How ATIM Works

ATIM integrates, harmonises and analyses information from multiple complementary data sources. These processes transform distributed information into structured trade intelligence that supports evidence-based decision-making, market development and trade development.

How ATIM Supports Digital Business Communities

Data → Trade Intelligence →Trade-Development

Where:

• Data is derived from international trade statistics, digital visibility, institutional information and other complementary data sources .
• ATIM transforms this information into structured trade intelligence.
• Protegra applies this intelligence through Digital Business Community activities that support business development, market development and trade development.

Integrated Trade Intelligence Model

ATIM integrates, harmonises, enriches and analyses multiple data sources to generate structured trade intelligence.

Visibility signals, global trade data, economic datasets and payment intelligence are aggregated, harmonised and analysed within a unified trade intelligence framework.

Data Aggregation

ATIM combines multiple complementary data streams within a unified trade intelligence framework.

Examples include:

• International merchandise and services trade data
• Economic and market indicators
• Payment and transaction intelligence
• Digital visibility and market engagement data
• Company and business reference information
• Institution-specific and partner-provided datasets

Data Structuring

Data is standardised and organised using internationally recognised classification and reference frameworks.

Examples include:

• Product classifications (HS)
• Service classifications (BPM6)
• Industry classifications (ISIC)
• Geographic mapping and country reference data

Analytical Processing

Analytical processing transforms structured data into actionable trade intelligence by identifying:

• Market demand patterns
• Trade flows and trade corridors
• Comparative indicators and performance benchmarks
• Product, service and industry trends

Intelligence Generation

This stage transforms analytical results into structured trade intelligence, including:

• Prioritised markets
• Analytical rankings and benchmarks
• Actionable trade intelligence
• Market opportunities and development priorities

Trade intelligence can be delivered through a range of ATIM merchandise and services trade reports, dashboards and analytical tools supporting market, product, service, industry, country, bilateral, trade corridor and trade bloc analysis.

From Intelligence to Action

Trade intelligence supports practical decision-making, market prioritisation and trade development activities.

As new information becomes available, ATIM continuously updates and refines trade intelligence, helping organisations respond to changing market conditions and emerging opportunities.

The Next Tab, Data Sources, describes the principal data sources that support the ATIM Framework and explains how they contribute to structured trade intelligence.

Data Sources

ATIM combines multiple categories of information to generate structured, multi-source trade intelligence.

The framework is designed to remain flexible and source-agnostic, enabling organisations to select and integrate data sources according to availability, licensing arrangements, implementation objectives and analytical requirements.

ATIM can be deployed progressively, beginning with readily accessible data sources and expanding to more advanced trade intelligence capabilities as requirements evolve.

Initial implementations may utilise publicly available trade data and digital visibility information. Additional transaction intelligence, organisation-specific datasets and other advanced information sources can then be incorporated as analytical requirements develop.

Global Trade Data

ATIM integrates international trade data from a range of recognised global and institutional sources.

Examples include:

• UN Comtrade (API available – public access)
• International Trade Centre (API available – licensed access)
• Additional institutional datasets (for example, UNIDO and other recognised international sources)

Supports:

• Global merchandise and services trade statistics
• Market size and market growth indicators
• Product and service trade flows
• Comparative trade analysis

Illustrative comparison of selected UN Comtrade and International Trade Centre (ITC) data services.

Important Note on Data Source Selection

ATIM is designed to combine multiple complementary data sources rather than rely on a single provider.

For many implementations, UN Comtrade provides an appropriate starting point because it offers:

• Public API access
• No licensing costs
• Sufficient coverage for initial trade intelligence and market analysis

As analytical requirements evolve, International Trade Centre (ITC) data can be incorporated where:

• Enhanced data structuring is required
• Additional analytical depth is beneficial
• Licensing arrangements and implementation requirements have been established

International services trade analysis can also incorporate BPM6-based datasets where appropriate..

Payment Intelligence (Illustrative Bank Implementation)

Payment intelligence can provide an additional source of trade intelligence where suitable institutional datasets are available.

