Crown Agents took up our regular presence at the World Customs Organisation's annual IT conference and exhibition, which was held this year in Dublin. The exhibition provided the platform for customs officers from around the world to gather, and learn about the latest in IT innovation and developments in the field of customs operations.
The focus of this year's conference was 'Fusing Data to Transform Business Processes'. In the wake of 9/11, the increased sophistication of criminal activity and the sustained increase in the global transit of goods, services and people, customs authorities must evolve to meet the associated challenges to risk assessment. Nick Small, Crown Agents' IT Director, moderated a panel of four leading customs administrations as they discussed the use of sophisticated IT to broaden the data picture of traders and goods.
Valentina Mintah, Crown Agents' Senior Solutions Specialist, spoke at the 2009 event in Marrakesh on the trade facilitation concept of the Single Window. The Single Window provides an integrated approach to the business processes demanded by customs and other government agencies in the movement of goods in global supply chains. Realising the benefit of such a complex initiative can be a daunting prospect for many revenue authorities. Valentina's presentation on 'The Single Window - Making It Happen' expounded the approach to an implementation process in the form of a comprehensive roadmap.
Crown Agents has been providing automated customs solutions for over 15 years and trips™, the latest generation of solutions, has been designed to address these urgent challenges. We look forward to contributing to next year's event in the US.