The WCO Regional Workshop on Leadership in Single Window and WCO Data Model was held from 5 to 9 May 2014 in Brisbane, Australia, under the sponsorship of the Customs Cooperation Fund, Japan (CCF/Japan), and in collaboration with the Australia Customs and Border Protection Services (ACBPS).

The Workshop was attended by 36 participants from 24 Customs Administrations of the Asia Pacific region and 3 additional participants from the United States and Namibia. Mr. Satya Prasad Sahu, Senior Technical Officer from WCO together with the experts from the World Bank, Korea Customs Service, Royal Oman Police, and Netherlands Customs facilitated the Workshop. Mr. Takayuki Miyoshi, CCF/Japan Operation Manager and Project Manager for the South Asian region and Ms. Pariyabhat Ariyapongkoson representing the ROCB Asia/Pacific (A/P), also attended the Workshop as facilitators.

The Workshop, which was aimed at senior executives from Customs administrations, combined the WCO IT Conference & Exhibition 2014 with theoretical presentations, practical case stories, and exercises where participants were involved in identifying and dealing with the strategic issues in building a Single Window Environment. Participants were also exposed to the key management aspects of Single Window functional assessment, Business Process Development, Data Harmonization using the WCO Data Model and Dematerialization.

Participants also benefited by attending the WCO IT Conference & Exhibition which in particular enhanced the discussions at the Workshop’s final session on "Developing a list of features for a National Single Window". The participants actively exchanged their views on the presentations and case stories from the Workshop experts and the breakout sessions. Through the very fruitful discussions participants greatly improved their understanding of goals and strategic priorities to be clarified for the development of a Single Window solution from a Customs and Border Management perspective. The participants expressed their appreciation to the WCO and ROCB A/P for organizing the Workshop.