There will be major progress starting this coming week at the UPU as delegates begin to arrive from the 191 member countries for the semi-annual meetings of the Council of Administration and the Postal Operations Council.  Many issues await. They range from the digital and sublime to the ground-level and very physical, dare I say “pedestrian”, as they are very practical indeed.

In the  “sublime” category the UPU must decide on the next steps in developing the Dot Post top-level domain which ICANN and the UPU have agreed upon recently.  This will provide a highly-secure environment for the conduct of business and communication for the postal community.  The implications of this are extraordinary for communications development in the postal sector.

In the “pedestrian” category, right down on the ground, there will be the approval and launch of a visionary project that would result in everyone in the world having an address.  “Addressing the World, An Address for Everyone”.  The implications of  providing an estimated two-thirds of the world’s population with their first physical (or electronic?) postal address are breath-taking for government and business alike.  Merely in implementation, the project willcreate plenty of work for businesses with the technical skills to help countries establish address systems.  For governments, it will help regularize and enhance records, legitimize and give identities and legal rights to citizens, and provide important planning and development tools. For businesses and merchants, it will enable better and cheaper service, promote distance selling, and help make commerce over the Internet cheaper and more widespread.  For Posts, it will grow their volumes in direct mail and parcels, and provide them opportunities for growth and expansion.

The Prescott Report helped articulate this projct and will support the UPU with all our energy. In parallel, we will continue to promote the establishment of an Address Association of posts and businesses who will work with posts world-wide and the UPU to improve data quality globally and simultaneously move this project forward.   For our proposal on this subject, please download “Proposal for an address association” in the Document Library.