By Mats Stengård, CTO and Co-Founder of Enigio
There’s a growing buzz in the trade document world, and it goes something like this: “Let’s ditch PDFs and go all-in on pure data.”
While this might sound progressive, especially when discussing electronic trade documents and MLETR, this idea misses a crucial point about how we interact with and process information in the real world.
If you think of it, documents are just the physical manifestations of data, be it a PDF, a JPEG or JSON. This makes me wonder: do we really need to make this choice between data and documents? Was there a conflict between them in the first place?
In this article, I’d like to show you why it’s not necessary to forsake digital documents in favour of purely machine-readable data. My hypothesis is that documents aren’t the problem – they’re an essential part of how we communicate and conduct business.
A misunderstood dichotomy: Data vs. documents
While the trade finance community debates whether electronic trade documents should be replaced entirely by data, most participants are missing the key point – documents are just containers for data , offering different ways of organising and displaying it.
In the digital world, data needs to take some kind of shape, whether it’s JSON, XML or a PDF – all of these are all essentially different ways to package and present information, each with its own strengths and purposes.
After all, data is just information wearing a paper or a digital costume. Whether it’s a love letter, a bank statement, or your grandma’s pie recipe, in the computer world it all needs to be packaged in some standardised format.
It could be an Excel sheet, a PDF, JSON, or any other format that helps computers understand and process the information.
I can’t stress it enough: the format you choose is just the container. What matters is making sure your data can be easily used, shared, and understood by both machines and humans.
The “pure data” conundrum: Why documents still matter
The advocates of switching to “pure data” have strong, forward-thinking arguments it seems.
However, let’s get real about this “pure data” dream for a moment. Sure, it sounds sleek and modern – who doesn’t love the idea of computers talking seamlessly to each other through neat JSON and XML packages?
But hold on a second. Trade finance isn’t just about machines doing their thing. It’s about people making decisions, trusting documents, and having something that holds up in court when things go sideways.
If we were to shift completely to machine-readable data formats and ditch documents entirely for raw data formats, we’d need to build a bunch of new tools just to let humans see and understand what’s happening. We’d need to come up with new frameworks to visualise data, verify it, and store it securely.
But isn’t that like reinventing the wheel when we already have a universal standard that everyone knows how to use?
For example, we already have PDFs – a format that works and is accepted everywhere in the world, and it is as legally robust as they come. Why tear down the house when we could just add some smart new features to make it even better?
So, the problem isn’t with documents themselves, it’s that we’re barely scratching the surface of their capabilities.
The capability paradox: Tapping into the full power of documents
The problem today is how different document formats are used. Let’s consider PDFs as an example.
Today’s PDFs are often living well below their potential, as most organisations use them as simple digital copies or scanned documents. It’s like using a Ferrari car to drive to a supermarket and get some groceries.
Even when we create PDFs digitally, we barely scratch the surface of what they can do. This limited use has led to a common misconception that PDFs are static relics incompatible with the new digital age.
But that’s not true at all. In reality, PDFs might be one of the most promising formats for the future digitalisation era. Hidden in their specifications lies the potential for a new generation of digital documents that could revolutionise how we handle information.
The same is with other document formats – be it MS Word, Excel, CSV, EDI, XML, JSON, TIFF, or JPEG.
Therefore, it’s time for a fundamental shift in how we view digital documents. Instead of treating them as mere scans, we should recognise them for what they truly are – highly standardised, dynamic containers that can handle structured data, enable interaction, and maintain security.
A trade document’s potential: Security and standardisation
In the world of trade finance, documents aren’t just information carriers – they’re powerful legal instruments.
Every bill of lading, letter of credit, and invoice carries real-world weight, underlying the complex relationship between buyers, sellers, banks, and insurers. They establish ownership, transfer control of goods, and provide the necessary framework for financial transactions.
While pure data formats might speed up automation, they often lack the legal muscle that traditional documents flex in courtrooms and boardrooms, or other legal contexts.
Let’s zoom in on how we interact with data.
Sure, a JSON file might make perfect sense to a computer, but to most humans, it looks like digital alphabet soup. There’s no universal standard for making raw data visually digestible to a human – but that’s exactly what well-formatted documents do!
