WITS Wrk Prgram This dcument gathers infrmatin n the WITS wrk prgram which is divided in shrt-term versus lng-term activities. Prjects' srting is nt intended t reflect pririties. Lng Term Prject WITS sftware mdernizatin WITS uses client server technlgy, initially released abut 6 years ag. In rder t better serve its client-base in the lnger term, the technlgy will need t be changed t take mre advantage f the latest in web technlgies. WITS sftware will be mdernized using latest technlgies, in the lnger term. This will require recding mst sftware cmpnents. This will als give the pprtunity t imprve existing tls where necessary. Mdernizatin will require additinal resurces in rder t allw cntinuing with WITS shrt term activities in parallel. Duratin 2 years Resurces Additinal budget has been requested in rder t hire extra prgrammers. Decisin n whether the funding will be made available is still pending. Shrt Term Activities Shrt-term activities use WITS cre team current resurces (3 sftware develpers, 1 ecnmist) Prject 1. Adapting t COMTRADE changes UNSD recently made sme changes t COMTRADE structure which require decisin t be taken n hw t better deal with thse changes. Exprt trade flw definitin recently changed frm excluding re-exprts (previusly) t including them (current situatin). This change has sme implicatins in WITS Advanced Query tl which included s far a Grss Exprts (Exprts + Reexprts) aggregate. (see prject 4). Re-imprts: COMTRADE nw includes a re-imprt trade flw which is nt expsed in WITS but affects COMTRADE database update (because f the structure change). Fr infrmatin: UNSD definitins
Term Reexprts Reimprts Descriptin Re-exprts are exprts f freign gds in the same state as previusly imprted; they are t be included in the cuntry exprts. They are als recmmended t be recrded separately fr analytical purpses, which may require the use f supplementary surces f infrmatin in rder t determine the rigin f re-exprts, i.e., t determine that the gds in questin are indeed re-exprts rather than the exprt f gds that have acquired dmestic rigin thrugh prcessing. Re-imprts are gds imprted in the same state as previusly exprted; they are t be included in the cuntry imprts. They are als recmmended t be recrded separately fr analytical purpses, which may require the use f supplementary surces f infrmatin in rder t determine the rigin f re-imprts, i.e., t determine that the gds in questin are indeed re-imprts rather than the imprt f gds that have acquired freign rigin thrugh prcessing. Surce: UNSD Glssary Eurpean Unin in COMTRADE: EU as individual reprter was recently added t COMTRADE. Unfrtunately, EU receives an unusual treatment (cmpared with all ther reprters). In particular, EU data are nt cnverted in previus nmenclatures but available nly as reprted. Fr example 2003 is available in HS2002 and SITC3, nt in HS1996, HS1992, SITC2 r SITC1 (which is usually the case). Mrever, having bth EU and its members as reprters and partners in COMTRADE leads t aggregatin prblems. Exprt trade definitin: Advanced query trade flw selectin panel must be updated t reflect the definitin change. Grss Exprts will be remved and Net Exprts (Exprts Rep-exprts) culd be added if necessary. Re-imprts: COMTRADE update prcess must be revised t take the new trade flw int accunt. COMTRADE Quick and Advanced Query mdules culd be revised t include this new trade flw. COMTRADE catalg culd be revised t display data availability infrmatin fr re-imprts. Eurpean Unin in COMTRADE: we need t decide abut Eurpean Unin treatment as individual reprter: Remving EU it frm COMTRADE in WITS. Creating a separate COMTRADE-EU database as additinal data surce cntaining unchanged UN data. EU wuld be expsed in Quick View and in Advanced Query but in islatin frm the regular COMTRADE data request t prevent creatin f wrngly aggregated reprters. Keeping EU will entail sme additinal wrk: cmplete missing nmenclatures by cnverting data using the cnversin tables we have; crrect fields dynamic update fr EU in Quick Queries; Include EU in the list f individual reprters in Advanced Query COMTRADE. EU shuld nt be expsed until it is prperly dealt with in WITS. In the lnger term, it culd be re-intrduced if necessary.
