the classification of goods.

[2] Trade FIRST is an integrated assessment framework that provides a holistic assessment of a company and determines the level of facilitation accorded. The assessment is free and it is mandatory for all companies who wish to apply for a Singapore Customs scheme or licence.

Featured image: The port of Singapore (by William Cho/ CC BY-SA 2.0)

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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