Connected Trade Network Initiative - Business Overview

CTN as a BDI Implementation

The Connected Trade Network (CTN) is a digital infrastructure initiative that implements the Basic Data Infrastructure (BDI) framework for the container transport industry. CTN provides secure data-sharing capabilities for the physical process of moving containers between parties.

Relationship to BDI

• BDI Framework: foundational principles, patterns and protocols for sovereign data exchange between organisations.
• CTN Initiative: a digital infrastructure that applies BDI principles to the container-transport domain.
• Container Transport: the physical logistics process that CTN digitally coordinates and secures.
• Industry-Specific Adaptations: documented in Architecture Decision Records under 09-decisions/.

Key Concepts from BDI

• VAD (Verifiable Association Data) — a standardised token proving organisation membership and trustworthiness in the Connected Trade Network. Issued by the Association Register; the basis for all 2026 authorisation.
• Seven Core BDI Principles — physical-digital connection, event-driven architecture, zero trust, dynamic data, data at source, local decision-making, and coherent security.

The Business Challenge in Container Transport

The container transport process involves an average of 20 different parties — from cargo owners and forwarders to terminals, carriers, and truck drivers. Each party needs timely access to relevant information (arrival times, container locations, customs status) to operate efficiently. Today, however, end-to-end visibility breaks down the moment a container leaves the deepsea terminal: hinterland parties miss arrival times, terminals miss pickup intentions, and the chain falls back on phone calls and ad-hoc Excels.

The Connected Trade Network (CTN) initiative addresses this by providing the trust and discovery infrastructure that lets these parties share operational data — securely and on their own terms.

The Solution for 2026: Association Register + Endpoint Registration

CTN 2026 delivers the minimum infrastructure needed to make the first practical use case (“Visibility Achterland Containerlogistiek”) run. Three building blocks:

Association Register (ASR) — “Who is a verified participant?”

The Association Register manages participation in the transport association and verifies the legitimacy of organisations against KvK, KBO, VIES and GLEIF. It issues VAD tokens that prove an organisation is a verified participant in good standing.

Business Value:

• Establishes trust between previously unknown parties.
• Reduces due-diligence cost through centralised verification.
• Provides a single source of truth for participant status and contact details.

Endpoint Registration — “Where do I send my request, and how is it described?”

Data providers register their API endpoints in the ASR (label, base URL, supported BDI data products, OpenAPI specification). The ASR validates the spec, checks reachability, publishes API documentation, and lists the endpoint in the discovery service. Data consumers register their applications and receive M2M OAuth client credentials.

Business Value:

• Removes the bilateral-integration overhead that today makes onboarding slow.
• Makes the available data products discoverable across the network.
• Standardises authentication: one OAuth client-credentials flow, regardless of provider.

Local Authorisation at the Data Provider — “Is this request allowed?”

Authorisation is not centralised in CTN. Each data provider decides locally — based on the VAD claims it has just validated — whether the requesting party is allowed to receive the requested data, and with what shape. CTN provides the verifiable identity; the data owner decides the policy.

Business Value:

• The data owner stays in control. CTN never sees or proxies the data itself.
• Policies can vary per provider, per data product, per requester, without coordination.
• No central rule engine to operate, version or audit on behalf of others.

How It Works in 2026

1. The consumer obtains a VAD token from the ASR (OAuth 2.0 client-credentials).
2. The consumer calls the provider’s endpoint with the VAD attached.
3. The provider validates the VAD signature and claims against the ASR’s JWKS endpoint.
4. The provider applies its local policy (participant status, jurisdiction, data product) and decides allow/deny.
5. The provider returns the data — shaped by its policy.

In all cases:

• Data providers retain complete control over their information.
• Audit trails capture all access for compliance purposes.
• Participants can receive richer data based on the provider’s policy.

Alignment with BDI Core Principles

The 2026 architecture implements the seven BDI principles as follows:

1. Connecting Physical and Digital Processes — registered endpoints bridge real-world container movements with digital data sharing.
2. Event-Driven Architecture — providers publish status changes that consumers can subscribe to over standard protocols.
3. Zero Trust — every request is verified through VAD validation; no implicit trust between participants.
4. Dynamic Data — data is fetched on demand from the source; no central copy goes stale.
5. Data at the Source — data providers retain ownership and control; CTN never relays data content.
6. Local Decision-Making — each data provider runs its own authorisation policy.
7. Coherent Security — TLS 1.3 transport, JWS-signed tokens, OAuth client credentials, JWKS-based key discovery.

Business Benefits

For Cargo Owners & Forwarders

• Better planning — real-time access to container locations and ETAs.
• Fewer delays caused by information gaps.
• Partnership flexibility — work with new parties without bespoke integration.

For Terminals & Carriers

• Controlled sharing of operational data; full local policy control.
• Reduced manual coordination and phone-call traffic.
• A predictable API contract: register an endpoint once, every verified consumer can find it.

For Transport Companies & Drivers

• Access to pickup times, container readiness, and location details.
• Better planning based on real-time terminal information.
• Reduced waiting time at terminals.

For the Industry Overall

• Less integration friction across organisational boundaries.
• Stronger protection against unauthorised data access.
• A scalable foundation for additional use cases — once a party is in the ASR, the next data product they consume or expose costs only an endpoint registration.

Implementation Approach

CTN is rolled out in phases — see the Implementation Roadmap for details. The 2026 focus:

1. ASR live with self-service onboarding (eHerkenning) and periodic re-verification.
2. First wave of providers and consumers register endpoints; first OAuth M2M credentials issued.
3. Use case Visibility Achterland Containerlogistiek goes live: Portbase data combined with inland-terminal operational data in a single dashboard for import containers moving over barge into the hinterland.

Each organisation can adopt at its own pace; the design avoids forcing a synchronised network-wide cutover.

Getting Started

Organisations can participate by:

1. Joining the Association — apply for participation; pass legitimacy checks; designate an authorised representative via eHerkenning.
2. Registering Endpoints — providers upload their OpenAPI spec; consumers register their applications.
3. Connecting — the first use case is Visibility Achterland Containerlogistiek; further use cases reuse the same plumbing.

The solution provides a foundation for modernising container-transport data sharing while keeping the control and security that data owners require.

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This overview is a business view of the 2026 architecture. For detailed technical specifications, see the building-block documents under 05-building-blocks/.