From IT to change management: e-business implementation to put trade facilitation Bali package into practice

Abstract

The Bali Package can be a revolution for trade facilitation whereas we do not misunderstand the tools & vehicles that must be promoted in order to turn innovative policies into added-value practices. The author points out that encouraging fluidity of trade by imposing Information Technology solutions should not resume the Bali Package in the technical and technological sense. In author’s viewpoint, capacity building, change management and governance are the key issues in port and logistics community. Training, awareness, interoperability of people and not only of systems will empower the success of moving goods easier, cheaper and faster. The author also mentions political willingness and readiness of all stakeholders involved in the import-export processes.Some initiatives have already paved the way to foster this ongoing revolution. Mauritius, Indonesia, Benin and a few others worldwide are the most recent pioneers of emerging countries that have implemented e-business solutions to encourage trade facilitation. National single window, port single window, seaport and airport community system, cross-borders Information Technology systems are amongst the tailor-made responses deployed on strategic gateways. Ports, airports and borders are no longer considered as chokepoints of value in the modern global supply chain. The author does not talk about collecting taxes and revenues but turning the breakthrough of the transportation chains into opportunities for creating product, process and service value. In the study, the author used general scientific methods: analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization. In conclusion, the author highlights the importance of sharing feedback from those international experiences already deployed and for which the Sefacil Foundation has the privilege to be part of as a unique think-tank. Under the eagis of the Fondation de France, the Sefacil Foundation represents the first worldwide foundation dedicated to support applied research on port, maritime & logistics. The author proposes in this paper the key features based on the positive results and failures noted over the past decade in managing innovative practices. Some results will be discussed in detail with a few comments for adjustments. A discussion of improvements developed into a full set of recommendations is presented in the research. The author stresses that our common goal is to turn policies into practices by relying on shared common views. The author wishes to express his sincere thanks for the support in revising the paper. In particular, thank you to Sebastien Pelletier, Jane Labatt, Germain Hiron and Jean François Pelletier.