Documents, like Word, Excel, PDF, etc., present information in a format that’s instantly recognisable and legally robust, complete with key security features like electronic signatures and seals that stand up to scrutiny.
But that’s not all! Documents can do double duty. When combined with cryptographic keys and distributed ledger technology, documents become dynamic, living things that capture every twist and turn in the trade finance journey. Meaning that each amendment, endorsement, and update is securely recorded and traceable, creating an unbroken chain of trust. And when we harness the document’s full potential, the real magic happens: they can speak two languages fluently – one that humans understand at a glance, and another that machines can process efficiently. By embedding structured data (like JSON or XML) within a familiar document format, we create a bridge between human and machine understanding – and no translation is needed. In other words, we can create “born-digital” documents that pack a serious technological punch.
And this is where our trace:original technology comes in.
The data and document consensus with trace:original
Instead of forcing a choice between documents and data, trace:original creates a bridge between both worlds.
It works with any type of document format, whether it’s a PDF, an image, or any other file type, adding layers of security and authenticity that make electronic documents legally robust and traceable.
trace:original takes documents to the next level by:
- Creating tamper-proof documents that maintain singular control
- Recording every change, signature, and transfer in a secure blockchain
- Allowing documents to evolve while keeping a complete, verifiable history
- Supporting both traditional documents and structured data for machine processing
The beauty of this approach is its flexibility. Need to create a document from raw data? Or maybe you want to add machine-readable elements to a traditional document? No problem!
Using advanced document formats, organisations can create professional-looking documents that contain structured data – giving you the best of both worlds.
WATCH THIS VIDEO to find out more on how trace:original works.
The evolution of trace:original: From raw data to innovative trade documents
When Enigio first launched trace:original in 2019, we started with pure YAML data files – a more human-friendly cousin of JSON and XML.
However, we quickly learned an important lesson: users weren’t ready to abandon the familiar document format they trusted. They needed something more tangible than raw data.
This led to our breakthrough in 2021 – a sophisticated PDF version of trace:original that leverages the format’s most advanced capabilities.
But this isn’t your typical PDF solution. Instead of simply creating a document and recording its hash on a blockchain, we’ve developed a patent-pending approach that allows PDFs to evolve securely over time.
Think of trace:original as a living document that can only grow, but never change its past. Each update, signature, or amendment becomes a new “increment” – permanently linked to its previous state and secured through multiple cryptographic hashes and digital signatures.
And this creates an unbreakable chain of trust, perfect for trade finance where document integrity is paramount.
Finally, it’s very practical, as organisations can start using trace:original to create MLETR-compliant electronic trade documents without overhauling their existing processes.
While the industry works toward standardised APIs and data schemas, trace:original offers an immediate solution that:
- combines the familiarity of traditional documents with the security of modern cryptography.
- handles structured data beneath the surface,
- presents information in the trusted document format that users know and understand.
The future proposition: A hybrid document
The future isn’t about picking sides in the “document vs. data” debate. It’s about finding the perfect blend of both worlds – i.e. the perfect format or container for data.
The next-generation hybrid documents are leading this convergence by weaving together machine-readable data, like JSON, and human-friendly interfaces in one powerful package.
Think of a future where a trade finance document starts life (for example) as a PDF that is embedded with structured data that machines can read, while also providing a visual representation that humans can understand and interact with.
Such hybrid documents won’t just display information – they’ll tell their own story through an immutable cryptographic trail. Every signature, amendment, and endorsement will become part of a secure, verifiable history that will follow the document throughout its journey.
Now that will be a true revolution in how we think about digital trade documents.
Conclusion: We don’t have to choose between data and documents
The debate about whether trade finance should abandon documents for pure data is, in many ways, misguided.
Documents aren’t the problem; in fact, they’re part of the solution. They aren’t holding us back – they’re actually pointing the way forward.
When used to their full potential, documents offer a highly evolved, advanced, secure, and standardised way to store and visually represent data.
Let me be straight: the “documents vs. data” debate is dead.
In a world where we need both automation and trust, where machines and humans need to interact seamlessly, a variety of document formats are essential.