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A global perspective Measuring postal e-services development
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A global perspective
Measuring postal e-services development
AcknowledgmentsThis publication is the result of the collective effort of the UPU’s Electronic Services Group, led by Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, and supported by the UPU International Bureau’s Markets Development Directorate.
We owe special thanks to the officials of the 94 national postal operators who took the time to respond to the questionnaire.
Authors Dr Farah Abdallah and Dr Yuliya Shakurova
Supervision Paul Donohoe
Several UPU colleagues also helped to make this study possible: Jose Anson, Nils Clotteau, Ken McKeown, Fredrick Omamo, Rémy Pedretti, Marie-Odile Pilley and Holly Thévoz.
Graphic design Beat Felber (artbeat graphic design), Berne, Switzerland
Editing / design coordination Communication Programme
First editionJanuary 2012
Contact Electronic Postal Services ProgrammeInternational BureauWeltpoststrasse 43000 Berne 15Switzerland
T +41 31 350 3111F +41 31 350 3110E-mail: [email protected]
ISBN: 978-92-95025-20-2
1
Introduction 3
Study objectives and methodology 4
Study objectives 4
Definitions 4
Methodology 4
Executive summary 5
1. Global development of postal e-services 6
Defining the 55 postal e-services 6
– E-post services 7
– E-finance services 9
– E-commerce services 10
– E-government services 11
Country-level perspective 12
Development over the years 20
Regional analysis 21
Service level analysis 23
2. Index of postal e-services (PES) development 31
Developing the PES index 31
Measuring and ranking postal e-services development in UPU member countries 31
3. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development 36
Factors influencing the development of postal e-services 36
– Gross national income per capita 38
– ICT regulation 40
– Innovation capability 42
– Trade barriers 44
– Development of telecommunication infrastructure 46
– Human capital index 48
– E-government index 50
– Revenue of the postal operator 52
Discussion 56
References 60
Table of contents
2
Introduction
The development of the digital economy has stimulated the
need for Posts to innovate and to develop postal electronic
services. However, the pace, scope and degree of success of
innovation differs among countries, regions and markets. One
of the reasons for this variation is the lack of accurate and
comprehensive information on the type of postal electronic
services provided by Posts, their added value and their impact
on the future business of the Posts. 1 Decision-makers and
strategy experts within the sector need this understanding to
determine the appropriate strategy and portfolio of e-services
that should be developed by Posts.
This study aims to answer this need by showing the current
trends in the development of electronic services in the postal
sector worldwide. For this purpose, the study defines, classifies
and measures, for the first time, the different e-services offered
by Posts. In addition, the study aims to support decision-makers
and managers with a novel analysis at the global industry level
reflecting possible international postal e-services of strategic
importance for the industry, and discussing factors facilitating
the development of a worldwide digital postal network.
1 A UPU-ITU book presents some case studies of successful postal e-services: www.upu.int/en/activities/electronic-services/electronic-services-publications.html
3
Study objectives and methodology
The 24th UPU Congress approved resolution C 33 /2008 to study
the deployment and use of electronic services in all UPU mem-
ber countries, monitor their progress and provide benchmarking
and best practice information.
Consequently, the UPU Electronic Services Group (ESG)
undertook a study among Posts to analyze the state of develop-
ment of postal electronic services worldwide.
Study objectives
• Evaluate the development and strategic importance of
postal e-services at a global level
• Benchmark the development of postal e-services in UPU
member countries
• Identify and discuss the impact of possible key factors
affecting the development of postal e-services
Definitions
Definition of postal e-services: In this study, we refer to
postal electronic services (e-services) as services delivered by
Posts to their end customers through information and com-
munications technology (ICT) channels. The Internet is the main
e-service delivery channel, while other telecommunications
channels (e.g. mobile phones, call centres or televisions) are also
considered. The use of ICTs for the sole objective of automating
the internal postal process, such as the use of sorting machines,
is not part of the scope of this study.
Definition of Posts: In this study, Posts are the designated
operators of UPU member countries. The postal e-services
provided in a country are considered to be the ones provided
by its designated operator.
Methodology
Designing the survey: Initially, 22 ESG members identified
55 postal e-services to be included in the survey. The e-services
were divided into four categories: e-post, e-commerce,
e-finance and e-government. A Post can integrate some of
these services and provide them as one service. 1 To assess the
availability and value of these e-services at the country level, a
survey was developed. Responding Posts were asked to indicate
whether they provided each of these services, the service’s
name, the year of its introduction on the market, and each
service’s perceived level of strategic importance on a scale from
one to five, with five being the most important. While the study
measures the number of e-services offered by Posts and reflects
their importance from the postal organization’s perspective, it
does not assess the success of these services in terms of market
adoption or customer satisfaction. The survey also asked more
general questions related to Posts’ strategy for the development
of new e-services.
Study participants: The survey was sent by letter to the
Posts in 191 UPU member countries. Restricted unions and
UPU regional project coordinators were informed of the survey.
Participants were asked to return their responses to the UPU
International Bureau by post, e-mail or fax. Ninety-four Posts
responded to the questionnaire. 2 The response rate to the
survey was therefore 49 %.
Regional groups of countries: Participating countries to the
survey were grouped into regions, based on the UPU’s geo-
graphical and economic development regions: industrialized;
Europe and Community of Independent States (CIS); Asia and
Pacific; Arab countries; Africa; and Latin America and Carib-
bean (LAC). Among the 94 survey participants were 21 African
countries, 12 countries from the Arab region, 16 countries
from Asia/Pacific, 16 countries from the Europe and CIS region,
13 Latin America and Caribbean countries, and 16 industrialized
countries.
1 For instance, two e-services have been identified: the postal electronic mailbox and the hybrid mail service. Some postal operators now provide their customers with an electronic mailbox service to receive and store their postal e-mail and have integrated a hybrid mail service into this service, so that their customers receive a digital version, in their postal electronic mailbox, of letters they would normally receive in their physical mailbox.
2 Denmark and Sweden Posts sent a single response as they have merged to form Posten Norden. In the case of the People’s Republic of China, the response from Macao was used. It is referred to as China (Macao).
4
Executive summary
This study presents an analysis of the deployment of postal
e-services in UPU member countries. The aim is to understand
the state of development of postal e-services and explore their
drivers and impacts on the postal business.
The study’s major findings are as follows:
• Postal e-services are growing globally, but there is a divide between industrialized and developing countriesThe study evaluates the worldwide development of 55
postal e-services. It identifies which services are provided
in each country, facilitating an exchange of knowledge
among Posts and the identification of industry best
practices. The study also shows that the number of
new postal e-services introduced globally is increasing
exponentially. The regional analysis of the development
of these services shows that the industrialized countries
provide, on average, twice as many e-services as develop-
ing countries. Special support is thus required from the
UPU to developing countries to enable the implementa-
tion of the UPU strategy, based on the development of
a worldwide network with three dimensions: physical,
financial and digital. Finally, the study identifies the
services that are the most developed and strategically
important for postal business. Supporting the intercon-
nection between member countries for these services
should be a priority for the UPU.
• The postal e-services index (PES) shows that not all developing countries are trailing behindThe study develops a benchmark index for the devel-
opment of e-services in UPU member countries. The
countries’ ranking according to this PES index shows
that some postal operators from developing countries
are global leaders in providing postal e-services and,
hence, their cases can serve as models for others.
The study also explains how the index can serve as
a reference for implementing certain programmes
of the UPU’s Doha Postal Strategy (2013-2016).
• Innovation capability influences the development of postal e-services more than wealth does. The e-services strategy, management and profits are still not alignedThe study shows that a country’s innovation capability as
well as the development of regulation and infrastructure
related to ICTs are factors supporting the development
of postal e-services. However, a country’s or a Post’s
wealth, as well as the development of e-government
nationally, do not determine the level of development
of postal e-services. The study also indicates that
70 per cent of postal operators are strategically striving
for the development of postal e-services. The transition,
however, is far from being accomplished, and the impact
of postal e-services on a Post’s revenue is still modest.
5
1. Global development of postal e-services
ICTs have drastically changed social and business communica-
tion and have engendered a strong decline in the traditional
letter-mail business. In response, postal operators are diversify-
ing and providing new e-services to their customers.
This section introduces a descriptive, comparative
analysis of the current state of development of postal e-services
among countries and regions. First, definitions of the 55 postal
e-services indicators used in the study are provided. The dif-
ferent services provided in each country are then presented.
Finally, a regional analysis of the development of e-services and
their respective importance is shown.
Defining the 55 postal e-services
To measure the development of postal e-services in UPU mem-
ber countries, these services first have to be defined. Postal
members of the Electronic Services Group (ESG) listed all of
the e-services that they provide. An aggregated list of these
e-services was then prepared, identifying and defining 55 of
them in total. Afterwards, the e-services were classified into
four groups: e-post, e-finance, e-commerce and e-government
services. This was not a straightforward exercise as defining
and categorizing postal e-services is new and some of these
are integrated. For instance, e-commerce services also require
e-finance payment services. Broad consultation with industry
experts and Posts resulted in the proposed definitions and
classification presented in the following tables.
6
E-post servicesTraditionally, postal services have been used to facilitate com-
munication between citizens and businesses via physical means,
such as letters. E-post services are communication services
delivered to customers via ICT means.
Table 1.1: List and definition of e-post services
Code Service Service description
101 Public Internet access point in post offices
Customers can access Internet services in post offices.
102 Web information on services and tariffs
Customers can access information about the different services and products, as well as the corresponding tariffs, on the Post’s website.
103 Postal electronic mailbox
Enables the sending of electronic messages by an authenticated mailer and the delivery and storage of electronic messages and information for the authenticated addressee. Defined in article 14 of the UPU Convention and article RL 256ter of the Letter Post Regulations.
104 Online direct mail Delivery of advertising and/or other promotional communications by the Post via electronic means.
105 Postal registered electronic mail
A secure postal e-service that provides proof of sending and proof of delivery of an electronic message and a secure communication channel to the authenticated users. Defined in article 14 of the UPU Convention and article RL 256bis of the Letter Post Regulations. A draft UPU functional specification standard (S52) exists.
106 Electronic stamp Postage that has been electronically paid for and downloaded, for instance through the Post’s website or a smartphone application. The postage is then printed physically or stored electronically. It constitutes proof of the prepayment of the value of a postal service. Usually, electronic stamps take the form of a barcode or an RFID tag.
107 Customized electronic stamps
Electronic stamps designed according to the customer’s needs and preferences. For instance, the sender may incorporate a personal image in the stamp.
108 Electronic postal certification mark
Provides evidentiary proof of an electronic event, in a given form, at a given time, and involving one or more parties. Defined in article 14 of the UPU Convention and article RL 256 of the Letter Post Regulations. A draft UPU functional specification standard (S43) supports this service.
109 Electronic signature Provides the possibility of digitally signing documents.
110 E-telegram Provides the ability to compose a telegram electronically, such as by e-mail or SMS, with the telegram being delivered to the recipient physically.1
111 E-cards Provides the ability to buy a postcard online, which is then delivered to recipients by physical or electronic means.
112 Online burofax Permits the transmission of texts and illustrations true to the original by fax, as defined in article RL 254 of the Letter Post Regulations.
113 Hybrid mail (electronic to physical)
Enables customers to send an original message, which is then processed electronically and converted into a letter-post item for physical delivery to the addressee. Defined in article RL 253 of the Letter Post Regulations.
1 www.etelegram.net.mm or www.webtelegram.poste.tn
71. Global development of postal e-services
Code Service Service description
114 Hybrid mail (physical to electronic)
Enables customers to send an original physical message, which is converted into an electronic form for delivery to the addressee. Defined in article RL 253 of the Letter Post Regulations.
115 Postcode lookup Enables customers to find a postcode online by entering information such as an address, a company name or a city.1
116 Postal address validation
Enables customers to verify an address by entering it online to check against a database of valid street addresses and/or determine an area of uncertainty.
117 Post office location lookup
Enables customers to search for the address of a post office online by entering information such as the street, the city or the postcode. Customers can also obtain additional information about the different products and services provided at the post office as well as its business hours.
118 Address change online Enables customers to change their mailing address electronically, including through an Internet portal.
119 Holding of mail delivery online
Enables customers to request, by e-mail, online application or phone, the suspension of mail deliveries to their address and the holding of their mail for a period of time.
120 Track and trace Enables customers to electronically track and trace a postal item.
121 Electronic notification to Post of letter needing to be collected
Customers are able to notify the postal operator electronically (e.g. by SMS text message or e-mail) about a letter item to be collected from a specific physical address.
122 Electronic notification to addressee that letter is to be delivered
The Post notifies an addressee electronically (e.g. by SMS or e-mail) about a letter item to be delivered to a specific address.
123 Electronic notification to sender that letter has been delivered
The Post notifies a sender electronically (e.g. by SMS or e-mail) that a letter item has been delivered to a specific address.
