Standardization and the UPU

Importance, organization and

working areas

Akhilesh Mathur

Programme Manager, Standards and Certification

Presentation subjectsPresentation subjects

Why Standardization? How is standardization organised within the UPU ? Which UPU Standards exist ? How to get access to Standards The UPU and other standardization organisations Are all Standards mandatory ? How does the UPU assist with the

implementation/usage of Standards ? Important Technical Standards

The Postal world is The Postal world is changingchanging

Deregulation Privatisation Competition Move from single operator to multi-operator environment Customers get an increased choice

of postal service providers of services offered

The number of players in the market is increasing rapidly

Connecting Connecting organisations/systemsorganisations/systems

Universal Business Adapters do not exist

Standards can take care of this

When Standards are not When Standards are not used……..used……..

When Standards are not When Standards are not used……..used……..

When Standards are not When Standards are not used……..used……..

Standardisation, why?Standardisation, why?

Improving the quality of postal services is the key driver for it all

Mail Operations have to be: More reliable Faster Verifiable Providing Track and Trace and other additional services Make use of the latest available technology

NEED FOR STANDARDSNEED FOR STANDARDS

Automation is a driving forceAutomation is a driving force

Electronic exchange of information Between Posts With airlines For Customs clearance With Customers

Enable faster and more reliable processing Connecting organizations by connecting technological

solutions

Scope of UPU activitiesScope of UPU activities

Universal postal services as described in UPU Acts Harmonization of international postal services

Includes the development of new products Inter-administration payment systems Technical assistance to developing countries Standardization of postal procedures/operations

The UPU is an intergovernmental The UPU is an intergovernmental organisationorganisation

The UPU does not interfere in matters that fall within the domestic domain of national postal services.

For example, Posts set their own postage rates, decide which and how many postage stamps to issue, and how to manage their postal operations and staff

The 2004 Bucharest The 2004 Bucharest CongressCongress

Modified the main structure of the Union

COUNCIL OF ADMINISTRATION Regulatory matters

POSTAL OPERATIONS COUNCIL Postal operational Matters

NEW: CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE Stakeholder view on the

postal industry Private sector participation

The UPU is changingThe UPU is changing

With the creation of the Consultative Committee, stakeholder participation for the UPU as a whole is a new and very encouraging development

Ensures active participation of Customers, Suppliers, Industry players of the Postal industry

New for the UPU…but not for the Standardization activities of the UPU

UPU Standardization activities have always taken place in an open environment

The UPU Standards BoardThe UPU Standards Board

Single coordination and approval authority within the UPU for all international postal standards

Detailed process for Standards development and approval Publication and distribution of standards Meets 4 times per year

Part of the Postal Operations Council 7 Permanent Working Groups, ensuring coherent

development of standards in particular areas

Working GroupsWorking Groups

Physical Encoding Group (PEG) Electronic Exchange Group (EXG) Data and Code definition Group (DCG)

Code Allocation and Maintenance Group (CAM) IATA/UPU Group on EDI Customs Data Interchange Group (CDIG) Publications Editorial Board (PEB)

Project groups for individual topics

Standards Board CompositionStandards Board Composition

Posts: Chair: USA Members: Australia, China (People's Rep.), Côte d’Ivoire

(Rep.), Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iran (Islamic Rep.), Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Portugal, Sweden, Tanzania (United Rep.)

Other participating organisations: International Post Corporation (IPC) CEN

Standards Board CompositionStandards Board Composition

Other organisations may participate (with observer status). Any organisation that

has a strong international character has a relationship with the postal industry is a representative organisation for a particular industry

and/or large geographic/economic area

Standards developmentStandards development

Any interested party (UPU member or not) can submit proposals

Standards Board ensures coordination with relevant parties

Typically, proposals are submitted by: Standards Board permanent working groups Other bodies within the UPU International project teams working on a specific topic Industry interest groups

Standards Approval Standards Approval ProcessProcess

Process that ensures Coordination of proposals for standards Formal process to come to the adoption of Standards