Examples may include:

• BICDetective
• Other institutional payment and transaction intelligence sources

Supports:

• Transaction intelligence
• Trade corridor analysis
• Client activity analysis

Online Visibility and Market-Interest Signals

Examples include:

• Microsites
• Multilingual Microsites

Microsites and Multilingual Microsites generate digital visibility and market interest signals that can complement international trade statistics. Supported by analytics platforms such as Google Search Console and Google Analytics, these signals help organisations understand online visibility, market engagement and emerging demand patterns.

Reference and Classification Resources

ExportersAlmanac

ExportersAlmanac combines multiple reference resources to provide the structured information needed to support trade intelligence and market analysis.

Supports:

• Country filtering and geographic analysis
• Product, service and industry classification
• Classification mapping
• Structured market context

Provides:

• Structured country reference information
• Reference data for market analysis and filtering
• Support for trade classification and code mapping

ATIM Reference Tools

Examples include:

• Code Mapping
• Classification Mapping
• Country Filtering
• Product, Service and Industry Mapping

Combined Value

By combining multiple data sources, ATIM produces more balanced, robust and reliable trade intelligence than can be achieved through a single source alone.

Different organisations may utilise different combinations of data sources depending on their objectives, available datasets and operational requirements.

These combined data sources provide the inputs to ATIM. ATIM transforms this information into prioritised markets, analytical rankings and actionable trade intelligence.

The Next Tab, Outputs, explains how ATIM transforms multi-source data into structured trade intelligence and actionable outputs.

Actionable Trade Intelligence

From Analysis to Actionable Outputs

The model below illustrates how ATIM transforms structured analysis into prioritised markets, industry insights and actionable trade intelligence.

Core Outputs

1. Market Rankings

• Comparative ranking of countries and markets based on selected analytical criteria and benchmarks.

2. Trade Corridor Analysis

• Mapping of active and emerging trade routes
• Identification of underdeveloped corridors

3. Industry Insights

• High-demand sectors
• Product and service opportunity identification

4. Client / Member Analysis

(Only where institution-specific datasets are available)

• Identification of underutilised clients
• Cross-border activity insights
• Targeted engagement opportunities

From Analysis to Action

ATIM reports are designed to be:

• Clear
• Concise
• Directly usable

They enable institutions to prioritise opportunities and take informed action.

ATIM intelligence can be delivered through merchandise and services trade reports, together with organisation-specific analytical outputs.

The Next Tab, Illustrative Trade Intelligence, demonstrates how ATIM outputs are presented through practical examples of market, industry and trade-development analysis.

Illustrative Trade Intelligence

The following examples use illustrative data to demonstrate the types of analytical insights generated by ATIM.

From Digital Engagement to Trade Intelligence

Most digital solutions focus on tools or promotion.

ATIM goes further.

By analysing the market visibility and engagement generated through Digital Business Communities, ATIM produces aggregated trade intelligence, including structured insights into:

• Which countries are showing interest
• Which industries, products and services are attracting attention
• How engagement evolves over time

This enables organisations to move from assumption-based support to evidence-based trade enablement.

These analytics do not simply report digital activity. They transform visibility signals into actionable trade intelligence.

In effect, ATIM transforms digital engagement into a continuous global market-sensing capability for participating organisations.

While the examples below present high-level summaries, the underlying data can be analysed at significantly greater levels of detail and exported in structured formats (such as CSV) for integration with institutional systems.

Data and visibility infrastructure can reveal international demand patterns and emerging opportunities. However, Business Community Owners remain responsible for designing and implementing the programmes that convert these opportunities into tangible trade outcomes for their SME communities.

1. International Demand Signals Over Time

The first analytical layer tracks international engagement generated across participating Digital Business Communities.

This provides insight into:

• Seasonal patterns in international interest
• Growth or decline in demand signals over time
• The impact of trade missions or promotional campaigns
• Periods of accelerated international engagement

This provides a macro-level view of international demand signals generated across the Digital Business Community..

2. Geographic Market Intelligence

Understanding where international interest originates is critical for designing effective export programmes.

This analysis highlights:

• Countries generating the strongest engagement
• Emerging geographic markets
• Market concentration risks
• Alignment (or misalignment) with institutional export priorities

Institutions can therefore prioritise markets based on measurable demand signals rather than assumptions.

