Missing the boat on Bolero the first time out will not leave Canadian software engineers stranded for long. Bolero executives like to use the example of Netscape as a business model, meaning they more than welcome third party applications written to interact with the open proprietary base code. The interfaces can be developed by third parties, the business applications by other third parties. Still, the first to hatch onto the scope of Bolero's bold gambit will reap major benefits. The significance of the Rulebook is that it tackles head-on the peculiar role paper documents play in trade, and trade finance in particular.
Errors are common in trade documentation.
Indeed one study shows up to 70 per cent of letters of credit have technical flaws of one kind or another. Nonetheless, the paper documents are sacrosanct. A famous case illustrates the point. In short, if the document says an event has happened, it isn't necessarily anyone's business if it hasn't. Bolero clearly has its work cut out for it in trying to replace such murky paper trails with a with transparent virtual pathway.