RESTRICTED  
  
WT/BFA/W/536  
 
9 November  2020 
(20-7999) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration    
 
DOCUMENTS ONLINE  
1  THE PAST  
1.1.  Documents Online (DOL) is the Secretariat's online document repository for WTO official 
document consultation.   
1.2.  Since 2010, the Secretariat introduced a paperless initiative gradually shifting towards a digital 
world.  All WTO documents were converted to PDF and uploaded to Documents Online. This shift was 
accompanied by giving Members the ability to easily pull digital documents that are needed.   
1.3.  In 2013, the Secretariat introduced Documents for Meeting s ervice. This has been serving the 
documents electronically to delegates in the meetings.  
1.4.  In 2017, the Secretariat introduced E -Subscription service as the default distribution method 
of documents to delegates. This has enabled delegations to find, in thei r e-mail boxes, documents 
of interest to them that were produced during the day. Till date over 475 delegates have registered 
and are receiving some documents  in this manner .  
1.5.  The Secretariat has been promoting these electronic services through E -Learning courses and 
presentations in informal committee sessions.  
1.6.  These initiatives facilitated access to official documents and brought significant economies  by 
reducing paper distribution to delegations, meetings and the Secretariat.  
Year Number of pages printed (million)  
2005 94.4 
2008 77.1 
2011 71.7 
2012 45.0 
2017 24.6 
2018 17.7 
2019 14.6 
 
2  THE PRESENT  
2.1.  The current system for documents online is outdated . The Secretariat has started a process to  
improve the system to find a more intuitive solution.  
2.2.  Over time, t he Secretariat has been collecting feedback through surveys, presentations and 
information enquiry requests  regarding the system . A summary of the responses points to the 
following:  The website lacks intuitiveness; lacks personalization like saving search query and 
favourite documents; lacks intuitive search like google and natural language query; search results 
are inconsistent, un reliable and lacks intuitive refining to narrow the results; need to respond better 
for mobile, tablet devices; need to better support meetings;  need to  improve notifications search 
and reminders ; need to improve e -subscriptions to allow user defined queri es and schedules . WT/BFA/W/536  
 
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  2.3.  The evolving needs from stakeholders and technology advancements point to the replacement 
of this system with a more intuitive and fit -for-purpose solution.  
2.4.  The selection of the right technology platform must be rigorous and forward -looking  since the 
solution put in place ought to last for 15 -20 years. In order to guarantee success, the Secretariat 
consider ed that the professional input of an independent consultan cy, with broad expertise in state -
of-the-art do cument dissemination and publishing platforms, ideally tried and tested by other 
international organizations and/or companies in the business of disseminating documents and 
facilitating their access through an intuitive web interface, is crucial.  
2.5.  In August  2020, a request for proposal s was launched  as a necessary initial step in the 
procurement process, leading to the selection of a firm of consultants . 
2.6.  This firm of consultants  is now  analys ing user needs . Subsequently, it  will provide expertise in 
establis hing technical requirements using the right terminology, identify suitable matching 
technology  and assess risks and effort estimation for the implementation of replacement system.  
This exercise is expected to be complete d by December 2020.  
3  THE FUTURE  
3.1.  The o utput of the above -mentioned analysis will provide the Secretariat with  pertinent 
information  in determining  the next phase s of the process . 
3.2.  Documents Online together with Documents for meetings and E -Subscriptions are essential 
digital tools for official document consultation and their replacement with an intuitive interface would 
benefit all stakeholders.  
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