A special session held on the margins of the 27th Universal Postal Congress highlighted digital transformation partnership opportunities offered through the UPU’s .POST initiative.
Paul Donohoe, Manager of the UPU’s Digital Economy and Trade Programme, noted that partnerships with start-ups and other companies could help accelerate digital transformation initiatives. He added that the .POST model was based on the inclusion of postal stakeholders.“The UPU has allowed private sector partners into the .POST Group since it’s very beginning to collaborate and explore together the digital transformation and growth of digital platforms and services,” said Mr. Donohoe.
.POST members invited to speak during the session underlined the opportunities available through public-private partnerships on all aspects of the postal business.
La Poste Tunisienne Director of Digital Transformation and .POST Group Vice-Chair Oussema Rouatbi spoke of the Post’s development of application programming interfaces (APIs) to facilitate partnerships.
“We need to open up our information systems to be accessible so that we can work with partners and develop services for our client base,” he said.
The session also allowed the opportunity for private partners to showcase digital services they can offer to posts.
STAMPSDAQ, one of the private members of the .POST Group, now offers a unique solution to help posts digitize their philatelic products using technologies such as blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
STAMPSDAQ CEO Andrii Shapovalov noted there was “greater power in collaboration versus competition,” and that the company sought to help posts bring one of the oldest collectibles into the online space, where it would have access to a new market and develop a more steady and reliable revenue stream.
Santosh Gopal, CEO of new .POST Group private member Ship2MyId, also spoke about the opportunities the company’s digital ID addressing solution could offer posts – particularly those where physical addressing systems are still underdeveloped. The solution would equip postal customers with a secure, personal address tied to their device rather than their location.
Enhancing the partnership opportunities offered through .POST, explained .POST Group Chair Massimiliano Aschi, was the robust security assured by the initiative.
.POST is an exclusive top-level domain for the postal sector. Sponsored by the UPU, .POST offers a secure and trusted space for postal operators to offer their digital services.
A previous session held on the sidelines of the 27th Universal Postal Congress in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, highlighted cybersecurity tools, policies and certifications available through .POST. To learn more about that session, please visit this page.