The Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model is frequently used to estimate the effect of government policies on international trade. However, the biggest advantage of the GTAP model is not the original model itself, but the ecosystem around it. The original version introduced in 1995 has been updated to version 7 and contributors have developed other versions of it focusing on topics such as energy energy (GTAP-E), biofuels (GTAP-BIO), and land use (GTAP-AEZ). Perhaps the greatest advantage of the GTAP model is data availability. GTAP (the organization behind the GTAP model) also provides detailed and regularly updated databases of the world economy. As a result of these tools and data, many non-GTAP models are built using the GTAP database.
As a result of the popularity of the GTAP model and database, developers have created a number of software tools for dealing with the ancillary issues that crop up in these research projects, especially with databases. There are tools automating the process of data aggregation([GTPAg2] (https://www.gtap.agecon.purdue.edu/products/packages.asp)), disaggregation (SplitCom), revision (GTAP-Adjust and AlterTax). The existence of these tools makes it easy for developers to customize the model for their specific project, as they do not have to reinvent the wheel.
However, some parts of a GTAP-based research have not been automated. In particular, there is no overarching framework controlling both the model and all these tools: the process of running the tools, specifying their settings, and moving the output to the input of other tools must all be done manually. This is the need Auto-GTAP aims to fill. Auto-GTAP provides a unified framework for running all parts of a GTAP-based research project.