Detailed process from initial idea to fully accepted UPU standard

4 stages, each stage to obtain a particular status

Status P - Proposal for New Work Item Status 0 - Working Draft Status 1 - Draft Standard Status 2 - Approved UPU Standard

(Status S - Superseded) (Status W - Withdrawn)

Almost doubled the number of standards Almost doubled the number of standards since the 1999 Beijing Congresssince the 1999 Beijing Congress

From 59 Standards in 1999 to about 110 Standards today:

67 Technical Standards 43 Messaging Standards All published standards are at various levels within

the Approval Process

Standards have to be really usedStandards have to be really used

Standards Approval Process requires practical usage of Standards

Status 0 can only be obtained if a number of organizations commit to testing/using the Standard

Status 1 can only be obtained if the Standard has been used, and test results show the effectiveness of the Standard.

Impossible to get a standard published that is not actually used

Standards PolicyStandards Policy

Facilitate, not regulate Use whenever possible existing international

standards Support variety of regulatory frameworks Take into account move for openness within the UPU Continue to be enabling for any regulatory

developments

Standards development in an Standards development in an open environmentopen environment

The UPU is a standard-setting body for the postal industry, just as other bodies that are active in their fields:

IATA for the airline industry WCO for Customs organisations ITU for Telecommunications

UPU follows an open Standards Development Strategy, like CEN, ANSI, ISO

Standards have to be developed in an open environment, which allows active participation of all interested parties

All the results, and all the intermediary information has to be publicly available

Availability of documentationAvailability of documentation

All documentation/proposals of the Standards Board and its working groups are publicly available:

http://www.upu.int/standards/en/index.shtml

All final results are also available for any interested party: The UPU Standards Publications

Publication of StandardsPublication of Standards

UPU Technical Standards

UPU EDI Messaging Standards Comprehensive publications of all

postal standards developed by or in cooperation with the UPU

Available in paper and CD-ROM version Multi workstation licences as well as

single Standards also available

Which Standards ?Which Standards ?

A wide variety of Standards exist, and the number is steadily growing

Now more than 110 Standards, covering different areas:

Mail (various products) Financial Services Electronic Services

Mail Related StandardsMail Related Standards

Identification/codification of postal items, collections of mail, mail processing facilities, etc.

Bar coding applications (id tagging, franking marks, etc.) Interfaces between Mailers/Posts (EDI messages,Tracking

&Tracing capabilities, etc.) Addressing standards

Examples: EMS barcode labelsExamples: EMS barcode labels

Examples: 2D Franking Marks Examples: 2D Franking Marks and ID tagsand ID tags

Royal Mail1st Class

AB1XY A1B2C D3E4 567890 : 24/06/99 : £00.26

Examples: Usage of envelope spaceExamples: Usage of envelope space

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Financial ServicesFinancial Services

Standardised EDI message for the exchange of International Money Order information

Standardised Identification system for Money orders Based on the ISO License plate standard

Standardised Identification of Financial Institutions

Electronic ServicesElectronic Services

Electronic Postmark (EPM) Physical or electronic

delivery of messages e-Commerce “.post” domain name

Are UPU Standards Mandatory ?Are UPU Standards Mandatory ?

In principle: No They are recommended practices Have to prove their usefulness, otherwise they will be

ignored Rules are such that it is impossible to have a UPU Standard

that is not used in practice In some cases: Yes

Vital for functioning of international postal operations Then reference included in UPU regulations

Regulations are mandatory Detailed specifications still published as a standard

Are Standards Mandatory ?Are Standards Mandatory ?

Some are mandatory for the entire UPU membership: S34: Identification/codification of International mail Processing Centres

(Exchange Offices)

EETLLA (TALLINN PI-2)

Some are mandatory, if used at all: S18: International ID tag

Are Standards Mandatory ?Are Standards Mandatory ?