124 Electronic notification to Post that parcel needs to be collected
Customers notify the Post electronically (e.g. by SMS or e-mail) of a parcel item whose collection from a specific physical address is requested.
125 Electronic notification to addressee that parcel is to be delivered
The Post notifies an addressee electronically (e.g. by SMS or e-mail) of a parcel item to be delivered to a specific address.
126 Electronic notification to sender that parcel has been delivered
The Post notifies the sender electronically (e.g. by SMS or e-mail) that a parcel item has been delivered to a specific address.
127 Check mailbox contents online
Enables customers to check the content of their physical mailbox by receiving an electronic version of their letters or by receiving electronic notification from the Post of new parcels.
128 Web-based customer service and contact
Allow customers to contact the Post electronically for a service or information, via a website, e-mail or telephone.
129 Applications on mobile devices
Services provided by Posts through smartphone applications.
1 www2.royalmail.com/postcode-finder
8 1. Global development of postal e-services
E-finance services E-finance services are financial services provided by postal
operators to end customers using ICTs. The UPU has developed
regulations for postal payment services provided among Posts.1Table 1.2:
List and definition of e-finance services
Code Service Service description
201 Electronic invoicing
A service whereby customers receive an electronic invoice for the services and products provided by the Post.
202 Electronic account management
Enables customers to electronically manage their financial postal account and carry out related account operations.
203 Electronic remittance
A service allowing cash-to-cash money transfers by using electronic money orders that have replaced ones that are paper-based.
204 Online bill payments
A service allowing bill payments via the Post’s website, entailing development of a specialized online payment system.
205 Bills management
Provides the customer with a specialized electronic account for the online payment and management of bills.
206 E-payment of water bills
The payment of water supply bills via an online system.
207 E-payment of electricity bills
The payment of electricity services via an online system.
208 E-payment of phone bills
The payment of phone services via an online system.
209 Electronic money transfer
A service allowing account-to-account fund transfers from the sender to the payee through the Posts.
1 For more information on e-finance services, please visit www.upu.int
91. Global development of postal e-services
E-commerce servicesE-commerce services consist of buying and selling products
and services using ICTs. It involves processing and delivering
purchased items physically or electronically.1
Table 1.3: List and description of e-commerce services
Code Service Service description
301 Online shop for philatelic products
Customers can purchase philatelic products online and have them delivered to a
physical address.
302 Online shop for postal goods
Customers can purchase postal goods online and have them delivered to a physical
address.
303 Online shop for non-postal goods
Customers can purchase non-postal goods online and have them delivered to a
physical address.
304 Subscription for periodicals
Customers can subscribe to periodicals online and have them delivered to a physical
address.
305 E-commerce web-based customer service and contact
A service providing the customer with an electronic online account and a unique con-
tact identifier to manage and trace operations related to an e-commerce transaction.
306 SSL web certificates The Post issues SSL certificates for securing websites.
1 For instance, a customer purchasing a music album could either get the CD delivered physically, or get the music files delivered and downloaded electronically.
10 1. Global development of postal e-services
E-government servicesE-government services are driven by government and pro-
vided through ICT means, using Posts as a trusted third party.
Table 1.4: List and description of e-government services
Code Service Service description
401 Digital identity The Post issues a digital identity legally identifying its customers. The digital identity
can be secured with a simple electronic authentication using a password or with more
secure authentication technologies using cryptography and public key infrastructure.
402 Driving licence renewal Customers can renew their driving licences electronically.
403 Online shopping for tickets to cultural and/or sports events
A service on the postal website allowing customers to buy and print tickets for
cultural and/or sports events.
404 Electronic university registration
Students can register at the university using postal electronic registration systems.
405 Electronic payment of retirement pensions
Customers are paid their retirement pensions using postal electronic payment systems.
406 Online passport application
Customers can apply for a passport through the postal website.
407 Management of patients’ electronic medical files
Customers can manage their medical files using specialized postal electronic systems.
408 Electronic medical certificates
Customers can issue an electronic medical certificate using postal specialized
electronic systems.
409 Electronic collection of public medical fees
Customers can pay their public medical fees using postal electronic payment systems.
410 Electronic export documents
Customers can electronically provide the necessary information to the requiring
authority before sending an item abroad.
411 Electronic customs documents
Customers can electronically provide the necessary information to the requiring
authority before importing or exporting an item.
111. Global development of postal e-services
Australia
Austria
Canada
Denmark & Sweden
France
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Italy
Israel
Portugal
Spain
Switzerland
United Kingdom (UK)
United States of America (USA)
Industrializedcountries
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
301
302
303
304
305
306
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
Code
E-post E-finance E-commerce E-government
Publi
c Inte
rnet a
ccess
point
in po
st offi
ces
Web in
formati
on on
servi
ces an
d tari
ffs
Posta
l elec
tronic
box
Online
direc
t mail
Posta
l regis
tered
elect
ronic
Electr
onic
stamp
Custom
ized e
lectro
nic st
amps
Electr
onic
posta
l cert
ificati
on m
ark
Electr
onic
signa
ture
E-tele
gram
E-card
s
Online
burof
ax
Hybrid
(elec
tronic
to ph
ysica
l)
Hybrid
(phy
sical
to ele
ctron
ic)
Postc
ode l
ooku
p
Posta
l add
ress v
alida
tion
Post
office
locati
on lo
okup
Addres
s cha
nge o
nline
Holding
of m
ail de
livery
onlin
e
Track
and t
race
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost o
f lette
r
need
ing to
be co
llecte
d
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at let
ter is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t lette
r has
been
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost t
hat p
arcel
need
s to b
e coll
ected
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at pa
rcel is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t parc
el ha
s bee
n deli
vered
Check
mailbo
x con
tents
onlin
e
Web-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
Applica
tions
on m
obile
devic
es
Electr
onic
invoic
ing
Electr
onic
acco
unt m
anag
emen
t
Electr
onic
remitta
nce
Online
bill p
aymen
ts
Bills m
anag
emen
t
E-pay
ment o
f wate
r bills
E-pay
ment o
f elec
tricity
bills
E-pay
ment o
f pho
ne bi
lls
Electr
onic
money
trans
fer
Online
shop
for p
hilate
lic pro
ducts
Online
shop
for p
ostal
good
s
Online
shop
for n
on-po
stal g
oods
Subs
cripti
on fo
r peri
odica
ls
E-com
merce w
eb-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
SSL w
eb ce
rtifica
tes
Digital
iden
tity
Driving
licen
ce ren
ewal
Online
shop
ping f
or tic
kets
to cu
ltural
and/o
r spo
rts ev
ents
Electr
onic
unive
rsity
regist
ration
Electr
onic
paym
ents
of ret
iremen
t pen
sions
Online
passp
ort ap
plica
tion
Manag
emen
t of p
atien
ts’ el
ectron
ic med
ical fi
les
Electr
onic
medica
l cert
ificate
Electr
onic
colle
ction
of pu
blic m
edica
l fees
Electr
onic
expo
rt do
cumen
ts
Electr
onic
custo
ms doc
umen
ts
Country-level perspective
This section presents an overview of the development of postal
e-services in the UPU country members. The matrix seen in Table
1.5 shows the postal e-services provided in the 94 respondent
countries. For each country, the table indicates which of the
surveyed services it offers.
Table 1.5 shows that in the Arab region, Qatar and Tunisia
are very active across most service categories. In Africa, most
activity is in e-post and e-finance, with South Africa leading
the way, followed by Kenya and Gambia. In Asia, where e-post,
e-finance and e-commerce services are well represented, the
Table 1.5: Develpment of postal e-services in the 94 respondent countries
12 1. Global development of postal e-services
Australia
Austria
Canada
Denmark & Sweden
France
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Italy
Israel
Portugal
Spain
Switzerland
United Kingdom (UK)
United States of America (USA)
Industrializedcountries
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
301
302
303
304
305
306
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
Code
E-post E-finance E-commerce E-government
Publi
c Inte
rnet a
ccess
point
in po
st offi
ces
Web in
formati
on on
servi
ces an
d tari
ffs
Posta
l elec
tronic
box
Online
direc
t mail
Posta
l regis
tered
elect
ronic
Electr
onic
stamp
Custom
ized e
lectro
nic st
amps
Electr
onic
posta
l cert
ificati
on m
ark
Electr
onic
signa
ture
E-tele
gram
E-card
s
Online
burof
ax
Hybrid
(elec
tronic
to ph
ysica
l)
Hybrid
(phy
sical
to ele
ctron
ic)
Postc
ode l
ooku
p
Posta
l add
ress v
alida
tion
Post
office
locati
on lo
okup
Addres
s cha
nge o
nline
Holding
of m
ail de
livery
onlin
e
Track
and t
race
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost o
f lette
r
need
ing to
be co
llecte
d
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at let
ter is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t lette
r has
been
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost t
hat p
arcel
need
s to b
e coll
ected
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at pa
rcel is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t parc
el ha
s bee
n deli
vered
Check
mailbo
x con
tents
onlin
e
Web-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
Applica
tions
on m
obile
devic
es
Electr
onic
invoic
ing
Electr
onic
acco
unt m
anag
emen
t
Electr
onic
remitta
nce
Online
bill p
aymen
ts
Bills m
anag
emen
t
E-pay
ment o
f wate
r bills
E-pay
ment o
f elec
tricity
bills
E-pay
ment o
f pho
ne bi
lls
Electr
onic
money
trans
fer
Online
shop
for p
hilate
lic pro
ducts
Online
shop
for p
ostal
good
s
Online
shop
for n
on-po
stal g
oods
Subs
cripti
on fo
r peri
odica
ls
E-com
merce w
eb-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
SSL w
eb ce
rtifica
tes
Digital
iden
tity
Driving
licen
ce ren
ewal
Online
shop
ping f
or tic
kets
to cu
ltural
and/o
r spo
rts ev
ents
Electr
onic
unive
rsity
regist
ration
Electr
onic
paym
ents
of ret
iremen
t pen
sions
Online
passp
ort ap
plica
tion
Manag
emen
t of p
atien
ts’ el
ectron
ic med
ical fi
les
Electr
onic
medica
l cert
ificate
Electr
onic
colle
ction
of pu
blic m
edica
l fees
Electr
onic
expo
rt do
cumen
ts
Electr
onic
custo
ms doc
umen
ts
Republic of Korea is the leader. However, Posts in Asia do not
offer any of the e-government services surveyed in the study.
In Europe and the CIS, Belarus has the most services on offer,
covering e-post, e-finance and e-commerce. In Latin America
and the Caribbean, postal e-services are not well developed,
except in Brazil and Costa Rica. For the industrialized countries,
most are highly active and offer a high number of e-services.
Information provided in Table 1.5 can also serve as a
tool to facilitate an exchange of technological and commercial
know-how among Posts. Posts looking to develop a specific new
e-service can identify other Posts that have already developed
such a service and contact them to learn from their experience.
