SemesterFall Semester, 2025
DepartmentJunior Class of BA in Global Governance Senior Class of BA in Global Governance
Course NameCross Border Digital Trade
InstructorSAY ALICIA
Credit3.0
Course TypeElective
Prerequisite
Course Objective
Course Description
Course Schedule

Tentative class schedule (16 weeks)



 



























































Class Topics Overview



Week



Date



Subject



Case Discussion & Activity



Assignments



1



9/3



Introduction to Course Syllabus



Background and Introduction to International Trade



Self Introduction and Grouping



 



2



9/10



Costs and Challenges of Digital Trade




  • Physical documentation

  • Regulatory Requirements

  • Non-Tariff Barriers



Reading: The Costs and Challenges of Implementing Trade Facilitation Measures



Reading: The Digital Trade Era – Challenges and Opportunities for Developing Countries



 



3



9/17



Digital Transformation Path of International Trade




  • Electronic Data Interchange

  • National Single Window

  • Regional Integration

  • Global Initiatives



Reading: Handbook of Measuring Digital Trade



 



4



9/24



National Single Window




  • UN Recommendation and Guidelines on Establishing a Single Window

  • Different models of single window



Reading: Recommendation and Guidelines on Establishing a Single Window



 



Reading: Organizational Transformation Using Electronic Data Interchange: The Case of TradeNet in Singapore



 



Class Activity: Country survey



Country survey



5



10/1



Guest Speaker: Mr. Sean Kuei, Executive Officer of Taiwan Bureau of Foreign Trade



Title: The discussions of digital trade in multilateral trading system



 



 



6



10/8



Trade Facilitation in Taiwan




  • Customs Clearance Automation



Reading: Single Window for Trade Facilitation: Regional Best Practices and Future



 





 



 













































































 



 




  • Trade Facilitation

  • National Single Window



Development



 



7



10/15



Digital Trade Payment



 



Course Reflection #1



8



10/22



Trade Finance System



 



 



9



10/29



Public and Private Partnership (PPP) for Trade Facilitation




  • Public Policies

  • Private Initiatives

  • Examples of PPP Collaboration in Trade Facilitation



 



 



10



11/5



Final Project Preparation



Individual/Group meeting with instructor



 



11



11/12



Case Study: Pan-Asian E-Commerce Alliance




  • Interconnectivity and Interoperability

  • Legal framework



Trusted network



Case: Pan-Asian E-Commerce Alliance



Midterm Paper: A review of your country’s digital trade initiatives



12



11/19



Regional Initiatives in Trade Facilitation




  • ASEAN Single Window

  • EU Single Window



APEC Digital Trade Agenda




  • APEC Strategies

  • APEC Projects



Case: APEC ECO Pathfinder Project



Reading: Facilitating Electronic Commerce in APEC: A Case Study of Electronic Certificate of Origin (e-CO)



Reading: APEC Framework for Securing the Digital Economy



Reading: Next-generation Trade Facilitation for Asian Integration: Cross- border Paperless Trade



 



13



11/26



Key Success Factors and Evaluation Tools for Digital Trade




  • Key Success Factors

  • Evaluation Tools



Reading: Study on Single Window Systems’ International Interoperability: Key Issues for Its Implementation



 



Class Activity: Digital Trade Evaluation Tools



 



14



12/3



Guest Speaker: Ambassador Tu



Taiwan’s Role in Global Trade



 



 



15



12/10



Regional Integration and Free Trade Agreements




  • WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement

  • Contribution of Digital Trade to Free Trade Agreement

  • Impact of Digital Trade on Trade Costs



Reading: Digital Trade Facilitation: Paperless Trade in Regional Trade Agreements



Reading: Digitalising Trade Facilitation Implementation



Reading: Impact of Implementation of Digital Trade



Course Reflection #2





 


 









































 



 



 



Facilitation on Trade Costs



 



Class Activity: Final Project Proposal



 



 



