Enigio has submitted its application for the high-profile tech challenge organised by the Bank of International Settlements Innovation Hub (BISIH) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). Enigio’s trace:original addresses all the three problem statements in the TechChallenge:
- Connecting Digital Islands and Increasing Network Size and Effects
- Trade Finance Inclusion for SMEs
- TradeTech for Emerging Markets
About the BISIH/HKMA TechChallenge
BIS Innovation Hub (BISIH) and HKMA launched the tech challenge dubbed ‘TechChallenge – Digitising Trade Finance’ that will seek to encourage and bring in companies whose products are enhancing trade finance mechanisms. Private companies have been encouraged to submit applications for the challenge where they are required to showcase their solutions for trade.
The head of BISIH, Benoît Cœuré, when launching the challenge commented,
“The TechChallenge is taking place against the backdrop of the Covid-19 global pandemic, which is impacting global trade volumes and by implication, the livelihoods of many SMEs. This initiative recognizes that novel technologies and public-private partnerships can assist in improving outcomes, including through further digitizing trade finance.”
Top proposals for the challenge will be announced during the Hong Kong FinTech Week in November 2020.
About trace:original
Enigio’s digital document solution, trace:original, leverages Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) that helps create digital original documents, that can be distinguished from any copy, without keeping any business or personal data in the ledger. The patented solution ensures that documents are fully fraud safe and freely transferable by any electronic transport mechanism. Business use cases for trace:original include trade documents such as bills of exchange, promissory notes, receipts, warrants, bills of landing, bank guarantees, among others.
Why trace:original?
Up till now, one of the main challenges for all participants in trade finance globally has been that the information carrier is almost always a document. Not being able to fully digitise the actual documents has, therefore, meant that use of paper documents has continued.
With trace:original, companies, banks and platforms can now easily digitise their original documents where it is absolutely necessary to be able to distinguish between an original and a copy.
This also means that it is possible to digitise the most complex documents where you must be able to prove ownership and be able to transfer the document to a new holder. Any new holder can continue writing on the original document and pass it on to yet a new holder. The ability to possess and manage digital original documents just like physical original documents is now solved.
Also, digital trade platforms can, by using trace:original, now communicate digitally with any other platforms or any other stakeholder by using the trace:original digital documents.
The technology is easy to integrate and does not require heavy investments in new software, platforms or processes. The trace:original document is both man and machine readable. This enables the digitalisation even if the trade document processing in all other parts is manual. This is essential for small and medium sized companies having limited volumes and process documents manually.
“It will now be amazingly easy and cost efficient for all participants, SMEs, banks, platforms etc. to communicate digitally and create, manage and freely trade negotiable digital assets. This is why trace:original addresses all of the three problem statements in the TechChallenge.”
– Says Gunnar Collin, Head of Sales and Marketing at Enigio.