DESKTOP ACCESS TO INTERNATIONAL TRADE
metaLAB produced a feasibility study for the UK Dept of Business, Innovation and Trade (then SITPRO) on desktop access to international trade by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). We also outlined the design requirements for an XML based approach. ElecTra was the early manifestation of such an XML service. It allowed UK traders to complete and verify their trading documentation on-line. They could have these official UN documents communicated without delay by computer (EDI or Internet), or by paper, to the appropriate authorities, notably Customs, across the world.
This approach has now become the basis of the UN’s eDOCs system. (UNeDocs UK is the national implementation of UNeDocs).