Cloud Computing, Big Data Analytics, AI and Blockchain in Digital Trade




  • Cloud Computing

  • Big Data Analytics in Digital Trade

  • AI in Digital Trade

  • Blockchain for Trade

    • Blockchain application

    • Blockchain Projects in Trade

    • Cross Border Blockchain for Trade





Reading: Digital Supply Chain Transformation toward Blockchain Integration



System Demonstration: Cross Border Blockchain for Trade



 



16



12/17



Final Presentation



Team Presentations of Final Project



Final Project: Best Practices of Cross Border Digital Trade



17



12/24



Wrap Up (optional)



No Class 



 



18



12/31



Course Review (optional)



No Class



 




 



 









 


Teaching Methods
Teaching Assistant
Requirement/Grading

Grading Policy



    The final grade consists of:



 




  1. Attendance & Participation 20%



 



The various in-class activities will include case discussion, class participation, and peer review. Students who are unable to attend class should please apply for a leave of absence in advance.



 



2. Course Reflection 20%



The class reflection should consist of the students’ takeaway, lesson learnt, or insights from the course. It should be a maximum of 2-pages, 12points Times New Roman/Arial, double-spaced.



 



3. Midterm Paper - A review of your country’s digital trade initiatives 30%



The midterm paper is an individual assignment to understand the students’ knowledge about digital trade. Each student shall write a short review paper about the digital trade initiatives of their respective countries. This assignment should include the concepts from previous lessons, including the challenges faced in the digital trade implementation, the implementation steps, the reengineered processes, the benefits of the digital trade projects and the students’ comments about the current status.



It should be a maximum of 5-pages, 12points Times New Roman/Arial, double- spaced.



 



4. Final Presentation – Best Practices of Cross Border Digital Trade 30%



The final project is a group project. More explanation on group sizes and how the assignment can be conducted will be provided in class.



Prior to the final presentation, students will be arranged a session to present their proposal about their final projects for obtaining feedback from the instructor and classmates.



Each team shall present a best practice or a new idea of cross border digital trade implementation for the final project. The final project includes an oral presentation and a 2-pages executive summary.



Class Contract



As the course instructor, I aim to help students develop their knowledge of cross border digital trade beyond the textbook. To facilitate an engaging learning environment, this class employs a range of activities that draw from the readings, in-class discussion, case studies and live system demonstration that help students understand the essence and application of the assigned materials.



In return, students are expected to attend and actively engage with their classmates in discussions and other class activities and to enable this by preparing in advance and avoiding academic dishonesty (including plagiarism). Students who are unable to attend class should please contact the course instructor in advance to apply for a leave of absence. For group activities, students should also inform their group members.



 



 



Note: Students must acknowledge all instances in which generative AI tools were used in an assignment (such as in ideation, research, analysis, editing, debugging, etc.).



 


Textbook & Reference

Learning Materials




  1. APEC Framework for Securing the Digital Economy; APEC TEL

  2. Digital Supply Chain Transformation toward Blockchain Integration; Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2017

  3. Digital trade facilitation: Paperless trade in regional trade agreements; ADBI Working Paper, No. 747

  4. Digitalising Trade Facilitation Implementation; The Commonwealth, 160

  5. Facilitating Electronic Commerce in APEC: A Case Study of Electronic Certificate of Origin (e-CO); APEC Policy Support Unit, 2011

  6. Handbook of Measuring Digital Trade, OECD, 2020

  7. Impact of Implementation of Digital Trade Facilitation on Trade Costs; ARTNeT Working Paper Series, No. 174

  8. Next-generation Trade Facilitation for Asian Integration: Cross- border Paperless Trade; Journal of Asian Economic Integration 1(1) 11–31, 2019

  9. Organizational Transformation Using Electronic Data Interchange: The Case of TradeNet in Singapore; Journal of Management Information Systems, 2015

  10. Recommendation and Guidelines on Establishing a Single Window; United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT)

  11. Study on Single Window Systems’ International Interoperability: Key Issues for Its Implementation; APEC Policy Support Unit, 2018

  12. The Costs and Challenges of Implementing Trade Facilitation Measures; OECD Trade Policy Papers No. 157


Urls about Course
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