The digital transformation has a profound impact on the offerings, value chains and business models of Swiss companies. Products are becoming more and more digital. Increasingly, entire business models are based on a digital offer that is processed via a digital platform. Apps and/or websites enable access to cloud and data-based services. There is a paradigm shift from product-centric to data-centric business models. This manifests itself in data-centric offerings, where the actual value carrier is no longer the physical product, but the data generated by the product. In addition, the transactions that take place between supplier and customer are increasingly automated, i.e. without human intervention (e-commerce, I4.0), and they happen to a large extent in the digital space, whose geographical location and thus the applicable jurisdiction blur across national borders. The change described above requires companies to make changes in their trade compliance management, as the classic processing of physical export transactions no longer works with digital offers.

It is the aim of the project to develop a set of tools that enables companies to adapt their trade compliance structures and processes to the new digital value chains.

The project has the following goals with the corresponding delivery objects:

1. The development of a method set for the analysis, design, implementation and training of export controls for digital products.
2. The development of a functional prototype of a software component for the export control of digital products.
3. The development of a guide to inform, educate, raise awareness and provide practical assistance for the export control of digital products.

In order to achieve these goals, principles are being developed with the help of the business partners involved in the project and the study «Digital Trade Compliance» is being conducted among Swiss companies.

Parties involved

The project has been implemented by the Swiss Institute for Entrepeneurship (SIFE), in cooperation with the Service Innovation Lab (SIL) and the PRME Business Integrity Action Center.