Tentative Delivery date July 31, 2006 Prject 2. Ad-Valrem Equivalent (AVEs) tariffs in WITS AVEs are requisite fr accurate market access analysis r assessment f tariff change impact, ntably within the framewrk f WTO negtiatins. AVE estimatin is a verytime cnsuming task when dne manually, which explains the very limited cverage f existing estimatins. In clse cllabratin with UNCTAD, the WITS team is building a sftware engine able t autmate AVE estimatin. Once estimated and validated, AVEs will be included in WITS and available in query and analytical tls. Duratin 1 year Resurces This prject uses existing WITS resurces with the cllabratin f UNCTAD fr testing and validatin related tasks. We are already quite far ahead with this prject. Tentative Delivery date August 31, 2006 Prject 3. Glbal Simulatin tl SMART, partial equilibrium mdeling tl currently available in WITS is widely used but it des nt fit with the assessment f multilateral tariff reductins (ntably because SMART is single market at a time). The Glbal Simulatin (GSIM) mdel develped by Jseph Francis extends SMART by allwing multiple market analysis, and estimating new wrld prices and prducer surplus. GSIM is trade negtiatrs lng-awaited tl. The slver engine is ready server side but its release wuld damage WITS server verall perfrmance (CPU-cnsuming prcess). The slutin under develpment will bring the mdel slving cmpnent client-side in rder t relieve the server. Tentative Delivery date September 30, 2006
Prject 4. Additinal flexibility in the Advanced Query mdule Feedback frm users indicates a need fr the fllwing additinal ptins in the Advanced Query mdule: Include nn-traded prducts: at the mment, TRAINS and IDB advanced queries return infrmatin fr traded prducts nly, unless ne chses Wrld as partner. Therefre, tariff related statistics take nly traded prducts int accunt with bilateral partners. Feedback frm users shws that bth ptins are relevant (traded prducts nly and all prducts). With COMTRADE, advanced queries return traded prducts nly in any case. It is als an issue fr cmmdity analysts wh wuld like t get identical trade flw tables fr several cuntries and fr selected prducts, traded r nt. Prduct breakdwn: grups f cuntries can be breakdwn t prduce individual results fr each and every cuntry belnging t the grup. This is very useful feature when dealing with a large number f cuntries used in several queries. One defines a grup nce and uses it as shrtcut fr selecting crrespnding cuntries. The same flexibility is requested by users fr prduct grups in rder t use them nt nly t prduce aggregated results (current situatin), but als t select thrugh the grup a large number f prducts fr which they want individual results. Grss exprts trade flw t be remved: COMTRADE used t stre exprts and reexprts as tw distinct flws, the sum f which was grss exprts. UNSD recently changed COMTRADE trade flws definitin and re-exprts are nw part f exprts. Cnsequently, WITS grss exprts aggregate nw duble cunts re-exprts. Dynamic grup f cuntries: in the advanced queries and ther analytical tls, WITS allws using static grups f cuntries. In ther wrds, each grup crrespnds t a given list f cuntries. There are many cases where users wuld need t include grup f cuntries which wuld be defined dynamically based n user individual cuntry and grup selectins. Fr example if ne wants t retrieve trade between ANDEAN cuntries and the rest f the wrld, excluding intra-trade, a static grup (Wrld excluding ANDEAN) must be manually built in WITS. Include nn-traded prducts: requires server side cmpnent develpment t deal with this ptin (client side is ready). Develpers are cncerns by increased query sizes when this ptin is activated. An verflw check will be added in rder t make sure n query prduces utput larger than 5 millins rws. Prduct breakdwn: requires server side cmpnent develpment t deal with this ptin (client side is ready). Develpers are cncerns by increased query sizes when this ptin is activated and an verflw check will be included. As a first step, the system will breakdwn at the leaf level f the selected nmenclature. In the medium-term, when the prduct grup builder will be revised (see prject 8), users shuld be able t chse breakdwn either at leaf level r based n actual grup cmpsitin (as built) as demnstrated in the example belw:
Nmenclature Grup Cmpsitin Selected Breakdwn Reprted Nmenclature Leaf As built HS 0201 020210 020110 020120 020130 020210 0201 020210 Grss exprts will be remved frm the list f trade flws in Advanced Query COMTRADE and replace with Net Exprts (Exprts Re-exprts). Dynamic grup f cuntries: WITS shuld include dynamic grup f cuntries. Fr example, t retrieve trade between ANDEAN cuntries and the rest f the wrld, excluding intra-trade, ne culd define a query with ANDEAN as reprter and a dynamic rest f the wrld grup (autmatically excluding ANDEAN cuntries) as partner. When the query wuld be prcessed, the grup wuld be defined as all cuntries excluding ANDEAN cuntries. In rder t cver all type f requests, WITS shuld be able t deal with any cmbinatin f the 3 fllwing dynamic grups as reprters and/r partners: Rest f Reprters (ROR): All cuntries excluding individual cuntries and static grups selected as reprters; Rest f Partners (ROP): All cuntries excluding individual cuntries and static grups selected as partners; Rest f the Wrld (ROW): All cuntries excluding individual cuntries and static grups selected as reprters and partners. Prject 5. Advanced Tariff Change tl Phase 2 At this stage, the Advanced Tariff Change Simulatin mdule is already a very pwerful tl able t deal with multiple tariff change scenaris. Thanks t a flexible reprting system, results are fr example in cmpliance with SMART dataset imprt requirements. Hwever, sme areas need t be imprved in rder t make the tl able t deal a wider range f situatins. Fr example, scenaris are prcessed independently at the mment, while sme simulatins wuld require a sequential treatment. Include AVEs nce they are ready; Design and implement supprt fr perfrming ptinal sequential scenaris; Include CEPII database; Include IDB-TRAINS Cmbined selectin (unified database)
Prject 6. Strengthening f WITS data warehuse maintenance WITS uses databases prduced by partner institutins. Thse databases are duplicated n ur server. Database update and maintenance n WITS server entails time-cnsuming manual tasks that culd be autmated. Autmatin wuld als make easier keeping ur databases synchrnized when updates ccur; and it wuld reduce the risk f errr entailed by the cmplexity and diversity f data structures. Autmatin is already deplyed fr COMTRADE with all expected benefits, and shuld be extended t TRAINS and IDB. One key bjective is t delegate tariff database update tasks t database wners. The IDB database must be rebuilt t reflect structural changes made by WTO. Several sftware cmpnents have t be designed and develped t supprt fr incremental updates f tariff databases (TRAINS, IDB/CTS) at tariff line level and HS 6-digit aggregatin. User interface fr WITS maintenance framewrk has t be develped t autmate tasks perfrmed by database administratrs and peratrs. Tentative Delivery date COMTRADE maintenance and update has been fully autmated. The updates are run n a daily basis. TRAINS autmatin is currently under develpment and will be cmpleted August 15, 2006. WTO IDB prject will be cmpleted by Nvember 15, 2006. Prject 7. Increase prductin usage f the new server Due t technical requirements frm the Infrmatin Slutins Grup (ISG) which manages all Wrld Bank servers, WITS new server is nt fully deplyed yet. Given the grwing number f WITS users, and the need fr mre CPU pwer because f the new simulatin tls, usage f the new server must be increased. Finalize arrangements with ISG regarding the server hsting and peratin t cmply with the security requirements. Implement delegatin f large batch jbs t the new machine. Prject 8. Utilities New prduct grup builder A prduct grup builder is already included in WITS but it des nt ffer enugh flexibility fr selecting prducts accrding t users feedback.
Design and prduce new prduct grup builder, with an imprved user interface and including new features (ranges, exclusins, definitin imprt, shares, grup merging, prduct saved as defined and nt nly at leaf level ).