IATA is owned by the airlines that are IATA members, and requires a super-majority vote. So IATA initiatives are basically at the request of, and for the benefit of, the airlines. That is the sole purpose of IATA.

IATA operates the clearing house for tickets (analogous to checks clearing between banks). IATA has announced that it will stop clearing paper tickets, only e-tickets. So, if you fly on CX on an AA issued paper ticket, CX cannot get paid for that paper ticket through the IATA clearing house. Airlines are free to clear tickets on their own, so CX could present that paper ticket directly for payment. But this is an expensive process!

E-ticket costs less than 10% of the paper ticket cost, so yes, there are huge savings involved. After the conversion costs are written off, going to e-tickets doubles the operating profit of the airline industry. The initiative has been underway for a decade, but the pieces are mostly in place now and going rather well (FT concerns not withstanding).