Tucanoo Solutions Ltd

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an Information Systems Officer at United Nations

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The UNECE works to promote economic integration, cooperation, and sustainable development across its 56 member states by facilitating policy dialogue, creating international norms and legal instruments, and supporting the implementation of global UN goals at the regional level. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Tucanoo Solutions Ltd to accomplish?

• Border-crossing facilitation
• Digitalization of UN conventions
• Support the UN Sustainable Development Goals

SOLUTION

How did you find Tucanoo Solutions Ltd?

Online Search

Why did you select Tucanoo Solutions Ltd over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Tucanoo Solutions Ltd were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The UNECE eTIR project digitizes the traditional paper‑based TIR transit system into a fully electronic customs‑to‑customs data exchange platform. It replaces paper Carnets with electronic guarantees and real‑time data transmission, improving security, efficiency, and transparency. The eTIR International System connects national customs systems and uses the International TIR Data Bank (ITDB) for authorized operators. UNECE provides technical specifications, legal frameworks, and optional national applications to support implementation. Many countries are progressing with interconnection projects, including Türkiye’s completed link and an upcoming Türkiye–Azerbaijan pilot. Tucanoo Solutions worked on implementing web portal allowing private sectors operators to submit their data for TIR transport, worked on a critical open source project called eTIR National Application intended for governments to interconnect with the eTIR international system as well as improved the ITDB.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

1. Reduction in Paper-Based Procedures
Replacement of paper Carnets with 100% electronic guarantees for participating routes, removing manual form handling and reducing errors.

2. Faster Customs Processing
Real‑time customs‑to‑customs data exchange enables significantly shorter border waiting times, as digital TIR increases efficiency and cuts administrative burden. 

3. Increased System Interconnections
Successful interconnection of Türkiye’s national customs system to the eTIR International System, with measurable expansion through the upcoming Türkiye–Azerbaijan pilot. (At least 2 connected national systems, increasing regional coverage.) 

4. Broader Implementation Capacity
42 countries have nominated eTIR focal points, demonstrating measurable global adoption readiness. 

5. Enhanced Operator and Government Participation
Deployment of the web portal for private‑sector TIR operators increases the number of operators submitting advance data electronically (trackable through portal usage metrics).
Implementation of the open‑source eTIR National Application enables more governments to connect, allowing measurable increases in national‑system integration.

6. Improved Data Quality and Reliability
Upgrades to the International TIR Data Bank (ITDB) lead to more accurate and up‑to‑date records of authorized TIR holders, measurable through reduced data inconsistencies and increased validation accuracy.  

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Tucanoo managed the project efficiently, delivered on time, and adapted quickly to changing needs. Their communication was responsive, and they consistently added value beyond the initial requirements.

What was your primary form of communication with Tucanoo Solutions Ltd?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I appreciated David’s rare mix of professionalism, technical expertise, and reliability. His responsiveness, ability to quickly grasp changing needs, and smooth adaptation to strict UN requirements stood out. You also appreciated how he consistently added value—anticipating needs, improving solutions, and delivering thorough, high‑quality documentation and software.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Tucanoo Solutions Ltd could have done differently?

Not much... overall they deserved to be more known and recognozed for their services.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of an international money transfer operator with headquarters in Canada. We send money to a number of countries, including Nigeria, which is our primary corridor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tucanoo Solutions Ltd?

We needed a secure online platform that supports multiple payment options and provides a rich experience for our customers. We offer a couple of products on the online platform. The first one is remittance, which is the ability to spend money and have it delivered in less than a minute to the recipients. That option allows us to have competitive exchange rates that require integrations with different online platforms as well.

The second product is called mobile top-up. It allows users to send credits instead of funds on their mobile phones, so they can use them to make phone calls and data plans. Beyond that, we also offer bill payment. This consists of paying utility bills from anywhere in the world for people who can’t go through that process.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tucanoo Solutions is working with the technology aspect of our business. For any online platform, the risk profile is very high, and Tucanoo has helped us design different workflows for each phase of the project, including UI/UX based on the site’s design we’ve already had.

Tucanoo also built the infrastructure, in terms of the backend. This includes the encryption and hosting on the AWS platform to pop out the elasticity and other things with AWS.

Tucanoo has been able to help us with operations enhancements, resulting defects, and social media marketing. They’ve also created content for FAQ and email notifications.

What is the team composition?

David (Founder) is my main point of contact, and Tucanoo has engaged 2–3 people over the course of the project.

How did you come to work with Tucanoo Solutions Ltd?

We found Tucanoo online. They seemed to be the company that better understood what we were trying to do. We knew we had the right firm because, with the first demo, Tucanoo brought our idea into life better than any other company we had worked with.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000–$100,000 CAD (approximately $41,000–$81,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Tucanoo in April 2012. The partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

In terms of rating and guest feedback, we have BBB and BBB+ bond credit ratings. We’re not on the big board yet, but our flow competes easily with any of the top providers. I’d say it’s actually better because it’s seamless — we haven’t done things in a conventional way.

We have received positive feedback on our website flow’s implementation. It’s a simple one-page spreadsheet where users can do all their calculations and finish the process. I don’t see any competitor doing that. Our competitors’ flows follow different steps, and if people forget something, they can go back to the beginning.

We’ve had a different social media marketing strategy, but Tucanoo has given us the idea to invest a certain amount of money to test and see what happens. We’ve seen a growth in our signup conversion rate. The results have been crazy and exponential. Tucanoo has done a very good job on that.

How did Tucanoo Solutions Ltd perform from a project management standpoint?

We have different time zones, so Skype has been our primary communication channel for chat, voice, and video. 

Tucanoo works with another company in the UK that helps with some aspects of project management. We’ve been using Jira and Java to develop the workflow and Atlassian for the documentation. Tucanoo does their work very well.

We have a production deployment multiple times a day. The time to market that Tucanoo has achieved is fantastic. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to do this quickly. They respond to our ideas positively, and they’ve been able to improve on any idea we’ve had. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

 The quality of Tucanoo’s work is most impressive. That’s very important to us, especially in the financial aspect. We’re constantly under threats from attackers who are trying to hack the system. We’ve been able to sleep at night knowing that the system Tucanoo has developed is secure. That’s outstanding for us. 

I feel Tucanoo is a diamond we’ve found. We’ve worked together for 10 years, and we’ve never met, but they’re part of our business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

 It would be very helpful to know how Tucanoo is growing and expanding into new capabilities. We’re looking for someone who can work on some services we want to offer. Tucanoo helps us with them, without even knowing they can do it. 

Any advice for potential customers?

Be clear and understand what you want. It’d help you and Tucanoo to not waste time. We've defined our project very well and I think that’s one of the things that helps Tucanoo bring our ideas to life quickly — it has been like magic.