IOTA Gains Global Recognition from WEF and OECD for Digital Trade Infrastructure

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has officially recognized IOTA as a key technology in its September 2025 whitepaper, "Advancing Digital Trade: Insights from the UAE TradeTech Regulatory Sandbox," highlighting IOTA's role in tokenizing trade data and creating verifiable digital identities. This recognition stems from IOTA's participation in the UAE's TradeTech Sandbox initiative, where it collaborated with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) and engaged with entities like the Kenya Revenue Authority and TradeMark Africa. IOTA's Trade Worldwide Information Network (TWIN), an open-source decentralized infrastructure built on IOTA's distributed ledger technology, was demonstrated to streamline global trade by reducing processing times from 5-10 days to mere hours.

In a related development, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) featured IOTA in its September report, "The Digitalization of Trade Documents and Processes," citing the Trade Logistics Information Pipeline (TLIP) as a private-sector initiative that bridges gaps in digital trade adoption. TLIP, co-founded by the IOTA Foundation with partners like the WEF and TradeMark Africa, enables seamless, secure data sharing with up to 80% cost reduction and 96% improvement in transaction effectiveness, as shown in pilot programs in Kenya. The system emphasizes data sovereignty, allowing organizations to maintain control while interacting through APIs and distributed ledger technology.

Key milestones include the formalization of the TWIN initiative at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in early 2024, uniting global partners such as the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation. Testing in the sandbox involved a seven-step process simulating a real-world trade scenario between a Kenyan flower exporter and an international buyer, utilizing verifiable digital identities, smart contracts for financing, and automated payment settlements. Despite challenges like the absence of formal legal recognition, the reports underscore IOTA's potential to eliminate intermediaries and enhance trust in cross-border transactions.