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network and the new technologies being developed by UPU for
Posts in a spirit of cooperation and development.”
Trust and security
While turning its vast infrastructure to good account, the postal
sector is also well placed to help meet some of the other chal-
lenges of the Information Society. It offers expertise in the field
of Internet governance and in building confidence and security
in information and communication technology (ICT). These
areas were identified as priorities in the Geneva Action Plan and
in the report by the working group on Internet governance that
was created to tackle challenges arising from Internet use such
as spam e-mail, Internet security and cyber crime. UPU believes
that the postal sector can make a contribution to help solve the
problems arising from Internet identity management. Its conven-
tion lays down statutory and legal obligations binding all of its
190 member countries. Within this legal framework, the postal
sector is well placed to meet the demands of a reliable Internet
identity management system by providing a legal digital address
to complement the physical address, thus reducing the risk of
identity fraud. UPU has received initial approval for a .post
domain from ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers) that holds great opportunities to migrate phys-
ical addresses to digital addresses, thereby laying the
cornerstone for a next generation universal postal service.
Bound by national laws, Posts are recognized as trusted third
parties in the processing and distribution of information and the
delivery of goods. As they develop their range of electronic and
hybrid mail services, Posts are extending their role of trusted
third parties to the digital world. The coming of the Internet has
brought in its wake a large number of confidential and legal
documents circulating in cyberspace. Secure delivery, ensuring
that these documents can only be retrieved by the addressee, is
essential to senders and addressees alike. Public postal opera-
tors already provide certification services for physical mail that
can very easily be applied to digital mail, as a number of them
have already proved through the introduction of electronic post-
marks (EPMs).
Furthermore, as a standards organization with over 100 inter-
national standards to its credit – many of them relating to
electronic messaging – UPU provides consistent online postal
communications worldwide to ensure better quality of service to
the public. Security forms an integral part of these standards. For
example, the electronic postmark standard ensures that an elec-
tronic message carrying the EPM confirms the identity of the
sender. It also ensures the inviolability of the message; in other
words, it shows that no one has tampered with it. Combining the
.post address system with the use of electronic postmarks could
enable Posts to offer one of the best security mechanisms.
Towards an all-inclusive Information Society
The development of new technologies should be seen as a great
opportunity to adapt postal services and position the postal
sector as an essential infrastructure for the development of the
Information Society. New developments in ICT are enabling
Posts to expand their service offerings, interconnect the world-
wide postal network and open up new opportunities. One
example is e-commerce. Goods ordered via the Internet have to
be delivered after all. Express mail is another growth segment,
with new digital technologies making it easier to monitor parcel
transmission worldwide. Many postal operators are providing
hybrid mail, saving time and money by combining electronic
communications – for both personal letters and business mail
– with physical delivery.
To conclude in the words of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan:
“By harnessing the power of the different elements of the global
postal network – physical, electronic and financial – and finding
synergies between them, such projects can help everyone benefit
from and become a citizen of the inclusive and empowering
Information Society that we all are striving to build.”
Thanks to UPU’s International Financial System (IFS), the Russian Post has experienced an increase in international money transfers from
400 to 70 000 transactions per month in just over one year, and transmission times are reduced from 20 days to only three
Photo: Universal Postal Union ©