The Paperless Trade Pilot Playbook, issued in October 2025 by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) in collaboration with Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Metals and Mining Digitalisation Forum (MMDF) offers a concise yet comprehensive roadmap for governments, banks, logistics operators, and technology providers seeking to implement practical paperless trade pilots.

It reflects the ICC DSI's strategic ambition to make digital trade a universally accessible reality by providing an actionable, step-by-step guide grounded in tested pilots and regulatory experience.

The Playbook opens with a strong assertion: paperless trade is no longer aspirational but a present-day enabler of efficiency, risk reduction, and cost savings across global commerce. It positions pilot projects as a pragmatic means to accelerate adoption by focusing on small, measurable steps - one corridor, one process, or even a single document such as the electronic bill of lading (eBL) - to demonstrate tangible value and lay the foundation for scale.

Structured into six clear steps, the Playbook begins with a defining vision and objectives. It stresses the importance of setting measurable, stakeholder-specific goals and articulating a clear hypothesis. Examples include reducing clearance times or proving seamless eBL integration under a live letter of credit. This practical focus ensures early alignment and shared value among customs, banks, and shippers.

Recruiting key stakeholders is presented as the cornerstone of success. The Playbook advises forming a balanced consortium that includes both public authorities and private actors, supported by senior sponsorship to protect pilots from short-term pressures. The use of ICC national committees as convening mechanisms is recommended to bridge policy and operational gaps.

The third step, mapping current processes, highlights the value of visualising trade workflows and identifying bottlenecks, dependencies, and influence chains before introducing new systems. This analytical discipline prevents misalignment and supports both legal readiness and technical interoperability, an essential precursor for digitalisation efforts under frameworks such as MLETR.

Developing the pilot framework is treated as a structured exercise in scope definition, sequencing, and role allocation. The Playbook promotes the use of tools such as RACI matrices to clarify accountability and ensure that all legal, technical, and operational prerequisites are properly synchronised.

Once the framework is in place, assembling metrics for success becomes crucial. The guidance differentiates between KPIs (performance measures) and OKRs (impact-linked outcomes), insisting that metrics must reflect stakeholder priorities, from fraud reduction for banks to faster clearance for customs authorities.

The pilot and iterate phase reinforces the notion of starting small, testing one corridor or document type, monitoring performance through dashboards, and refining processes through structured feedback. It also advocates gradual scaling based on evidence rather than ambition alone.

Subsequent sections outline how to move from pilot to scale by codifying lessons learned, aligning results with national trade strategies, and maintaining governance continuity. The Playbook closes with practical advice for project managers, emphasising communication, training, and stakeholder engagement, and an appendix featuring tools such as the business model canvas, project frame template, and ICC's Key Trade Documents and Data Elements (KTDDE) framework.

Overall, the Paperless Trade Pilot Playbook stands as both a pragmatic and visionary guide, rooted in global trade realities but focused firmly on execution. It encapsulates the ICC DSI's ethos: enabling trusted digitalisation through pilots that prove interoperability, strengthen confidence, and build the momentum needed for systemic change.

Further information: https://iccwbo.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/10/2025_DSI-Paperless-Trade-Pilot-Playbook-A-Practical-Toolkit_final-draft-being-cleared.pdf

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC.