Improving International e-Customs--The European ITAIDE Initiative

The objective of this paper is to present the strategy employed in the European Union to reform the customs processes by means of information technology, spanning borders within and outside the EU. The European ITAIDE project (IT for adoption and intelligent design for e-government) aims to develop and implement solutions that support improved interactions between government agencies and businesses, providing single window access and creating possibilities for gaining authorized economic operator status. As an example of this, we report on the e-export solution implemented by the Danish tax and customs administration, which supports the submission of export statements in electronic format through Single Window Access. Based on this case, we argue that in order to realize massive diffusion of e-customs solutions, it is crucial to address challenges regarding for instance interoperability and IT-readiness. The integral approach of the ITAIDE project offers a great opportunity to do so.