As Chair of the TechTrace Advisory Board, I was delighted to participate in a round of Industry Leader Focus Groups, June 13 through 15. These meetings were hosted by the World Customs Organization(WCO) at their offices in Bruxelles to strengthen and broaden the use of the IPM platform in the fight against illicit trade and counterfeiting. Hans Schwab the Managing Director of TechTrace led the discussions. The Advisory Board is working to support the WCO, TechTrace, customs officials, law enforcement and rights holders to globally deploy mobile tools, contacts, and information to disrupt illicit networks.
It is clear that to be successful we must harness a network of networks
in a fusion centre like approach. This means that all actors must work together across nontraditional lines, sharing where ever possible critical information in a timely fashion.
We are under no illusions that this will be easy, but we have to try.