Whereas in market-driven situations the private parties have an interest in driving innovations towards implementation, in the case of public concerns, it is often the public concern that initiates the innovation process. The issue for the public funding agencies is then to stimulate idea generation and the process towards implementation and impact. However, these innovation processes are complex, as they involve a multiplicity of public and private actors with different and sometimes conflicting concerns. Thus, the benefits and business cases are not immediately clear and this makes it hard to scale beyond the proof of concept. In this paper we examine and derive lessons learned based on a longitudinal case study of a series four EU-funded projects (ITAIDE, INTEGRITY, CASSANDRA and CORE) in the international trade domain that aimed to develop digital trade infrastructure solutions (data pipelines) to address security and trade facilitation challenges. For our case analysis, we adapt and extend Bryson et al.’s framework [1] on cross-sector collaborations. We show how each of these projects covered one part of the public–private innovation trajectory, moving the innovation from the Initial R&D stage, to the Showcasing and dissemination stage to attract critical mass, towards a Turning point stage when the business cases for further upscaling become visible. We identify continuities (i.e. continuity of network & vision, funding and process) as well as a number of alignments as important factors that drive collective innovation processes towards implementation and impact. Further research is needed to establish to what extent these findings are applicable in other contexts. ... Read more

Developments in e-commerce are presenting new challenges in customs control and China's customs agency is developing a new approach to how it addresses these challenges. China Customs has adopted an integrated supply chain approach to secure international trade lanes and to facilitate legitimate trade. We present a case study analysis of an integrated supply chain company that integrates the transaction, declaration, logistics and financial services of e-commerce customers on its platform, and we show how this integration can also be used by China Customs to more effectively manage supply chain risks. We show how this new approach benefits traders, customs and government. We also analyse this case study in the context of the World Customs Organization's (WCO) SAFE Framework. ... Read more

Are there ways to improve compliance, safety, security,
operational efficiency and information quality in
international trade? Reduce the administrative burden
for business and government? Foster the uniform
application of Customs legislation? Encourage mutual
understanding between the public and private sector,
and even share responsibilities in the fight against
smuggling, terrorism and criminal organizations?
We believe there are, but to do so there is a need for
people who are knowledgeable in various disciplines.
The Master Degree in Customs and Supply Chain
Compliance developed by the Rotterdam School of
Management offers this type of education by integrating
three disciplines: Customs regulations; supply chain
management and logistics; and information technology
and auditing. In this article, we discuss the objectives
of the degree and the educational philosophy of the
programme, and reveal some of the lessons learned in
setting it up. ... Read more