For instance, Posts interested in developing a digital identity
service (service 401) could learn from the leaders in this area,
including the Posts of Qatar, Tunisia, Australia, Austria, France,
Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
131. Global development of postal e-services
E-post E-finance E-commerce E-government
Comoros
Djibouti
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Syrian Arab Republic
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Arab region
Bhutan
China (Macao)
Iran (Islamic Republic)
Lao PDR
Maldives
Mongolia
Myanmar
Nepal
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Republic of Korea
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Tonga
Asia andPacific
Publi
c Inte
rnet a
ccess
point
in po
st offi
ces
Web in
formati
on on
servi
ces an
d tari
ffs
Posta
l elec
tronic
box
Online
direc
t mail
Posta
l regis
tered
elect
ronic
Electr
onic
stamp
Custom
ized e
lectro
nic st
amps
Electr
onic
posta
l cert
ificati
on m
ark
Electr
onic
signa
ture
E-tele
gram
E-card
s
Online
burof
ax
Hybrid
(elec
tronic
to ph
ysica
l)
Hybrid
(phy
sical
to ele
ctron
ic)
Postc
ode l
ooku
p
Posta
l add
ress v
alida
tion
Post
office
locati
on lo
okup
Addres
s cha
nge o
nline
Holding
of m
ail de
livery
onlin
e
Track
and t
race
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost o
f lette
r
need
ing to
be co
llecte
d
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at let
ter is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t lette
r has
been
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost t
hat p
arcel
need
s to b
e coll
ected
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at pa
rcel is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t parc
el ha
s bee
n deli
vered
Check
mailbo
x con
tents
onlin
e
Web-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
Applica
tions
on m
obile
devic
es
Electr
onic
invoic
ing
Electr
onic
acco
unt m
anag
emen
t
Electr
onic
remitta
nce
Online
bill p
aymen
ts
Bills m
anag
emen
t
E-pay
ment o
f wate
r bills
E-pay
ment o
f elec
tricity
bills
E-pay
ment o
f pho
ne bi
lls
Electr
onic
money
trans
fer
Online
shop
for p
hilate
lic pro
ducts
Online
shop
for p
ostal
good
s
Online
shop
for n
on-po
stal g
oods
Subs
cripti
on fo
r peri
odica
ls
E-com
merce w
eb-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
SSL w
eb ce
rtifica
tes
Digital
iden
tity
Driving
licen
ce ren
ewal
Online
shop
ping f
or tic
kets
to cu
ltural
and/o
r spo
rts ev
ents
Electr
onic
unive
rsity
regist
ration
Electr
onic
paym
ents
of ret
iremen
t pen
sions
Online
passp
ort ap
plica
tion
Manag
emen
t of p
atien
ts’ el
ectron
ic med
ical fi
les
Electr
onic
medica
l cert
ificate
Electr
onic
colle
ction
of pu
blic m
edica
l fees
Electr
onic
expo
rt do
cumen
ts
Electr
onic
custo
ms doc
umen
ts
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
301
302
303
304
305
306
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
Code
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
301
302
303
304
305
306
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
Code
Table 1.5 (continued): Develpment of postal e-services in the 94 respondent countries
14 1. Global development of postal e-services
E-post E-finance E-commerce E-government
Comoros
Djibouti
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Syrian Arab Republic
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Arab region
Bhutan
China (Macao)
Iran (Islamic Republic)
Lao PDR
Maldives
Mongolia
Myanmar
Nepal
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Republic of Korea
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Tonga
Asia andPacific
Publi
c Inte
rnet a
ccess
point
in po
st offi
ces
Web in
formati
on on
servi
ces an
d tari
ffs
Posta
l elec
tronic
box
Online
direc
t mail
Posta
l regis
tered
elect
ronic
Electr
onic
stamp
Custom
ized e
lectro
nic st
amps
Electr
onic
posta
l cert
ificati
on m
ark
Electr
onic
signa
ture
E-tele
gram
E-card
s
Online
burof
ax
Hybrid
(elec
tronic
to ph
ysica
l)
Hybrid
(phy
sical
to ele
ctron
ic)
Postc
ode l
ooku
p
Posta
l add
ress v
alida
tion
Post
office
locati
on lo
okup
Addres
s cha
nge o
nline
Holding
of m
ail de
livery
onlin
e
Track
and t
race
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost o
f lette
r
need
ing to
be co
llecte
d
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at let
ter is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t lette
r has
been
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost t
hat p
arcel
need
s to b
e coll
ected
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at pa
rcel is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t parc
el ha
s bee
n deli
vered
Check
mailbo
x con
tents
onlin
e
Web-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
Applica
tions
on m
obile
devic
es
Electr
onic
invoic
ing
Electr
onic
acco
unt m
anag
emen
t
Electr
onic
remitta
nce
Online
bill p
aymen
ts
Bills m
anag
emen
t
E-pay
ment o
f wate
r bills
E-pay
ment o
f elec
tricity
bills
E-pay
ment o
f pho
ne bi
lls
Electr
onic
money
trans
fer
Online
shop
for p
hilate
lic pro
ducts
Online
shop
for p
ostal
good
s
Online
shop
for n
on-po
stal g
oods
Subs
cripti
on fo
r peri
odica
ls
E-com
merce w
eb-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
SSL w
eb ce
rtifica
tes
Digital
iden
tity
Driving
licen
ce ren
ewal
Online
shop
ping f
or tic
kets
to cu
ltural
and/o
r spo
rts ev
ents
Electr
onic
unive
rsity
regist
ration
Electr
onic
paym
ents
of ret
iremen
t pen
sions
Online
passp
ort ap
plica
tion
Manag
emen
t of p
atien
ts’ el
ectron
ic med
ical fi
les
Electr
onic
medica
l cert
ificate
Electr
onic
colle
ction
of pu
blic m
edica
l fees
Electr
onic
expo
rt do
cumen
ts
Electr
onic
custo
ms doc
umen
ts
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
301
302
303
304
305
306
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
Code
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
301
302
303
304
305
306
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
Code
151. Global development of postal e-services
E-post E-finance E-commerce E-government
Belarus
Bosnia Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Hungary
Kyrgysistan
Lithuania
Malta
Poland
Russian Federation
Slovakia
Tajikistan
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Europeand CIS
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Costa Rica
Dominica
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Mexico
Netherlands Antilles
Panama
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Uruguay
Latin America andCaribbean
Publi
c Inte
rnet a
ccess
point
in po
st offi
ces
Web in
formati
on on
servi
ces an
d tari
ffs
Posta
l elec
tronic
box
Online
direc
t mail
Posta
l regis
tered
elect
ronic
Electr
onic
stamp
Custom
ized e
lectro
nic st
amps
Electr
onic
posta
l cert
ificati
on m
ark
Electr
onic
signa
ture
E-tele
gram
E-card
s
Online
burof
ax
Hybrid
(elec
tronic
to ph
ysica
l)
Hybrid
(phy
sical
to ele
ctron
ic)
Postc
ode l
ooku
p
Posta
l add
ress v
alida
tion
Post
office
locati
on lo
okup
Addres
s cha
nge o
nline
Holding
of m
ail de
livery
onlin
e
Track
and t
race
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost o
f lette
r
need
ing to
be co
llecte
d
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at let
ter is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t lette
r has
been
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost t
hat p
arcel
need
s to b
e coll
ected
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at pa
rcel is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t parc
el ha
s bee
n deli
vered
Check
mailbo
x con
tents
onlin
e
Web-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
Applica
tions
on m
obile
devic
es
Electr
onic
invoic
ing
Electr
onic
acco
unt m
anag
emen
t
Electr
onic
remitta
nce
Online
bill p
aymen
ts
Bills m
anag
emen
t
E-pay
ment o
f wate
r bills
E-pay
ment o
f elec
tricity
bills
E-pay
ment o
f pho
ne bi
lls
Electr
onic
money
trans
fer
Online
shop
for p
hilate
lic pro
ducts
Online
shop
for p
ostal
good
s
Online
shop
for n
on-po
stal g
oods
Subs
cripti
on fo
r peri
odica
ls
E-com
merce w
eb-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
SSL w
eb ce
rtifica
tes
Digital
iden
tity
Driving
licen
ce ren
ewal
Online
shop
ping f
or tic
kets
to cu
ltural
and/o
r spo
rts ev
ents
Electr
onic
unive
rsity
regist
ration
Electr
onic
paym
ents
of ret
iremen
t pen
sions
Online
passp
ort ap
plica
tion
Manag
emen
t of p
atien
ts’ el
ectron
ic med
ical fi
les
Electr
onic
medica
l cert
ificate
Electr
onic
colle
ction
of pu
blic m
edica
l fees
Electr
onic
expo
rt do
cumen
ts
Electr
onic
custo
ms doc
umen
ts
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
301
302
303
304
305
306
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
Code
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
301
302
303
304
305
306
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
Code
Table 1.5 (continued): Develpment of postal e-services in the 94 respondent countries
16 1. Global development of postal e-services
E-post E-finance E-commerce E-government
Belarus
Bosnia Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Hungary
Kyrgysistan
Lithuania
Malta
Poland
Russian Federation
Slovakia
Tajikistan
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Europeand CIS
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Costa Rica
Dominica
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Mexico
Netherlands Antilles
Panama
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Uruguay
Latin America andCaribbean
Publi
c Inte
rnet a
ccess
point
in po
st offi
ces
Web in
formati
on on
servi
ces an
d tari
ffs
Posta
l elec
tronic
box
Online
direc
t mail
Posta
l regis
tered
elect
ronic
Electr
onic
stamp
Custom
ized e
lectro
nic st
amps
Electr
onic
posta
l cert
ificati
on m
ark
Electr
onic
signa
ture
E-tele
gram
E-card
s
Online
burof
ax
Hybrid
(elec
tronic
to ph
ysica
l)
Hybrid
(phy
sical
to ele
ctron
ic)
Postc
ode l
ooku
p
Posta
l add
ress v
alida
tion
Post
office
locati
on lo
okup
Addres
s cha
nge o
nline
Holding
of m
ail de
livery
onlin
e
Track
and t
race
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost o
f lette
r
need
ing to
be co
llecte
d
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at let
ter is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t lette
r has
been
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost t
hat p
arcel
need
s to b
e coll
ected
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at pa
rcel is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t parc
el ha
s bee
n deli
vered
Check
mailbo
x con
tents
onlin
e
Web-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
Applica
tions
on m
obile
devic
es
Electr
onic
invoic
ing
Electr
onic
acco
unt m
anag
emen
t
Electr
onic
remitta
nce
Online
bill p
aymen
ts
Bills m
anag
emen
t
E-pay
ment o
f wate
r bills
E-pay
ment o
f elec
tricity
bills
E-pay
ment o
f pho
ne bi
lls
Electr
onic
money
trans
fer
Online
shop
for p
hilate
lic pro
ducts
Online
shop
for p
ostal
good
s
Online
shop
for n
on-po
stal g
oods
Subs
cripti
on fo
r peri
odica
ls
E-com
merce w
eb-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
SSL w
eb ce
rtifica
tes
Digital
iden
tity
Driving
licen
ce ren
ewal
Online
shop
ping f
or tic
kets
to cu
ltural
and/o
r spo
rts ev
ents
Electr
onic
unive
rsity
regist
ration
Electr
onic
paym
ents
of ret
iremen
t pen
sions
Online
passp
ort ap
plica
tion
Manag
emen
t of p
atien
ts’ el
ectron
ic med
ical fi
les
Electr
onic
medica
l cert
ificate
Electr
onic
colle
ction
of pu
blic m
edica
l fees
Electr
onic
expo
rt do
cumen
ts
Electr
onic
custo
ms doc
umen
ts
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
301
302
303
304
305
306
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
Code
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
301
302
303
304
305
306
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
Code
171. Global development of postal e-services
E-post E-finance E-commerce E-government
Angola
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Chad
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Kenya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Nigeria
Rwanda
Sao Tomé and Principe
South Africa
Tanzania (United Rep.)
Zimbabwe
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
301
302
303
304
305
306
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
Africa
Code
Publi
c Inte
rnet a
ccess
point
in po
st offi
ces
Web in
formati
on on
servi
ces an
d tari
ffs
Posta
l elec
tronic
box
Online
direc
t mail
Posta
l regis
tered
elect
ronic
Electr
onic
stamp
Custom
ized e
lectro
nic st
amps
Electr
onic
posta
l cert
ificati
on m
ark
Electr
onic
signa
ture
E-tele
gram
E-card
s
Online
burof
ax
Hybrid
(elec
tronic
to ph
ysica
l)
Hybrid
(phy
sical
to ele
ctron
ic)
Postc
ode l
ooku
p
Posta
l add
ress v
alida
tion
Post
office
locati
on lo
okup
Addres
s cha
nge o
nline
Holding
of m
ail de
livery
onlin
e
Track
and t
race
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost o
f lette
r
need
ing to
be co
llecte
d
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at let
ter is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t lette
r has
been
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost t
hat p
arcel
need
s to b
e coll
ected
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at pa
rcel is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t parc
el ha
s bee
n deli
vered
Check
mailbo
x con
tents
onlin
e
Web-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
Applica
tions
on m
obile
devic
es
Electr
onic
invoic
ing
Electr
onic
acco
unt m
anag
emen
t
Electr
onic
remitta
nce
Online
bill p
aymen
ts
Bills m
anag
emen
t
E-pay
ment o
f wate
r bills
E-pay
ment o
f elec
tricity
bills
E-pay
ment o
f pho
ne bi
lls
Electr
onic
money
trans
fer
Online
shop
for p
hilate
lic pro
ducts
Online
shop
for p
ostal
good
s
Online
shop
for n
on-po
stal g
oods
Subs
cripti
on fo
r peri
odica
ls
E-com
merce w
eb-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
SSL w
eb ce
rtifica
tes
Digital
iden
tity
Driving
licen
ce ren
ewal
Online
shop
ping f
or tic
kets
to cu
ltural
and/o
r spo
rts ev
ents
Electr
onic
unive
rsity
regist
ration
Electr
onic
paym
ents
of ret
iremen
t pen
sions
Online
passp
ort ap
plica
tion
Manag
emen
t of p
atien
ts’ el
ectron
ic med
ical fi
les
Electr
onic
medica
l cert
ificate
Electr
onic
colle
ction
of pu
blic m
edica
l fees
Electr
onic
expo
rt do
cumen
ts
Electr
onic
custo
ms doc
umen
tsTable 1.5 (continued): Develpment of postal e-services in the 94 respondent countries
18 1. Global development of postal e-services
E-post E-finance E-commerce E-government
Angola
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Chad
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Kenya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Nigeria
Rwanda
Sao Tomé and Principe
South Africa
Tanzania (United Rep.)