3. Industry-Level Market Intelligence

(NACE Classification)

International engagement can be analysed at the industry level using structured industry classifications such as NACE.

This enables institutions to support:

• Industry prioritisation strategies
• Cluster development initiatives
• Targeted trade delegations
• Evidence-based allocation of support resources

Industry analysis can be viewed in aggregate or segmented by country.

4. Product-Level Market Intelligence

(Harmonised System (HS) Classification)

International demand can also be analysed at the product level using the internationally recognised Harmonised System (HS) classification.

This supports:

• Product-specific export readiness programmes
• Identification of high-potential product categories
• Alignment with tariff and regulatory frameworks
• Market-entry preparation by product type

As with industry analysis, product demand can be examined globally or at individual country level.

5. Linking Market Intelligence to Participating SMEs

The next step is to put this intelligence into action.

Aggregated demand signals can be cross-referenced with companies participating in the Digital Business Community, without compromising privacy.

Companies already publish structured information including:

• Industry classifications
• Product categories
• Core business capabilities

The system links demand signals to relevant companies within these categories without exposing individual traffic data.

This preserves anonymity while enabling structured institutional engagement.

The resulting internal reference ID can connect directly to:

• The organisation's CRM system
• The company's Multilingual Microsite
• Internal export advisory workflows

6. Mapping Product Demand to Participating Companies

The same methodology can be applied at the product level.

Institutions can identify which companies operate within high-interest product categories and design targeted initiatives such as:

• Advisory outreach programmes
• Export readiness workshops
• Buyer introduction programmes
• Trade mission invitations

This is where analytics becomes operational action.

Strategic Implications

ATIM therefore functions not merely as a reporting tool, but as a decision-support capability for organisations responsible for business growth, market development and internationalisation.

It supports:

• Export programme design
• Trade mission targeting
• Cluster development initiatives
• Financial support allocation
• Policy engagement and economic development planning

Most importantly, this intelligence is derived from real market engagement and digital activity, creating a continuous demand signal from global markets.

These illustrative insights demonstrate how aggregated digital activity can be transformed into actionable trade intelligence. The examples shown are based on aggregated and anonymised data, and Protegra does not rely on the processing of personal data for its core functionality.

Further information on data protection and GDPR compliance is available in the Business Community Owner FAQs.

The Next Tab, Value, summarises the strategic and operational value of ATIM for institutions.

A Data-Driven Intelligence Capability

ATIM transforms data into a strategic asset, enabling institutions to operate with greater precision, clarity, and confidence.

ATIM operates as an ongoing process:

Data → Analysis → Insight → Refinement

This cycle ensures that intelligence remains current, accurate, and responsive to changing market conditions.

In parallel, refined intelligence can be applied through Digital Business Communities implemented using the Protegra Framework to support market engagement and practical execution.

Value for Telecommunications Providers

• Strengthen corporate client relationships
• Support SME growth and internationalisation
• Support digital capability development
• Support market-development initiatives
• Increase the value of business-service offerings

Value for Banks

• Visibility of real client trade activity
• Identification of revenue opportunities
• Optimisation of trade corridors
• Enhanced client segmentation
• Improved utilisation of FX, payments, and trade finance

Value for Chambers of Commerce and Trade Associations

• Evidence-based trade programme design
• Improved targeting of trade missions
• Enhanced SME support
• Better alignment with market demand

Value for Export Promotion Organisations

• Support market-selection activities
• Identify priority industries and opportunities
• Improve programme targeting
• Strengthen trade-development planning
• Support more effective resource allocation.

Measurable Benefits

• Improved decision-making
• Targeted resource allocation
• Increased effectiveness of trade initiatives
• Demonstrable outcomes

Beyond Reporting

ATIM supports market discovery, trade intelligence, decision support, and trade-development planning.

Trade Reports represent one output of a broader intelligence capability.

Role within the Protegra Framework

ATIM provides the trade intelligence capability within the Protegra Framework.

It supports Digital Business Communities through market discovery, decision support and actionable trade intelligence.

Next Step

Continue to the Protegra section to see how ATIM intelligence is translated into coordinated SME engagement, business development and measurable trade outcomes.