According to recent UPU estimates, there are more than 650,000 post offices worldwide, most of which are located in rural and isolated areas, enabling social, financial and digital inclusion for individuals and businesses, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises.

This postal network is made available by postal operators designated by their governments to fulfil a universal postal service obligation. This critical national infrastructure offers a unique physical and logistical network to facilitate the deployment of sustainable digital infrastructure and provide an all-important point of human contact in underserved and remote communities.

This policy brief proposes a set of concrete areas of collaboration to enhance current strategies and foster cooperation though different frameworks, in order to accelerate the full realization of opportunities for an inclusive and sustainable digital economy.