Zimbabwe
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
301
302
303
304
305
306
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
Africa
Code
Publi
c Inte
rnet a
ccess
point
in po
st offi
ces
Web in
formati
on on
servi
ces an
d tari
ffs
Posta
l elec
tronic
box
Online
direc
t mail
Posta
l regis
tered
elect
ronic
Electr
onic
stamp
Custom
ized e
lectro
nic st
amps
Electr
onic
posta
l cert
ificati
on m
ark
Electr
onic
signa
ture
E-tele
gram
E-card
s
Online
burof
ax
Hybrid
(elec
tronic
to ph
ysica
l)
Hybrid
(phy
sical
to ele
ctron
ic)
Postc
ode l
ooku
p
Posta
l add
ress v
alida
tion
Post
office
locati
on lo
okup
Addres
s cha
nge o
nline
Holding
of m
ail de
livery
onlin
e
Track
and t
race
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost o
f lette
r
need
ing to
be co
llecte
d
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at let
ter is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t lette
r has
been
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to P
ost t
hat p
arcel
need
s to b
e coll
ected
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to a
ddres
see th
at pa
rcel is
to be
deliv
ered
Electr
onic
notifi
catio
n to s
ende
r tha
t parc
el ha
s bee
n deli
vered
Check
mailbo
x con
tents
onlin
e
Web-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
Applica
tions
on m
obile
devic
es
Electr
onic
invoic
ing
Electr
onic
acco
unt m
anag
emen
t
Electr
onic
remitta
nce
Online
bill p
aymen
ts
Bills m
anag
emen
t
E-pay
ment o
f wate
r bills
E-pay
ment o
f elec
tricity
bills
E-pay
ment o
f pho
ne bi
lls
Electr
onic
money
trans
fer
Online
shop
for p
hilate
lic pro
ducts
Online
shop
for p
ostal
good
s
Online
shop
for n
on-po
stal g
oods
Subs
cripti
on fo
r peri
odica
ls
E-com
merce w
eb-ba
sed cu
stomer
servic
e and
conta
ct
SSL w
eb ce
rtifica
tes
Digital
iden
tity
Driving
licen
ce ren
ewal
Online
shop
ping f
or tic
kets
to cu
ltural
and/o
r spo
rts ev
ents
Electr
onic
unive
rsity
regist
ration
Electr
onic
paym
ents
of ret
iremen
t pen
sions
Online
passp
ort ap
plica
tion
Manag
emen
t of p
atien
ts’ el
ectron
ic med
ical fi
les
Electr
onic
medica
l cert
ificate
Electr
onic
colle
ction
of pu
blic m
edica
l fees
Electr
onic
expo
rt do
cumen
ts
Electr
onic
custo
ms doc
umen
ts
191. Global development of postal e-services
0
20
40
60
80
100
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
8582
55
33
5052
3836
2523
53
34
1195
11
30200
Development over the years
Posts are increasingly responding to their customers’ needs by
providing them with new postal e-services. Figure 1.1 shows
that the number of new postal e-services being introduced
globally each year is increasing. It is clear that the introduction
of new postal e-services continues to grow exponentially.
In 1996, around five new services were introduced globally. Just
over 20 new services were introduced in 2001, compared to 50
in 2006 and 85 in 2010.
In the four years between 2007 and 2010, the number
of postal e-services introduced globally almost tripled, from
33 to 85 per year, showing that Posts worldwide are stepping
up their efforts to bring new services to market.
Figure 1.1: Number of postal e-services introduced globally each year
20 1. Global development of postal e-services
Industrialized32%
Europe and CIS18%
Arab15%
Africa13%
Latin America and Caribbean7%
Asia15%
Regional analysis
The provision of postal e-services varies considerably among
different regions. Figure 1.2 shows the percentage of postal
e-services provided by each region compared to the overall
number of such services provided worldwide.
Industrialized countries appear to be the most active in
this area. The 16 industrialized countries that participated in
the survey provide around 32 % of all postal e-services offered
globally.
There is quite an even spread of activity across the Europe
and CIS, Arab, Asia and Africa regions, but at a lower level
than in the industrialized countries. 1 Sixteen countries from
the Europe and CIS region provide 18% of all postal e-services,
while 16 Asian countries, 21 African countries and 12 Arab
countries each provide around 14 % of all postal e-services.
Finally, the Latin American and Caribbean region lags behind
the rest of the world, with only 7 % of the postal e-services
worldwide being provided by the 13 countries that responded
to the survey.
Figure 1.3 indicates the average number of postal
e-services provided per country in each region. The graphic
shows that a Post from an industrialized country provides at
least twice the average number of postal e-services than a Post
from any other region.
1 Table 1.5 indicates which countries belong to each region
The different types of postal e-services are also not equally
developed among the world’s regions. Figure 1.4 presents the
average number of postal e-services provided per country in
each category.
E-post services are the most widely developed. E-gov-
ernment services appear to be most provided by the Posts of
industrialized and Arab countries. E-commerce services are very
limited in African, Arab and Latin American and Caribbean
countries, with Posts providing no more than one service on
average. E-financial services are insignificant in Latin American
and Caribbean countries.
Consequently, it is clear that the UPU should support
developing countries in offering postal e-services to reduce
the digital postal divide and increase the resources put into
implementing the UPU’s strategy where the development of a
worldwide postal network aligning its physical, electronic and
financial dimensions is seen as crucial for the sector’s survival.
Moreover, the low level of e-government services offered by
Posts shows that the Post’s traditional role of facilitating
communication between the government and citizens in
the physical world is not recognized by governments when
considering electronic communication.
Figure 1.2: Percentage of postal e-services
provided in each region compared to the overall number of postal e-services provided worldwide.
211. Global development of postal e-services
0
5
10
15
20
25
23
1213
9
6 6
Industrialized Europe and CIS Arab Asia LAC Africa
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
E-post E-finance E-commerce E-government
Industrialized Europe and CIS Arab Asia LAC Africa
15
8
7
6
4 4 4
2
4
2
0
2
4
2
1
2
1 0
2
0
2
0 0 0
Figure 1.3: Average number of postal e-services provided per country by region
Figure 1.4: Average number of postal e-services provided per country for each category of e-services
22 1. Global development of postal e-services
0
5
10
15
20
25
23
1213
9
6 6
Industrialized Europe and CIS Arab Asia LAC Africa
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
E-post E-finance E-commerce E-government
Industrialized Europe and CIS Arab Asia LAC Africa
15
8
7
6
4 4 4
2
4
2
0
2
4
2
1
2
1 0
2
0
2
0 0 0
Service level analysis
This section provides an analysis of the regional development
of the 55 postal e-services indicators. The aim is to identify
the most developed and strategic e-services regionally, as well
as globally.
Figures 1.5 show the regional development of each of the
e-post, e-finance, e-commerce and e-government services
and their respective strategic level of importance. The level of
regional development of an e-service is calculated on the basis
of the number of countries in a specific region offering the
e-service. The average strategic importance of an e-service is
calculated as the mean of the strategic importance level of that
service, as indicated by the Posts in the survey.
The figure indicates that the most developed e-post services
internationally are track and trace (120), hybrid mail (113), post
office location lookup (117) and postcode lookup (115). It also
shows that some services are more regional. For instance,
Internet access in post offices is developed in Africa (101) and
online bureaufax (112) is more prevalent in the Latin American
and Caribbean region. Some services seem to be particularly
developed in industrialized countries, such as e-cards (111),
online direct mail (104), postal registered electronic mail (105)
and applications using mobile devices (129).
As for e-finance services, electronic money transfers are the
most widely provided service (209), but their importance is
limited in European and industrialized countries compared to
the other regions of the world. The online bill payment service
(204) is not widely offered around the world, but it is consid-
ered the most strategically important e-finance service by the
respondent Posts.
Online philatelic shops (301) and e-commerce web-based
customer service (305) are the most developed e-commerce
services. Although less widely provided, online shops for postal
goods (302) and SSL web certificates (306) appear to be of
considerable importance for the postal business. Although
e-commerce services appear to be not well developed in
African countries, they are considered to be of high strategic
importance by the Posts of that region.
Finally, figure 1.5 shows that the electronic customs declaration
document (411) is the most developed and important e-gov-
ernment service, followed by digital identity (401), electronic
payment of retirement pensions (405) and electronic customs
documents (410).
231. Global development of postal e-services
4 4 4 1263
1 3 1 3
1 1 2 4 8
2 1 3 3 1 8
4 3 4 2 1 4
1 1 2 2 5
2 2 2 2 3
4 3 4 2 2
17 8 14 14 21 13
2 2 91
1 3 1 1 10
7 5 5 12 7 12
51 51 3 12
4 4 12 13 6 13
2 5 1 3 2 7
4 5 2 9 4 10
3 11
5
1 2 1 4 3 3
1 2 2 2 2 2
1 2 6
1 1 4 4 9
1 1 1 6
2 3 2 8
2 2 7
3 4 4 5 2 5
12 9 13 14 7 14
14 5 6 6 1 2
2 2 1 1 1 8 4.0 3.7 2.0 3.03.0
4.3 3.8 3.3 3.8 4.0 4.0
4.3 3.0 3.7 1.0 1.0 3.7
3.5 3.0 3.7 3.8 3.5 3.9
2.0 3.0 3.7 3.7 3.3 3.7
5.0 4.0 3.5 4.5 4.0 3.3
3 3.5 3.7 2 3.5 3.3
2.5 4.0 3.7 3.0 3.0 3.0
3.5 4.5 3.5 4.0 2.8
4.0 4.8 4.3 4.7 4.6 4.4
3.0 4.5 3.5 2.3 3.1
4.0 5.0 2.7 5.0 2.5 3.8
3.8 4.3 4.0 3.6 3.6 3.3
4.5 4.3 4.5 4.8 3.5 3.5
3.8 3.7 3.7 3.9 4.8 3.8
4.0 3.4 5.0 4.3 2.7 3.6
5.0 4.6 3.8 4.7 3.5 3.6
3.0 3.0 1.0 2.7 2.0 2.3
3.5 3.0 2.5 1.0 3.0
3.0 4.5 1.0 3.5 3.8 2.4
4.0 4.5 3.7 2.0 4.0 4.1
3.5 5.0 4.3 2.0 4.1
3.5 3.5 3.8 4.0 2.0 3.1
3.0 3.5 3.0 5.0 2.0 3.4
4.0 4.5 3.4 4.5 2.0 4.2
4.0 3.0 2.8 4.5 2.0 3.3
2.8 4.0 2.4 4.3 2.3 3.3
3.6 4.0 3.9 4.1 4.5 4.2
3.3 4.3 1.7 3.4 2.5 1.7
Africa Arab Asia Europe and CIS LAC Industrialized
129128127126125124123122121120119118117116115114113112111110109108107106105104103102101
Service code Service descriptionNumber of countries providing the service Average strategic importance of service
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Applications on mobile devices
Web-based customer service and contact
Check mailbox contents online
Electronic notification to sender that parcel has been delivered
Electronic notification to addressee that parcel is to be delivered
Electronic notification to Post that parcel needs to be collected
Electronic notification to sender that letter has been delivered
Electronic notification to addressee that letter is to be delivered
Electronic notification to Post of letter needing to be collected
Track and trace
Holding of mail delivery online
Address change online
Post office location lookup
Postal address validation
Postcode lookup
Hybrid mail (physical to electronic)
Hybrid mail (electronic to physical)
Online burofax
E-cards
E-telegram
Electronic signature
Electronic postal certification mark
Customized electronic stamps
Electronic stamp
Postal registered electronic mail
Online direct mail
Postal electronic mailbox
Web information on services and tariffs
Public Internet access point in post offices
E-p
ost
Figure 1.5: Number of countries providing postal e-services by type and region
24 1. Global development of postal e-services
4 4 4 1263
1 3 1 3
1 1 2 4 8
2 1 3 3 1 8
4 3 4 2 1 4
1 1 2 2 5
2 2 2 2 3
4 3 4 2 2
17 8 14 14 21 13
2 2 91
1 3 1 1 10
7 5 5 12 7 12
51 51 3 12
4 4 12 13 6 13
2 5 1 3 2 7
4 5 2 9 4 10
3 11
5
1 2 1 4 3 3
1 2 2 2 2 2
1 2 6
1 1 4 4 9
1 1 1 6
2 3 2 8
2 2 7
3 4 4 5 2 5
12 9 13 14 7 14
14 5 6 6 1 2
2 2 1 1 1 8 4.0 3.7 2.0 3.03.0
4.3 3.8 3.3 3.8 4.0 4.0
4.3 3.0 3.7 1.0 1.0 3.7
3.5 3.0 3.7 3.8 3.5 3.9
2.0 3.0 3.7 3.7 3.3 3.7
5.0 4.0 3.5 4.5 4.0 3.3
3 3.5 3.7 2 3.5 3.3
2.5 4.0 3.7 3.0 3.0 3.0
3.5 4.5 3.5 4.0 2.8
4.0 4.8 4.3 4.7 4.6 4.4
3.0 4.5 3.5 2.3 3.1
4.0 5.0 2.7 5.0 2.5 3.8
3.8 4.3 4.0 3.6 3.6 3.3
4.5 4.3 4.5 4.8 3.5 3.5
3.8 3.7 3.7 3.9 4.8 3.8
4.0 3.4 5.0 4.3 2.7 3.6
5.0 4.6 3.8 4.7 3.5 3.6
3.0 3.0 1.0 2.7 2.0 2.3
3.5 3.0 2.5 1.0 3.0
3.0 4.5 1.0 3.5 3.8 2.4
4.0 4.5 3.7 2.0 4.0 4.1
3.5 5.0 4.3 2.0 4.1
3.5 3.5 3.8 4.0 2.0 3.1
3.0 3.5 3.0 5.0 2.0 3.4
4.0 4.5 3.4 4.5 2.0 4.2
4.0 3.0 2.8 4.5 2.0 3.3
2.8 4.0 2.4 4.3 2.3 3.3
3.6 4.0 3.9 4.1 4.5 4.2
3.3 4.3 1.7 3.4 2.5 1.7
Africa Arab Asia Europe and CIS LAC Industrialized
129128127126125124123122121120119118117116115114113112111110109108107106105104103102101
Service code Service descriptionNumber of countries providing the service Average strategic importance of service
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Applications on mobile devices
Web-based customer service and contact
Check mailbox contents online
Electronic notification to sender that parcel has been delivered
Electronic notification to addressee that parcel is to be delivered
Electronic notification to Post that parcel needs to be collected
Electronic notification to sender that letter has been delivered
