Escher CEO Brody Buhler talks Future of Posts
01.07.2025 — In late 2024, Escher, a leading global post and courier software and services provider, released its 2024 Future of Posts report, providing a deep insight into the key trends shaping the postal industry, based on feedback from 179 respondents representing 78 postal operators worldwide.
Shaping tomorrow’s postal solutions: highlights from the UPU Innovation Challenge 2025
30.06.2025 — The third UPU Innovation Challenge took place from 21 to 23 May in Limassol, Cyprus, bringing together innovators, policymakers and postal experts from around the world. Held alongside the 33rd Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics, the event served as a laboratory for sharing fresh thinking on how postal services can adapt to a digital and sustainable future. Participants tackled three core themes powered by data integration and artificial intelligence: digital identity, circular economy logistics and the future of the universal service obligation (USO).
Posti and Escher Group partnership
27.06.2025 — As digitalization progresses, almost every postal operator faces a shift in demand for its services: letter volumes are declining sharply, while parcel volumes are growing given the rising popularity of e‑commerce. For postal operators, this presents the dual challenge of remaining profitable despite falling letter volumes, while handling increasing parcel traffic efficiently. To maintain reliable and efficient delivery services in the face of these challenges, Posti, the Finnish postal operator, has partnered with the Escher Group, a UPU Consultative Committee member, to enhance its use of optical character recognition (OCR) and advance its automation processes.
Post4Health: delivering healthcare
27.06.2025 — The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in healthcare logistics, including social isolation and vaccine accessibility gaps. Through the Universal Postal Union (UPU) Post4Health project, Posts extended their scope beyond mail delivery to bridge logistical gaps and improve healthcare accessibility for three billion people in remote areas. (Source: UPU – Post4Health))
UPU Competition Class 2024: where innovation meets tradition for members of the World Association for the Development of Philately
26.06.2025 — On 20 February 2025, during the UPU Postal Operations Council (POC) session at its headquarters in Berne, Switzerland, the UPU recognized the awardees of the 19th UPU Competition Class. This philatelic competition is organized by groups (A, B and C) where originality, quality, philatelic significance, and contributions to humanitarian causes, are recognized by the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) and the UPU. Slovakia, Macao (China) and Greece trusted the top honours of each group. Morocco, Belarus, Romania, and the United Nations Postal Administrations claimed respectively the silver medals, while Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH Post, Sarajevo), Türkiye and France received the bronze medals for 2024.
Special delivery: how human-centred AI can strengthen postal resilience to natural hazards
25.06.2025 — Rain or shine, national postal services continue to deliver letters and packages across regions and borders, connecting communities and supporting essential public infrastructure. But what happens when a landslide blocks the only road to a valley, volcanic ash grounds air traffic, or drought leaves waterways unnavigable?
From the Emirates to the world: the UAE shares its vision for a digital and sustainable postal future
20.06.2025 — As the United Arab Emirates gears up to host the UPU’s 28th Universal Postal Congress in Dubai, it is also making strides in positioning itself as a global hub for trade, e-commerce, and digital innovation. In an interview with Union Postale, Abdulla Mohammed Alashram, Deputy Chair of the Congress organizing committee and a representative of UAE’s 7X, discusses the nation’s bold vision for leveraging technology in reshaping postal operations, and how collaboration, facilitated by the upcoming UPU Congress, can drive industry-wide innovation.
The road to Dubai 2025
18.06.2025 — As the Universal Postal Union (UPU) moves towards its 28th Universal Congress in Dubai, it does so at a defining moment in its 150-year history. The year 2024 marked a milestone for the UPU as it celebrated a century and a half of enabling global communication and empowering people across nations. Now, with its sights set on Dubai 2025, the UPU is not just reflecting on its past – it stands at a pivotal juncture. It is reinventing itself for the future of postal services in an era defined by digital transformation, e-commerce and global connectivity.
UPU and UNITAR partner to advance climate action in the postal sector
10.06.2025 —
The Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) have partnered to launch a global webinar series – the "Climate Engagement Programme for Postal Sector Stakeholders".
UPU simplifies stamp collecting with new mobile app
30.05.2025 — With the launch of the World Association for the Development of Philately Numbering System (WNS) mobile application, stamp collectors worldwide have access to a free and easy tool to identify more than 120,000 stamps and counting.
WHO and UPU join forces to improve access to eyeglasses
16.05.2025 — The World Health Organization (WHO) has partnered with the Universal Postal Union (UPU) to expand access to eye care using postal networks. The collaboration aims to utilize the wide reach of postal services to deliver crucial eye care, including affordable near-vision glasses, to people in different parts of the world.
Visa and Universal Postal Union (UPU) collaborate to help boost financial inclusion
14.05.2025 — The UPU and Visa, a global leader in digital payments, have announced a strategic collaboration to expand access to digital postal financial services within the UPU network. The collaboration aims to promote financial inclusion and stimulate economic development by leveraging the UN agency’s international postal network and Visa’s payments network.