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- The IOTA Foundation, in partnership with the WEF, Trademark Africa, and other organisations, launched TWIN to enhance global trade.
- With TWIN, they will reduce the cost of trade and documentation, and increase transparency in transactions.
Global trade today faces significant hurdles, not because of fraud, but because of operational friction. Inefficient, paper-based workflows, fragmented systems, missing data, and slow customs procedures often result in delays, disputes, and unnecessary costs.
Despite advances in technology, global trade remains heavily paper-based, with each international transaction requiring the exchange of 36 documents and 240 copies across as many as 30 different parties.
On an X post, IOTA explained that the Tony Blair Institute, TradeMark Africa, IOTA Foundation, the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, and the World Economic Forum came together to solve these issues by launching the TWIN Foundation in May in Zambia.
The TWIN Foundation’s Purpose
Just like IOTA, TWIN is built on open-source technology at its core. It uses IOTA’s distributed ledger tech to allow for secure and transparent data exchange, but without relying on a central authority to control things. That alone is a big step forward.
But what really sets TWIN apart is what it’s doing with the latest version of IOTA, the Rebased upgrade. It takes full advantage of it to push decentralization and tokenization even further. It’s also designed to work with new standards like Gaia-X, which are shaping the future of how data is shared in Europe and beyond.
Thanks to that, TWIN can support tools like Self-Sovereign Identity and Digital Product Passports, features that could seriously change the way businesses handle identity and track goods across global supply chains.
One of the most important pieces? Data Space Connector. This gives the participants control over their data, allowing them to decide who sees it, what’s shared, and when. This data sovereignty is very important, especially for governments and companies that want to avoid being locked into someone else’s platform or losing control over sensitive information.
Then there are the TWIN Nodes, which act as the digital backbone of the network. These nodes connect different participants and their services, allowing them to work together seamlessly. Instead of replacing the systems businesses already use, TWIN is built to plug right into them via APIs.
That means lower costs, less hassle, and faster integration. At the same time, validator nodes help secure the network and can earn fees for their work, bringing incentives and resilience into the system.
The public good drives the TWIN Foundation. As a not-for-profit, it has a mission to prioritize inclusivity and accessibility over commercial interests. This approach aligns with the bigger picture. If digital trade facilitation reaches its potential, the World Economic Forum estimates it could lower global trade costs by 25% and generate $10 trillion in added value.
As we have reported before, TWIN is already powering real-world solutions across global trade. Projects like MISSION aim to reduce port congestion across the EU by optimizing maritime traffic. In East Africa, RESULD is digitizing fruit and vegetable supply chains between Kenya and Europe, ensuring traceability and trust from farm to fork.
By connecting monitoring hubs with TWIN’s decentralized system, the Virtual Watch Tower project brings better visibility and smoother workflows to a wide range of industries.