Electronic notification to addressee that letter is to be delivered
Electronic notification to Post of letter needing to be collected
Track and trace
Holding of mail delivery online
Address change online
Post office location lookup
Postal address validation
Postcode lookup
Hybrid mail (physical to electronic)
Hybrid mail (electronic to physical)
Online burofax
E-cards
E-telegram
Electronic signature
Electronic postal certification mark
Customized electronic stamps
Electronic stamp
Postal registered electronic mail
Online direct mail
Postal electronic mailbox
Web information on services and tariffs
Public Internet access point in post offices
E-p
ost
251. Global development of postal e-services
10 6 11 9 2 7
3 7 1 5 1 6
3 6 2 4 1 6
2 6 2 5 1 6
1 4 2 4
2 4 3 3 7
7 3 7 7 1 7
3 3 2 2 4
2 5 1 1 9
4.1 4.8 4.3 4.8 3.3 3.4
3.3 4.3 4.5 4.7 3.3 3.9
3.5 4.2 4.5 5.0 3.3 3.9
3.5 4.2 4.0 4.7 3.3 3.9
3.5 4.0 3.0 5.0 3.0 4.0
4.0 4.8 3.5 5.0 3.0 4.0
3.8 4.8 3.5 4.3 2.3 3.5
4.3 3.7 2.3 5.0 2.5 4.4
4.0 4.0 2.7 5.0 2.5 3.9
1 2 3 1 5
1 1 1 1 4
1 1
1 1
2 2
1 1 1 1
1 4 3
3 1
2 1 4
2
3 5
4.5 4.5 3.0 3.0 3.0 4.5
4.5 4.5 3.0 2.0 3.0 4.2
2.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 2.3
2.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 2.7
2.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 3.5
3.0 4.0 3.5 3.5 3.0
3.5 3.5 4.0 2.0 3.0
1.0 4.7 3.5 3.5 1.0
3.0 4.7 3.0 2.0 1.8
4.0 4.0 3.5 2.0 2.0
3.0 4.7 3.5 2.0 4.4
1 1 2 3 1 2
4 5 8 9 2 12
2 5 5
3 5 4 1 8
2 3 3 3 10
5 2 6 8 3 13
4.0 4.0 3.7 5.0 4.0 4.3
4.5 4.0 4.0 3.5 3.7 4.1
3.0 3.5 3.7 3.8 2.0 2.8
5.0 4.0 3.2 3.0 2.0 2.8
5.0 3.7 4.0 4.0 3.0 3.4
4.2 3.7 3.8 4.3 3.5 3.1
209208207206205204203202201
Service code Service descriptionNumber of countries providing the service Average strategic importance of service
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Electronic money transfer
E-payment of phone bills
E-payment of electricity bills
E-payment of water bills
Bills management
Online bill payments
Electronic remittance
Electronic account management
Electronic invoicing
411410409408407406405404403402401
Service code Service descriptionNumber of countries providing the service Average strategic importance of service
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Electronic customs documents
Electronic export documents
Electronic collection of public medical fees
Electronic medical certificate
Management of patients’ electronic medical files
Online passport application
Electronic payments of retirement pensions
Electronic university registration
Online shopping for tickets to cultural and /or sports events
Driving licence renewal
Digital identity
306305304303302301
Service code Service descriptionNumber of countries providing the service Average strategic importance of service
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
SSL web certificates
E-commerce web-based customer service and contact
Subscription for periodicals
Online shop for non-postal goods
Online shop for postal goods
Online shop for philatelic products
E-fi
nan
ceE-c
om
merc
eE-g
overn
men
t
Africa Arab Asia Europe and CIS LAC Industrialized
Figure 1.5 (continued): Number of countries providing postal e-services by type and region
26 1. Global development of postal e-services
10 6 11 9 2 7
3 7 1 5 1 6
3 6 2 4 1 6
2 6 2 5 1 6
1 4 2 4
2 4 3 3 7
7 3 7 7 1 7
3 3 2 2 4
2 5 1 1 9
4.1 4.8 4.3 4.8 3.3 3.4
3.3 4.3 4.5 4.7 3.3 3.9
3.5 4.2 4.5 5.0 3.3 3.9
3.5 4.2 4.0 4.7 3.3 3.9
3.5 4.0 3.0 5.0 3.0 4.0
4.0 4.8 3.5 5.0 3.0 4.0
3.8 4.8 3.5 4.3 2.3 3.5
4.3 3.7 2.3 5.0 2.5 4.4
4.0 4.0 2.7 5.0 2.5 3.9
1 2 3 1 5
1 1 1 1 4
1 1
1 1
2 2
1 1 1 1
1 4 3
3 1
2 1 4
2
3 5
4.5 4.5 3.0 3.0 3.0 4.5
4.5 4.5 3.0 2.0 3.0 4.2
2.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 2.3
2.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 2.7
2.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 3.5
3.0 4.0 3.5 3.5 3.0
3.5 3.5 4.0 2.0 3.0
1.0 4.7 3.5 3.5 1.0
3.0 4.7 3.0 2.0 1.8
4.0 4.0 3.5 2.0 2.0
3.0 4.7 3.5 2.0 4.4
1 1 2 3 1 2
4 5 8 9 2 12
2 5 5
3 5 4 1 8
2 3 3 3 10
5 2 6 8 3 13
4.0 4.0 3.7 5.0 4.0 4.3
4.5 4.0 4.0 3.5 3.7 4.1
3.0 3.5 3.7 3.8 2.0 2.8
5.0 4.0 3.2 3.0 2.0 2.8
5.0 3.7 4.0 4.0 3.0 3.4
4.2 3.7 3.8 4.3 3.5 3.1
209208207206205204203202201
Service code Service descriptionNumber of countries providing the service Average strategic importance of service
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Electronic money transfer
E-payment of phone bills
E-payment of electricity bills
E-payment of water bills
Bills management
Online bill payments
Electronic remittance
Electronic account management
Electronic invoicing
411410409408407406405404403402401
Service code Service descriptionNumber of countries providing the service Average strategic importance of service
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Electronic customs documents
Electronic export documents
Electronic collection of public medical fees
Electronic medical certificate
Management of patients’ electronic medical files
Online passport application
Electronic payments of retirement pensions
Electronic university registration
Online shopping for tickets to cultural and /or sports events
Driving licence renewal
Digital identity
306305304303302301
Service code Service descriptionNumber of countries providing the service Average strategic importance of service
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
SSL web certificates
E-commerce web-based customer service and contact
Subscription for periodicals
Online shop for non-postal goods
Online shop for postal goods
Online shop for philatelic products
E-fi
nan
ceE-c
om
merc
eE-g
overn
men
t
Africa Arab Asia Europe and CIS LAC Industrialized
271. Global development of postal e-services
From an international perspective, figure 1.6 visually portrays
the 55 postal e-services, taking into account their global mean
level of importance 1 and the number of countries providing
each of them. The vertical and horizontal lines on the scatter
plot respectively indicate the mean level of strategic importance
of a postal e-service and the average number of countries pro-
viding it. Generally, the more a service is considered important,
the more it is provided.
These results on the international development of postal
e-services as well as their related strategic importance assist
in the following:
1. Determinin g which postal e-services are widely devel-
oped and strategically important for Posts. In particular,
the upper right-hand corner of the graph in figure 1.6
indicates the services that are the most developed and
important, including:
a) e-post services: track and trace (120), web information
on postal services and tariffs (102), hybrid mail (113,
114), postcode lookup (115), post office location lookup
(117), postal address validation (116), electronic customer
service (128);
b) e-finance services: electronic money transfers (209),
electronic remittances (203), online bill payment
(204), e-payment of water, electricity and phone bills
(206/207/208);
c) e-commerce services: online philatelic shops (301), web-
based customer service and contact (305), online shop
for postal goods (302).
Accordingly, the UPU could study the possibility of develop-
ing related international postal e-services for interconnect-
ing member countries.
1 Mean level of importance is calculated based on the survey data. However, this information should be read cautiously, since the data on relative importance of a service is not available for all countries. A higher participation rate in answering the survey would improve the reliability of graphical analysis.
2. Determining which postal e-services are strategically
important for the sector. These services appear in the lower
right-hand corner of the graph in figure 1.6. Although they
are considered strategically important by Posts, they have
a relatively low level of development:
a) e-post services: postal registered electronic mail (105),
electronic postal certification mark (108), electronic
signature (109), online address change (118), SMS/e-mail
notification for a Post to collect a parcel (124), SMS/e-
mail notification for an addressee that a parcel has been
delivered (126);
b) e-finance services: electronic invoicing (201), electronic
account management (202), bill management (205);
c) e-commerce services: SSL web certificates (306);
d) e-government services: electronic customs documents
(411), electronic export documents (410), digital identity
(401).
Financial and knowledge support is required to help the
international development of these postal e-services.
3. Determining which postal e-services are widely offered
even though their importance is relatively low or depends
on specific regional and country-level factors. These are,
in particular, the services in the upper left-hand corner
of the graph in figure 1.6. For instance, the provision of
a public Internet access point (101), the postal electronic
mailbox service (103) and online shops for non-postal goods
(303) seem to be widely developed but of low importance
on average. The observations in figure 1.5 showed that
the provision of a public Internet access point (101) is of
great importance in the African countries, but is of less
importance in the industrialized and Asian countries. One
possible explanation is that governments and citizens in
Africa consider post offices to be vital access points to ICTs,
while in other regions access for citizens to ICT infrastructure
is more widespread. On the other hand, the postal elec-
tronic mailbox (103) and online shops for non-postal goods
(303) appear to be more widespread in Europe and in the
industrialized countries (figures 1.5), while their strategic
importance still varies among these countries and therefore
depends on country-level factors.
28 1. Global development of postal e-services
2
Average importance of e-services ( 1– Lowest, 5 – Highest)
Nu
mb
er o
f co
un
trie
s p
rovi
din
g e
-ser
vice
s
2.53
3.54
4.5
E-post E-finance E-commerce E-government Services11
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Mean
123
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118119
120
121
122
124125
126
127
128
129
201
202
203
204
205
206 207
208
209
301
302303
304
305
306
401
402
403
404
405
406407
408409
410
411
Figure 1.6: Worldwide development of postal
e-services versus the mean level of their respective importance
101 Public Internet access point in post offices102 Web information on services and tariffs103 Postal electronic mailbox104 Online direct mail105 Postal registered electronic mail106 Electronic stamp107 Customized electronic stamps108 Electronic postal certification mark109 Electronic signature110 E-telegram111 E-cards112 Online burofax113 Hybrid mail (electronic to physical)114 Hybrid mail (physical to electronic)115 Postcode lookup116 Postal address validation117 Post office location lookup118 Address change online119 Holding of mail delivery online120 Track and trace121 Electronic notification to post of letter
needing to be collected122 Electronic notification to addressee that
letter is to be delivered123 Electronic notification to sender that letter
has been delivered124 Electronic notification to Post that parcel
needs to be collected125 Electronic notification to addressee that
parcel is to be delivered126 Electronic notification to sender that parcel
has been delivered127 Check mailbox contents online128 Web-based customer service and contact129 Applications on mobile devices
201 Electronic invoicing202 Electronic account management203 Electronic remittance204 Online bill payments205 Bills management206 E-payment of water bills207 E-payment of electricity bills208 E-payment of phone bills209 Electronic money
301 Online shop for philatelic products302 Online shop for postal goods303 Online shop for non-postal goods304 Subscription for periodicals305 E-commerce web-based customer service
and contact306 SSL web certificates
401 Digital identity402 Driving licence renewal403 Online shopping for tickets to cultural and/
or sports events404 Electronic university registration405 Electronic payment of retirement pensions406 Online passport application407 Management of patients’ electronic
medical files408 Electronic medical certificates409 Electronic collection of public medical fees410 Electronic export documents411 Electronic customs documents
291. Global development of postal e-services
To conclude, the level of postal e-service development is quite
heterogeneous at the current stage of this study. The question-
naire provides evidence that there are countries providing an
almost exhaustive list of available e-services to their custom-
ers, some countries providing more e-services of a particular
type, and some countries with a nearly non-existent e-services
sector. Therefore, to access the scope of further global sector
development, closer attention should be paid to the following
issues: developing countries, in particular in the African and
Latin American and Caribbean regions, require special support
from the UPU to develop electronic services and networks. As
a priority, the UPU needs to interconnect some of the postal
e-services that are developed globally and considered strategi-
cally important by setting up the required regulation, standards
and technical applications.