Some will only work if adhered to: All EDI messaging standards

Some create loss of effectiveness if not adhered to: Item identification standards

Other standardisation organisationsOther standardisation organisations

UPU cooperates with a variety of organisations: International Air Transport Organisation: IATA World Customs Organisation: WCO International Organisation for Standardisation: ISO International Telecommunication Union: ITU European Committee for Standardisation: CEN …

Cooperation with airlinesCooperation with airlines

Electronic preadvising of mail Electronic message from Airlines informing about the

Status of shipments Scanning of standardized

Postal receptacle labels

Cooperation with CustomsCooperation with Customs

Customs Electronic Customs Declaration Electronic Customs Response message Goal: Electronic Customs Clearance

Other CooperationOther Cooperation

ISO Country, Region and Currency codes License Plate Standard for the identification of transport

Units …..

United Nations UN/LOCODE

5 character unique id for locations Basis for the identification of Offices of Exchange

– 6-character Code– Standard S34

The UPU and CENThe UPU and CEN

2 groups, 2 backgrounds: UPU Standards Board: Specialised body within the

UPU for Postal Standards CEN TC 331: Special Technical Committee for

European Standards in postal services Overlap for particular standards under

development RISKRISK: Conflicting standards OPPORTUNITY:OPPORTUNITY: Use synergies between

organisations to come to best possible standards

Current situationCurrent situation

CEN work is mostly driven by the EC UPU work is driven by individual initiatives Wide CEN/UPU cooperation for a considerable

number of subjects Cooperation enshrined in a joint Memorandum of

Understanding Together ensuring the best postal standards

for Europe Worldwide For all parties involved in postal services

Main topics covered in the MoUMain topics covered in the MoU

Establishment of a Contact Committee: Enable agreement coordination and cooperation before

either CEN or UPU creates standards within internal process

Standardization procedures: Process to allow joint final approval of standards

Publication procedures: Process to allow publication of standards

Role of the Contact CommitteeRole of the Contact Committee

Consult on (intended) new work items Establish interest of respective organisations Coordinate/agree

Information exchange through liaison status Leadership development End products Project plan Timelines

Ensure coordination and cross-fertilisation Genuine involvement of both organisations

A fruitful cooperationA fruitful cooperation

Standardization within the UPU and CEN: Different backgrounds, different financing

CEN historically has a strong participation of private industry

UPU historically has a world-wide coverage of postal operators

UPU and CEN jointly ensure that the best UPU and CEN jointly ensure that the best standards are created for the postal industrystandards are created for the postal industry

The UPU assists with StandardsThe UPU assists with Standards

The UPU provides assistance with the introduction of Standards

Guidance by specialists for the various postal products Letter mail Parcel Post EMS Electronic Services

Regional Advisors Network with postal experts world-wide

regarding new technologies Specialised departments to provide

applications/tools Postal Technology Centre (PTC) Logistics Department

Applications/tools availableApplications/tools available

Barcode labels World-wide Postal

Network: POST*Net Mail Management

Software International Financial Services Software Development of new working areas for the Posts:

electronic services

Mail Management Software Mail Management Software packages: IPS & IPS Lightpackages: IPS & IPS Light

The primary functions of the PTC’s mail management software IPS and IPS Light are to:

Track and trace mail items (EMS, Letters and parcels) Automate their entire (outbound and inbound) administrative

mail handling process with the support of EDI messages. Generate UPU documents and reports

Today about 100 postal administrations have installed one of the PTC solutions for Mail management

Mail Management Software Mail Management Software packages: IPS & IPS Lightpackages: IPS & IPS Light

IPS is designed to postal organizations with a large volume of mail. It possesses a number of advanced features including an accounting module and an Internet site allowing users to track their despatches

IPS Light is the light version of IPS which is designed for Posts with low to medium mail volumes and a modest IT infrastructure. All that is required is a simple computer and an Internet connection

International Financial software International Financial software packages: IFS & STEFIpackages: IFS & STEFI

The IFS network is the financial money order transfer network of the UPU. It is composed by all the postal administrations using a PTC application for the exchange and management of electronic money orders with their business partners.

