PROGRESS - Physical assuRance fOr diGital tRadE SyStems

The PROGRESS Digital Trade Testbed project aims to develop a core capabilityfor testing the physical assurance of digital trade systems by tracking the physicallocation and transit of consignments and enabling interoperability withinternational digital trade data-handling systems.
A truly digital supply chain management system requires reliable links between thephysical state, the location of consignments and the digital representation of each. Besides, the physical assurance of location, origin, and condition of physicalsupplies is a critical element of effi cient, sustainable, and ESG-compliant supplychains. This testbed will enable us to mimic the movement and treatment of goods in anticipation of including such innovation in integrated digital environments in the future. The testbed will also support testing by partners including HMRC to inform tax and future policy delivery. To create a usable system, PROGRESS will provide a testing ground for the hardware, software and other infrastructure that are required to map multiple data sources into actionable insights. PROGRESS will be demonstrated in a controlled environment because it is almost impossible to test across international trade routes at this early stage. Therefore, the consortium willcreate a 5G-enabled testbed for digital trade at Teesside Airport, which is part ofthe wider Tees Valley Freeport. Teesside Freeport is Britain's first operational and largest Freeport, comprising an airport and deep sea port, and is the UK's best connected freeport via air, sea, rail and road. This unique offering will allow PROGRESS to model transit use cases for future capabilities and scalability.

PROGRESS project ensures that the combined TU/TVCA/ICC-UK testbed becomes a national resource to which all freeports and other points of entry can benchmark their own use cases and consignments.

This project will support the testbed development by providing use case testing capabilities and infrastructures beyond the physical infrastructure under development.