As regards postal e-services that are strategically impor-
tant but less widely provided, the UPU may need to support its
member countries and the industry through market develop-
ment studies and the hosting of knowledge-exchange forums
related to these services.
The findings are only indicative from a global perspective,
but a deeper business analysis should be performed by postal
operators when developing a specific service.
30 1. Global development of postal e-services
2. Index of postal e-services (PES) development
Benchmark indices are commonly used to measure progress
in countries’ social and economic development. 1 This study
constitutes a first attempt to develop an index for measuring
the development of postal e-services in UPU member countries.
In this section, the methodology used for developing the postal
electronic service index (PES index) is first presented. The index
measuring the development of postal e-services in the coun-
tries that responded to the survey is then developed, and the
countries are ranked accordingly.
Developing the PES index
The 55 postal e-services are used as the set of variables to
construct the PES index. The method of principal component
analysis (PCA) has been applied to aggregate the information
based on the set of variables into one PES index measure. First,
PCA is used to compose three individual indices – for e-post,
e-finance and e-commerce – based on the variables of the
respective electronic postal service group. 2 Then, PCA is used
to transform these three indices into one PES index.
Why choose this method to construct the PES index? The
PCA statistical multivariate technique allows a set of observa-
tions of possibly correlated variables to be converted into a set
of values of uncorrelated variables called principal components.
This transformation is defined in such a way that the first princi-
pal component has as high a variance as possible. Therefore, the
first component aggregates most of the information contained
in the original set of variables. This first component is used in
the current study as the resulting index. It is the measure of
this component that is used as a single indicator for the level of
development of the e-services in the countries that responded
to the survey.
1 For example, the United Nations E-government Development Index (UN, 2010), the International Telecommunication Union’s ICT Development Index (ITU, 2010) or the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (Arvis et al., 2010). For the list of various indices established in the literature see Rorissa et al. (2011)
2 The e-government group is not considered because there were too few data observations for this group.
It should be noted that all variables used in the construction
of the basic three indices (e-post, e-finance and e-commerce
indices) have a discrete binary nature, i.e. the variable is coded
to be 1 if a service is available, and 0 if it is absent. However,
distributional assumptions of PCA imply normality for the input
data (Jollife, 2002). The main implication of the violation of
normality assumption for index construction is the bias in the
proportion of the explained variance used for the principal com-
ponent estimation (Kolenikov and Angeles, 2009). Nevertheless,
given that we are mostly interested in PCA as a descriptive
technique for the country ranking, it does not provide specific
problems for the interpretation (Jollife, 2002). Additionally,
Kolenikov and Angeles (2009) suggest that using PCA based
on ordinary binary variables is acceptable for ranking purposes.
Measuring and ranking postal e-services development in UPU member countries
Table 2.1 provides a ranking of the UPU member countries that
responded to the survey based on the level of development of
postal e-services in these countries. In particular, the ranking
was performed according to the values of the PES index, which
by composition follows a normal distribution from negative
to positive values, centred at zero. The table also shows how
countries are ranked in each category of postal e-services. These
individual indices were used to create the overall PES index.
31
PES rank Country name PES index E-post rank E-finance rank E-commerce rank
1 Switzerland 4.32 2 1 2
2 Belarus 4.09 5 2 1
3 Italy 3.45 7 4 9
4 Germany 3.23 8 8 3
5 Qatar 2.98 3 10 17
6 Tunisia 2.85 15 5 8
7 France 2.65 1 19 22
8 Korea (Rep.) 2.43 4 17 23
9 United States 2.36 6 47 5
10 Canada 2.28 14 9 12
11 Sweden & Denmark 2.00 12 21 11
12 Austria 1.99 10 60 6
13 Spain 1.94 9 22 25
14 Singapore 1.92 23 7 16
15 Australia 1.86 20 16 13
16 Slovakia 1.75 35 11 10
17 Portugal 1.50 13 35 20
18 China (Macao) 1.44 28 36 7
19 Brazil 1.28 24 32 15
20 Thailand 1.28 48 28 4
21 South Africa 1.26 11 34 32
22 Greece 1.19 22 3 37
23 Israel 1.09 17 59 14
24 Ukraine 1.02 26 30 19
25 Russian Federation 0.73 30 12 35
26 Costa Rica 0.66 27 25 26
27 Saudi Arabia 0.59 18 40 29
28 Kenya 0.53 53 6 44
29 Hungary 0.44 16 82 24
30 United Kingdom 0.32 19 91 21
31 Egypt 0.23 36 13 84
32 Turkey 0.20 40 20 42
33 Jordan 0.19 47 18 48
34 United Arab Emirates (UAE) 0.13 39 15 92
35 Kyrgyzstan 0.12 55 14 47
36 Uzbekistan 0.08 50 33 33
37 Maldives 0.02 56 31 34
38 Lithuania -0.03 52 68 18
39 Mauritius -0.06 49 24 39
40 Cyprus -0.12 42 57 31
41 Nepal -0.16 33 27 58
42 Poland -0.34 38 53 41
43 Sri Lanka -0.45 58 37 45
44 Bosnia Herzegovina -0.46 45 49 49
45 Malawi -0.47 77 29 36
46 Iran (Islamic Rep.) -0.59 29 74 40
47 Burkina Faso -0.59 67 23 71
Table 2.1: Postal electronic services index
32 2. Index of postal e-services (PES) development
PES rank Country name PES index E-post rank E-finance rank E-commerce rank
48 Mozambique -0.60 43 41 61
49 Gambia -0.60 25 76 51
50 Bulgaria -0.62 51 89 28
51 Mongolia -0.65 21 67 79
52 Mexico -0.69 59 73 27
53 Djibouti -0.69 74 26 76
54 Nigeria -0.70 62 44 38
55 Uruguay -0.71 37 79 43
56 Malta -0.72 34 70 52
57 Bhutan -0.72 46 51 65
58 Myanmar -0.75 60 48 56
59 Namibia -0.76 69 61 30
60 Tanzania (U. Rep.) -0.79 57 39 68
61 Guatemala -0.81 41 75 53
62 Lebanon -0.82 44 64 46
63 Botswana -0.92 31 66 60
64 Argentina -0.93 32 88 80
65 Madagascar -0.93 66 38 75
66 Rwanda -1.00 61 50 57
67 Cameroon -1.06 64 58 93
68 Comoros -1.09 68 55 78
69 Mali -1.18 75 56 74
70 Chad -1.18 76 52 81
71 Pakistan -1.22 65 87 50
72 Kuwait -1.22 85 42 63
73 Papua New Guinea -1.24 80 54 59
74 Gibraltar -1.27 70 69 55
75 Lao PDR -1.29 92 46 87
76 Tajikistan -1.29 90 43 73
77 Ghana -1.29 84 45 83
78 Zimbabwe -1.30 54 62 64
79 Guinea -1.37 78 92 54
80 El Salvador -1.44 63 93 67
81 Bolivia -1.54 71 83 69
82 Neth. Antilles -1.54 72 90 85
83 Philippines -1.54 73 86 88
84 Ecuador -1.62 81 84 91
85 Saint Kitts and Nevis -1.62 79 85 77
86 Dominica -1.62 82 81 72
87 Angola -1.64 83 77 89
88 Panama -1.69 89 71 70
89 Sao Tome & Principe -1.69 93 63 66
90 Tonga -1.69 88 72 90
91 Turkmenistan -1.69 87 65 82
92 Syrian Arab Republic -1.69 86 80 86
93 Iraq -1.69 91 78 62
332. Index of postal e-services (PES) development
Conclusions
1. The Posts of developing countries such as Belarus, Tunisia,
Brazil, Ukraine, Costa Rica and South Africa could serve as
industry leaders in the area of postal e-services. In future,
case studies developed around the strategy, management
and market-value proposition underlying these Posts’ busi-
ness success could be useful for other Posts.
2. The Posts’ diversification strategy in the different segments
of the electronic service market, mainly e-post, e-finance
and e-commerce, varies among countries. Some of these,
such as Switzerland, Belarus, Germany, Italy and Canada,
prefer to diversify gradually in each of the market segments,
while others prefer to focus their diversification strategy on
a particular market. For instance, some Posts, such as those
of France, Qatar, Korea (Rep.) and Spain, have mainly diversi-
fied in the e-post market, while others, in Macao (China),
Brazil, Thailand and Austria, for example, have prefered
to diversify in the e-commerce market. Finally, Posts from
countries including Greece and the Russian Federation have
decided to focus on the e-finance market. Future research
could explore factors determining Posts’ diversification
strategy in each of these markets.
3. The PES index could serve as an information tool for industry
decision-makers to monitor, over time, the development of
Posts’ electronic business worldwide.
4. The PES index could also support the implementation of
programmes included in the UPU Doha Postal Strategy for
2013-2016, as it helps to:
a) identify the countries with a low PES index to support
them in using ICTs and diversifying and modernizing their
services (programmes 1.4 and 3.1);
b) identify the countries with a high PES index to increase
awareness of the role of the sector in the digital economy
and provide information on best practices in the sector
(programmes 2.1 and 2.5); and
c) identify the countries that are the most active in e-com-
merce to interconnect them and facilitate international
e-commerce (programme 3.4).
1 The PES index by construction is strongly correlated with the e-post (+0.89), e-finance (+0.78), and e-commerce (+0.89) indices
34 2. Index of postal e-services (PES) development
35
3. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Understanding the factors supporting the development of
postal e-services is crucial in forging a Post’s diversification
strategy in the digital area. This understanding helps to
determine when to diversify and how to support the strat-
egy’s successful implementation. Our assumption is that such
knowledge could help decision-makers in assessing whether
the current conditions in their respective countries support the
implementation of a diversification strategy. And it is important
for decision-makers to understand the diversification strategy’s
impact on the organization and performance of Posts.
This section first studies the possible influence of some
country-level factors on the development of postal e-services.
It then discusses the impact of the development of e-services
on the postal business.
Factors influencing the development of postal e-services
The study has identified a list of potential factors affecting
the development of postal e-services. Given the study’s
international nature, the list has been restricted to factors for
which data sources can be found worldwide. Table 3.1 defines
the factors and their data sources. Then, a correlation analysis
has been performed to investigate the relation between these
factors and the PES index, which measures the development
of postal e-services.1
36
Factor Short name Description Source
GNI per capita GNI Gross national income per capita in USD
World Bank databankAvailable at http://data.worldbank.org
Regulation on ICT
ICT regulation Measure for a country's laws relating to the use of ICT (e.g. electronic commerce, digital signature, consumer protection). Assessment based on seven-point scale (1 = non-existent; 7 = well developed)
Global Information Technology Report 2009-2010; Dutta and Mia (2010)
Innovation capability Innovation Measure the ways of developing technology in a country. Assessment based on seven-point scale (1 = exclusively from licensing; 7 = pioneering own new products)
The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011; Schwab (2010)
Trade barriers Trade barriers Score for competition limitation due to trade barriers. Assessment based on seven-point scale (1 = strongly limit; 7 = do not limit)
World Bank databankAvailable at http://data.worldbank.org
Telecommunication infrastructure index
Telecom Index combined from five telecommunication services affordability indicators, including Internet users, fixed telephone lines, mobile subscribers, personal computers, and fixed broadband per 100 inhabitants
UN E-Government Survey 2010
Human capital index Human capital Index combined from two indicators for the level of education, including adult literacy rate in %, and combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary, and tertiary schools in %.
UN E-Government Survey 2010
Government online services index
E-government Score for online services provision by national governments, based on a survey
UN E-Government Survey 2010
Operating revenue Revenue Operating revenues of postal operator, SDR
UPU postal statistics, available at www.upu.int
Table 3.1: Potential factors influencing
the PES index
373. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Iran
Namibia
Australia
Austria
Saudi Arabia
El Salvador
South Africa
Belarus
Brazil
Canada
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Egypt
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Italy
Jordan
Kenya
Kyrgyzstan
Lithuania
Poland
Portugal
Korea (Rep.)