The network is reliable, cheap, fast, available, accessible, and

highly secure

Today 30 postal administrations are using one of the PTC application to transfer money orders.

International Financial software International Financial software packages: IFS & STEFIpackages: IFS & STEFI

IFS is designed for postal organizations either completely lacking a money order management system or whose existing system is not adapted to processing international electronic money orders.

STEFI (Secured Transfer of Electronic Financial Information) is designed for postal organisation already possessing a domestic electronic system but wishing to join the IFS network of the UPU.

Electronic servicesElectronic services

Postal sector can play a key role in the Information Society New products/services based on new technologies use

Post’s extensive physical network Electronic Postmark (EPM) Physical or electronic

delivery of messages e-Commerce “.post” domain name

Developed and promoted within the Postal Technology Centre

RFID Standards-1RFID Standards-1

S20-3: Identification and marking using Radio Frequency Identification Technology: Reference architecture and terminology

S22-3: Identification and marking using Radio Frequency Identification Technology: Reference architecture and terminology: System requirements and test procedures

RFID Standards-2RFID Standards-2

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Radio Data Capture (RDC) Systems-

Air interfaces: Communications and interfaces

S23a-2 Definitions of parameters to be standardized S23b-1 Parameter values for 5.8 GHz RFID Systems S23c-1 Parameter values for 2.45 GHz Narrow Band RFID

Systems S23g-1 Parameter values for 13.56 MHz Band RFID

Systems

S 42-5: International postal address components and S 42-5: International postal address components and templatestemplates

The standard is based upon a comprehensive list of name and address elements

These elements define the smallest meaningful parts of names and addresses

The set of elements has been sufficient to represent names and addresses in a number of non-European countries, including the US

Status of S42-5Status of S42-5

UPU S42, was approved at: Status 0 in November 2002 Status 1 in February 2004 Last version of the standard S42-5 was approved in February

2006. In response to CEN request, S42 was divided, in this version, into a stable and non-country specific Part A and a Part B containing all country specific information as well as considerations regarding element mapping, template design, and rendition rules.

S43-2: The Digital PostMarkS43-2: The Digital PostMark

An Digital Post Mark (DPM) provides evidence of:

Who signed the document / transaction What was signed When it was signed Plus Storage and Archival of this evidence for as many years

as required

Standard S43-2 Digital PostMark (DPM) interface

Standardization Status of the DPMStandardization Status of the DPM

S43 interface protocol was approved and given “Status 0” by the UPU in January 2003

The updated S43 protocol was approved for UPU “Status 1” on Oct 20, 2003

UPU DPM interface protocol jointly developed by 10 postal administrations

DPM is a Postal ServiceDPM is a Postal Service

A regulated UPU Postal service – Adopted by 2004 UPU Congress as an official optional postal service

DPM is a Postal ServiceDPM is a Postal Service

Microsoft Office 2007 – views DPM as key strategic elements to its Trustworthy Computing Campaign (by having Posts serve as trusted third parties worldwide). An S43 Office 2007 plug-in will be launched in 2007

Adobe – Wants to bundle UPU S43 with Acrobat and Acrobat Reader

Future orientationsFuture orientations

Areas suitable for certification will be identified, and the relevant procedures and checklists enabling certification will be developed.

Automation of operating and accounting procedures. This is a strategic project with long-term implications for the UPU.

The International Bureau and the Standards Board will continue to press for the adoption of standards by members. Possible revisions to the Regulations to facilitate this objective are being examined.

ConclusionConclusion

Standards are crucial for the future of the Post

The UPU is the worldwide standard-setting body for the postal sector

The UPU cooperates closely with all important players in the postal industry

Everybody is invited to actively participate

Thank you for your

attention!

Contact: akhilesh.mathur@upu.int

Tel: +41 31 350 3164

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