Russia
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Singapore
Slovakia
Spain
Israel
Sweden & Denmark
Switzerland
Thailand
Tunisia
TurkeyUnited Kingdom (UK)
USA
Ukraine
Angola
Argentina
Bulgaria
GuatemalaBhutan
Bosnia Herzegovina
Burkina Faso
GambiaMozambique
Cameroon
Ghana
Chad
Guinea
DominicaSao Tome and Principe
BoliviaLao PDR
Lebanon
Malawi
Mauritius
Mexico
Nepal
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Sri Lanka
TajikistanTonga
Panama
Ecuador
Turkmenistan
Uruguay
Maldives
BotswanaMongolia
Uzbekistan
Madagascar
Rwanda
Tanzania
Iraq
Syria
ComorosMali
DjiboutiNigeria
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
7
Log (Gross National Income per capita in 2008)
Regression line
6 8 9 10 11
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Gross national income per capitaA higher level of economic development is usually associ-
ated with a higher demand for provision of various services.
Therefore, one would expect a positive correlation between a
country’s income and a Post’s ability and willingness to provide
postal e-services. Figure 3.1 plots the PES index of Posts in
relation with the log of country gross national income (GNI)
per capita in 2008. The regression line shows the predicted PES
index compared to the log of country GNI. It reveals a positive
association between the PES index and the country’s level of
economic development. It also shows that some countries with
relatively low GNI, such as Belarus and Tunisia, have a very
good PES index, above the predicted value of the regression
line. Similarly, it shows that some countries, such as the United
Kingdom and Cyprus, with a very high GNI, are not diversifying
their postal businesses, and their PES index is situated below
the predicted value of the regression line.
38 3. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Iran
Namibia
Australia
Austria
Saudi Arabia
El Salvador
South Africa
Belarus
Brazil
Canada
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Egypt
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Italy
Jordan
Kenya
Kyrgyzstan
Lithuania
Poland
Portugal
Korea (Rep.)
Russia
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Singapore
Slovakia
Spain
Israel
Sweden & Denmark
Switzerland
Thailand
Tunisia
TurkeyUnited Kingdom (UK)
USA
Ukraine
Angola
Argentina
Bulgaria
GuatemalaBhutan
Bosnia Herzegovina
Burkina Faso
GambiaMozambique
Cameroon
Ghana
Chad
Guinea
DominicaSao Tome and Principe
BoliviaLao PDR
Lebanon
Malawi
Mauritius
Mexico
Nepal
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Sri Lanka
TajikistanTonga
Panama
Ecuador
Turkmenistan
Uruguay
Maldives
BotswanaMongolia
Uzbekistan
Madagascar
Rwanda
Tanzania
Iraq
Syria
ComorosMali
DjiboutiNigeria
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
7
Log (Gross National Income per capita in 2008)
Regression line
6 8 9 10 11
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Figure 3.1: Scatter plot of the relationship
between the PES index of a country and the country’s gross
national income per capita
393. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Argentina
AustraliaAustria
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Canada
Chad
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Dominica
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
France
Gambia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guatemala
Hungary
Israel
Italy
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lithuania
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Malta
Mauritius
MexicoMongolia
MozambiqueNamibiaNepal
Nigeria
Pakistan
Panama
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Korea (Rep.)
Russia
Saudi Arabia
SingaporeSlovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden & Denmark
Switzerland
Syria
Tajikistan
Thailand
Tunisia
TurkeyUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)
United Kingdom (UK)
Tanzania
USA
Ukraine
Uruguay
Zimbabwe
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
3
Country score for the Laws relating to ICT
Regression line
2 4 5 6
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
ICT regulationFigure 3.2 presents the correlation between a country’s PES
index and the measure of the development of regulations
related to e-services. This measure is provided by the World
Economic Forum and INSEAD report (Dutta and Mia, 2010),
and represents an index based on subjective evaluation (from
non-existent to well developed) of the laws relating to the
use of information and communication technologies, including
electronic commerce, digital signatures and consumer protec-
tion. The scatter plot reveals a positive correlation between
the development of postal e-services in a country and exist-
ing regulation on e-services. Consequently, decision-makers
consider that there is a strong role for the postal sector to
play in the development of regulated e-services, such as digital
signature or secure e-commerce.
40 3. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Argentina
AustraliaAustria
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Canada
Chad
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Dominica
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
France
Gambia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guatemala
Hungary
Israel
Italy
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lithuania
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Malta
Mauritius
MexicoMongolia
MozambiqueNamibiaNepal
Nigeria
Pakistan
Panama
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Korea (Rep.)
Russia
Saudi Arabia
SingaporeSlovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden & Denmark
Switzerland
Syria
Tajikistan
Thailand
Tunisia
TurkeyUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)
United Kingdom (UK)
Tanzania
USA
Ukraine
Uruguay
Zimbabwe
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
3
Country score for the Laws relating to ICT
Regression line
2 4 5 6
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Figure 3.2: Scatter plot of the relationship
between the PES index of a country and the measure of
the development of regulation related to information and
communication technologies
413. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Angola
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Canada
Chad
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Dominica Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
France
Gambia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guatemala
1234567
89
10111213
Hungary
Iran
Israel
Italy
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Lithuania
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Malta
Mauritius
Mexico
Mongolia
Mozambique
Namibia
Nepal
Nigeria
Pakistan
Panama
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Korea (Rep.)
Russia
Rwanda
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Slovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden & Denmark
Switzerland
Syria
Tajikistan
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
United Kingdom (UK)
UR of Tanzania
USA
Ukraine
UruguayZimbabwe
1
2
3
4 57
8
9
10
11
12
136
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
3
Country score for the capacity for Innovation
Regression line
2 4 5 6
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Innovation capabilityThe scatter plot in Figure 3.3 shows the strong relation between
a country’s innovation capability and its ability to develop new
postal e-services. Dutta and Mia (2010) data for a country’s
innovation score represents a subjective evaluation of the pos-
sibility of developing technology, ranging from 1 (exclusively
from licensing and imitation) to 7 (by conducting research and
pioneering new products and processes). Therefore, Posts in
countries with fewer obstacles to innovation may perform
better in the provision of postal e-services.
42 3. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Angola
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Canada
Chad
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Dominica Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
France
Gambia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guatemala
1234567
89
10111213
Hungary
Iran
Israel
Italy
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Lithuania
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Malta
Mauritius
Mexico
Mongolia
Mozambique
Namibia
Nepal
Nigeria
Pakistan
Panama
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Korea (Rep.)
Russia
Rwanda
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Slovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden & Denmark
Switzerland
Syria
Tajikistan
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
United Kingdom (UK)
UR of Tanzania
USA
Ukraine
UruguayZimbabwe
1
2
3
4 57
8
9
10
11
12
136
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
3
Country score for the capacity for Innovation
Regression line
2 4 5 6
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Figure 3.3: Scatter plot showing the
relationship between the PES index of a country and the
country’s capability to innovate related to information and
communication technologies
433. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Australia
Austria
Brazil
Cameroon
Canada
Costa Rica
Cyprus
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Israel
Italy
Kenya
Kuwait
Malta
Mauritius
Portugal
Qatar
Korea (Rep.)
RussiaSaudi Arabia
SingaporeSlovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden & Denmark
Switzerland
Tunisia
TurkeyUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)
United Kingdom (UK)
USA
Angola
Argentina
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegovina
Botswana
Bulgaria Burkina Faso
Chad
Dominica
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Gambia
Ghana
Guatemala
Iran
Jordan
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Lithuania
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mexico
MongoliaMozambique
Namibia
Nepal
Nigeria
Pakistan
Panama
Philippines
Poland
Rwanda
Sri Lanka
Syrian AR
Tajikistan
Thailand
UR of Tanzania
Ukraine
Uruguay
Zimbabwe
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
3
Competition limitation due to trade barriers
Regression line
2 4 5 76
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Trade barriersFigure 3.4 reveals a positive relationship between the develop-
ment of postal e-services and the variable representing trade
barriers. This variable, based on the World Economic Forum
survey (Schwab, 2010), evaluates the limitation of competition
due to trade barriers, from 1 (strongly limit) to 7 (do not limit).
Therefore, fewer trade barriers may be associated with higher
levels of postal e-services implementation.
44 3. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Australia
Austria
Brazil
Cameroon
Canada
Costa Rica
Cyprus
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Israel
Italy
Kenya
Kuwait
Malta
Mauritius
Portugal
Qatar
Korea (Rep.)
RussiaSaudi Arabia
SingaporeSlovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden & Denmark
Switzerland
Tunisia
TurkeyUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)
United Kingdom (UK)
USA
Angola
Argentina
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegovina
Botswana
Bulgaria Burkina Faso
Chad
Dominica
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Gambia
Ghana
Guatemala
Iran
Jordan
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Lithuania
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mexico
MongoliaMozambique
Namibia
Nepal
Nigeria
Pakistan
Panama
Philippines
Poland
Rwanda
Sri Lanka
Syrian AR
Tajikistan
Thailand
UR of Tanzania
Ukraine
Uruguay
Zimbabwe
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
3
Competition limitation due to trade barriers
Regression line
2 4 5 76
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Figure 3.4: Scatter plot showing the relationship between the
PES index of a country and the country’s trade barriers related to information and
communication technologies
453. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
France
Germany
Italy
Spain
Switzerland
Australia
Austria Canada
Korea (Rep.)
Singapore Sweden &Denmark
USA
Greece
Israel
Portugal
Qatar
Slovakia
Argentina
Belarus
BosniaHerzegovina
Brazil
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Dominica
HungaryKenya
Kuwait
Lithuania
Maldives
Malta
Mauritius
Poland
Russia
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saudi Arabia
South Africa Thailand
Tunisia
Jordan
Turkey
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
United Kingdom (UK)
Ukraine
El Salvador
Guatemala
Iran
Lebanon
MexicoBulgaria
EcuadorPanama
Uruguay
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
.05
Telecommunication infrastructure index
Regression line
0 .1 .15 .2 .25
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Angola
Bhutan
Bolivia
Botswana
Burkina Faso
CameroonChad
Djibouti
Egypt
El Salvador
Gambia
Guinea
Iraq
Kyrgyzstan
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mongolia
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal
Pakistan
Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe
Sri Lanka
Tonga
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Development of telecommunication infrastructureFigure 3.5 shows the strong relation between a country’s PES
index and the index measuring its development of the telecom-
munication infrastructure. This latter index, provided by the
United Nations E-Government Survey (UN, 2010), is based on
data provided by the International Telecommunication Union
on Internet users, fixed telephone lines, mobile subscribers,
personal computers and fixed broadband per 100 inhabitants.
46 3. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
France
Germany
Italy
Spain
Switzerland
Australia
Austria Canada
Korea (Rep.)
Singapore Sweden &Denmark
USA
Greece
Israel
Portugal
Qatar
Slovakia
Argentina
Belarus
BosniaHerzegovina
Brazil
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Dominica
HungaryKenya
Kuwait
Lithuania
Maldives
Malta
Mauritius
Poland
Russia
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saudi Arabia
South Africa Thailand
Tunisia
Jordan
Turkey
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
United Kingdom (UK)
Ukraine
El Salvador
Guatemala
Iran
Lebanon
MexicoBulgaria
EcuadorPanama
Uruguay
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
.05
Telecommunication infrastructure index
Regression line
0 .1 .15 .2 .25
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Angola
Bhutan
Bolivia
Botswana
Burkina Faso
CameroonChad
Djibouti
Egypt
El Salvador
Gambia
Guinea
Iraq
Kyrgyzstan
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mongolia
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal
Pakistan
Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe
Sri Lanka
Tonga
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Figure 3.5: Scatter plot showing the relation between the PES
index of a country and the country’s telecommunication
infrastructure index
473. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Tunisia
Angola
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belarus
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Canada
ChadComoros
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Djibouti
Dominica
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
France
Gambia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guatemala
Guinea
Hungary
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Italy
JordanKenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao PDR
Lebanon
Lithuania
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Mauritius
MexicoMongoliaMozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal
Nigeria
Pakistan
Panama
Papua New GuineaPhilippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Korea (Rep.)
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Slovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden & Denmark
Switzerland
Syria
Tajikistan
Thailand
Tonga
Turkey
Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
United Kingdom (UK)
Tanzania
USA
Ukraine
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Zimbabwe
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
.15
Human capital index
Quadratic regression line
.1 .2 .25 .35.3
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Human capital indexFigure 3.6 shows the quadratic regression line of the PES index
with the human capital index. This index is a combination of
school enrolment rates (including primary, secondary and high
school enrolment) and adult literacy rates (UN, 2010). A possible
explanation for the quadratic functional dependence between
the development of postal e-services and the educational level
in a country is that once a country’s human capital attains a
certain level, the speed of e-service adoption by the population
is higher, leading to a bigger supply of postal e-services. This
finding raises the question of the possible role of developing
postal e-services related to education in countries where the
human capital index is low.
48 3. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Tunisia
Angola
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belarus
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Canada
ChadComoros
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Djibouti
Dominica
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
France
Gambia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guatemala
Guinea
Hungary
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Italy
JordanKenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao PDR
Lebanon
Lithuania
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Mauritius
MexicoMongoliaMozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal
Nigeria
Pakistan
Panama
Papua New GuineaPhilippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Korea (Rep.)
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Slovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden & Denmark
Switzerland
Syria
Tajikistan
Thailand
Tonga
Turkey
Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
United Kingdom (UK)
Tanzania
USA
Ukraine
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Zimbabwe
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
.15
Human capital index
Quadratic regression line
.1 .2 .25 .35.3
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Figure 3.6: Scatter plot of the PES index
of a country and the country’s human capital index.
493. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Argentina
AustraliaAustria
Belarus
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegovina
Brazil
BulgariaBurkina Faso
Cameroon
Canada
Chad
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Dominica
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
France
Gambia
Germany
Greece
Guinea
Hungary
Iran
Israel
Italy
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Lithuania
Maldives
Malta
Mauritius
Mexico
MongoliaMozambique
Nepal
Panama
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Korea (Rep)
Russia
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saudi Arabia
SingaporeSlovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden & Denmark
Switzerland
Thailand
Tunisia
TurkeyUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)
United Kingdom (UK)
USA
Ukraine
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
E-government index
Regression line
.2 .4 .6 1.8
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
E-government indexFigure 3.7 shows that one may expect a positive linear relation
between the development of e-government services and that
of postal e-services.
50 3. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Argentina
AustraliaAustria
Belarus
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegovina
Brazil
BulgariaBurkina Faso
Cameroon
Canada
Chad
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Dominica
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
France
Gambia
Germany
Greece
Guinea
Hungary
Iran
Israel
Italy
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Lithuania
Maldives
Malta
Mauritius
Mexico
MongoliaMozambique
Nepal
Panama
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Korea (Rep)
Russia
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saudi Arabia
SingaporeSlovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden & Denmark
Switzerland
Thailand
Tunisia
TurkeyUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)
United Kingdom (UK)
USA
Ukraine
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
E-government index
Regression line
.2 .4 .6 1.8
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Figure 3.7: Scatter plot of the PES index of a country and the country’s index for online government services.
513. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Australia
Austria
Belarus
Brazil
Canada
Costa Rica
Cyprus
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Italy
Kenya
Lithuania
Macao
MaltaMexico
Poland
Portugal
Korea (Rep.)
Russia
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Singapore
Slovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden & Denmark
Switzerland
Tonga
Tunisia
TurkeyUnited Kingdom (UK)
USA
Uzbekistan
ThailandUkraine
Angola
Argentina
Bhutan
Bolivia
Botswana
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
CameroonChad
Comoros
Djibouti
Dominica
EcuadorEl Salvador
Ghana
Guatemala
Guinea
JordanKyrgyzstan
Lao PDR
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Mauritius
Mongolia
Mozambique
Nepal
Nigeria
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Rwanda
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Uruguay
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
Operating revenue in 2008 (logarithm), SDR
Regression line
10 15 20 25
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Revenue of the postal operatorFinally, the relationship between the development of postal
e-services and the wealth of a Post is explored. Figure 3.8
indicates that there is a positive relationship between a Post’s
operating revenue and the provision of postal e-services.
Figure 3.9 shows this relationship for each region. In Africa,
the figure shows that the PES index is strongly related to the
Post’s operating revenue, except for South Africa and Kenya,
which have better results than predicted according to their
revenues. In the other regions, the PES index of most of the
Posts is below the predicted value, showing that the agenda for
the development of postal e-services is still in its infancy. Some
countries are performing better compared to their financial
capability and, as such, can serve as examples for other Posts
in their respective regions, for example Tunisia, Korea (Rep.),
Singapore, Macao (China), Belarus, Slovakia, Russian Federation,
Costa Rica, Brazil, Switzerland and Italy. Other countries need
more support for developing postal electronic services, such
as Ghana, Syria, Guinea, Tajikistan, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and
the United Kingdom.
52 3. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Australia
Austria
Belarus
Brazil
Canada
Costa Rica
Cyprus
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Italy
Kenya
Lithuania
Macao
MaltaMexico
Poland
Portugal
Korea (Rep.)
Russia
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Singapore
Slovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden & Denmark
Switzerland
Tonga
Tunisia
TurkeyUnited Kingdom (UK)
USA
Uzbekistan
ThailandUkraine
Angola
Argentina
Bhutan
Bolivia
Botswana
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
CameroonChad
Comoros
Djibouti
Dominica
EcuadorEl Salvador
Ghana
Guatemala
Guinea
JordanKyrgyzstan
Lao PDR
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Mauritius
Mongolia
Mozambique
Nepal
Nigeria
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Rwanda
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Uruguay
Post
al E
-Ser
vice
s In
dex
Operating revenue in 2008 (logarithm), SDR
Regression line
10 15 20 25
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Figure 3.8: Scatter plot of the PES index
of a country and its designated operators’ revenue
533. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Africa Arab region Asia and Pacific
Europe and CIS
Latin America and Carribean
Industrializedcountries
Saint Kittand Nevis
Angola
Burkina FasoNigeriaNamibia
CameroonTanzaniaBotswanaGhana
Chad
Kenya
MalawiMauritius
MozambiqueRwandaGuinea
Bhutan
UruguayGuatemala
BoliviaEl Salavador
Mali
South Africa
Djibouti
Jordan
Syria
Comoros
Tunisia
Macao
Korea (Rep.)
Singapore
Thailand
Belarus
Cyprus
Hungary
Panama
Ecuador
Mexico
Kyrgyzstan Lithuania
Malta
Russia
Slovakia
Tajikistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Brazil
Costa Rica
GermanyItaly
Switzerland
United Kingdom (UK)
USA
Dominica
Mongolia
Nepal
Maldives
Papua New Guinea
Lao PDRTonga
Pakistan
Sweden & Denmark
Canada
GreeceSpain
AustriaAustraliaPortugal
Poland
Turkey
BulgariaArgentina
Operating revenue in 2008 (logarithm), SDR Operating revenue in 2008 (logarithm), SDR
Regression line
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Post
al E
-ser
vice
s In
dex
Post
al E
-ser
vice
s In
dex
Post
al E
-ser
vice
s In
dex
Post
al E
-ser
vice
s In
dex
4
2
0
-2
10 15 20 2510 15 20 2510 15 20 25
10 15 2025 10 15 20 2510 15 20 25
Figure 3.9 Scatter plot of the PES index of a country and its Posts’ revenue by region
54 3. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Africa Arab region Asia and Pacific
Europe and CIS
Latin America and Carribean
Industrializedcountries
Saint Kittand Nevis
Angola
Burkina FasoNigeriaNamibia
CameroonTanzaniaBotswanaGhana
Chad
Kenya
MalawiMauritius
MozambiqueRwandaGuinea
Bhutan
UruguayGuatemala
BoliviaEl Salavador
Mali
South Africa
Djibouti
Jordan
Syria
Comoros
Tunisia
Macao
Korea (Rep.)
Singapore
Thailand
Belarus
Cyprus
Hungary
Panama
Ecuador
Mexico
Kyrgyzstan Lithuania
Malta
Russia
Slovakia
Tajikistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Brazil
Costa Rica
GermanyItaly
Switzerland
United Kingdom (UK)
USA
Dominica
Mongolia
Nepal
Maldives
Papua New Guinea
Lao PDRTonga
Pakistan
Sweden & Denmark
Canada
GreeceSpain
AustriaAustraliaPortugal
Poland
Turkey
BulgariaArgentina
Operating revenue in 2008 (logarithm), SDR Operating revenue in 2008 (logarithm), SDR
Regression line
4
2
0
-2
PES Index
Post
al E
-ser
vice
s In
dex
Post
al E
-ser
vice
s In
dex
Post
al E
-ser
vice
s In
dex
Post
al E
-ser
vice
s In
dex
4
2
0
-2
10 15 20 2510 15 20 2510 15 20 25
10 15 2025 10 15 20 2510 15 20 25
553. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Discussion
What country-level factors influence the development of postal e-services ?
The above results show that there is a positive relationship
between the different country-level factors identified in the
study and a country’s development of postal e-services. Table
3.2 summarizes the correlation between the different factors.1
It shows in particular that the innovation capability of a country,
the development of its telecommunication infrastructure and
the development of regulation related to e-services are factors
strongly facilitating the development of postal e-services. The
revenue of the postal organization, the competition limitation
due to trade barriers and the human capital index of the country
seem to affect the PES index less.
Table 3.2: Correlation matrix of the
country-level factors influencing the PES index
PES
inde
x
Log
_GN
I
ICT
regu
lati
on
Inno
vati
on
Trad
e ba
rrie
rs
Tele
com
Hum
an c
apit
al
E-go
vern
men
t
Log
_rev
enue
PES index 1
Log_GNI 0.64 1
ICT regulation 0.70 0.75 1
Innovation 0.79 0.70 0.77 1
Trade barriers 0.4 0.55 0.59 0.4 1
Telecom 0.69 0.91 0.83 0.82 0.56 1
Human capital 0.47 0.75 0.44 0.50 0.30 0.66 1
E-government 0.62 0.71 0.67 0.63 0.37 0.75 0.59 1
Log_revenue 0.59 0.73 0.52 0.63 0.39 0.60 0.44 0.0 1
1 Correlation refers to a statistical relationships involving dependence between two factors. The closer the correlation variable is to one, the stronger the dependence between the two factors becomes.
56 3. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Yes32%
No68%
Yes71%
No29%
What factors internal to Posts influence the development of postal e-services ?
StrategyRespondents were asked in the questionnaire whether postal
e-services were part of their business strategy and goal. Figure
3.10 shows that 71% said this was the case. A more detailed
analysis of the results shows that countries that answered
negatively have a PES index below the mean, except for two
European countries.
FinancingRespondents were also asked whether they had increased
the funds normally dedicated to the development of postal
e-services. Figure 3.11 indicates that only 32 % said they had
increased the funds attributed for developing new postal
e-services. The results therefore show a discrepancy between
Posts’ strategy and vision for developing new e-services and
their financial commitment to implement both.
Market developmentRespondents were asked if they were developing market strate-
gies for new postal e-services. Only 36 % of respondents said
they are developing new market strategies for e-services. A
detailed analysis shows that in all regions, the countries pursu-
ing new market strategies for developing e-services are rare.
Figure 3.10: E-services are part of the
business strategy of the post
Figure 3.11: Posts increased their budget
for the development of new postal e-services
573. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
Organization managementRespondents were asked if new business departments had been
established to implement their postal e-services strategy. They
were also asked whether they had recruited individuals with
specific know-how relating to the digital world. Only 30% of
the respondent Posts have created new business departments
dedicated to e-service developments or employed individuals
with new know-how. These results show that postal opera-
tors are slow in adapting their organization to the new digital
agenda.
Internal factors’ impact level on PESTable 3.3 shows a low significant correlation between the
described organizational factors and the PES index of the Posts.
This indicates that there may be internal barriers to innovation
related to the organizational routines of Posts which hamper
the development of novel e-services.
Table 3.3: Correlation matrix of the organizational
factors influencing the PES index
Stra
tegy
Log
_GN
I
ICT
regu
lati
on
Inno
vati
on
Trad
e ba
rrie
rs
Tele
com
PES index 1
Strategy 0.36 1
Funds 0.44 0.33 1
Market development 0.39 0.38 0.60 1
New department 0.48 0.26 0.55 0.47 1
New know-how 0.40 0.25 0.63 0.55 0.76 1
58 3. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
What impact does the development of postal e-services have on revenue?
Respondents were asked to indicate the contribution of postal
e-services to the organization’s total revenue. Only 30 % of
them answered this question. On average, postal e-services
contribute only around 1.5 % of a Post’s total revenue. Therefore,
the impact of postal e-services on the Post’s business revenue
is still not clear. This may be explained by the fact that Posts’
investment in the technological development of e-services is
new and some time is required to achieve a certain return on
investment. It could be interesting in future research to monitor
the evolution of this return over the years. It is also worth not-
ing that three Posts mentioned that postal e-services currently
contribute between 20 % and 50 % of their total revenue.
ConclusionIn conclusion, Posts are increasingly aspiring to develop their
electronic business agenda. However, the number of postal
e-services currently provided still varies significantly among
countries. We are still far from having a clear understanding of
the factors relating to the Posts’ environment or organization
which affect the development of postal e-services. The reason
is that the postal electronic business is still in its infancy and
currently contributes very little to postal revenue. However, the
study provides evidence that a country’s capacity for innovation
and the development of ICT regulations and telecommunica-
tion infrastructure are important factors that support Posts in
developing new e-services. The study also shows that some
Posts in developing countries have become industry leaders in
the provision of postal e-services, suggesting that the wealth
of a country or a Post is not the only factor determining the
capability to innovate in postal e-services. Finally, the study
strongly suggests that Posts still have to make considerable
efforts to adapt their organizational management to digital
business.
593. Drivers and impact of postal e-services development
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