1. 1 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Trade Facilitation, Security Concerns and the Postal Industry Thomas E. Leavey Director General, UPU International Bureau International Forum on Trade Facilitation

2. 2 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Evolution of the Post Posts have enabled commerce and trade for centuries A trusted and neutral 3 rd party Extending this role to the Information Society What is required in the Digital World?

3. 3 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Digital World in 2008+ Internet access in all homes, offices or schools Broadband Internet access also 100% Internet “always on” Electronic documents and e-mails verified as legal documents Addresses: personal zip codes linking home, business, telephone, mobile and e-mail Distributed directories globally linked via a common standard Financial incentives offered to be online Service fees to do business offline

4. 4 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Why is this Happening? Companies and governments are moving to digital because it reduces cost and delivers faster

5. 5 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Improvements in Business Efficiency $1.07 1¢1¢ Banking $10 $2 Travel $150 $6 Trading

6. 6 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Improvements in Business Efficiency? When companies and governments become more efficient... Economies become more efficient Productivity increases GDP increases

7. 7 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 What are the Risks? In the Digital World of the future: Who will you trust with your confidential and sensitive information? How will you be identified, recognized and authorized for doing business online? How will the integrity of your sensitive information and transactions be protected and kept confidential?

8. 8 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 What are the Risks? In the Digital World of the future: How will contracts, agreements, patents, copyrights, business documents and business transactions be electronically stored and archived for the required periods by law? What if you need to recall this information in five years for a legal challenge in a court of law?

9. 9 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Posts Facilitating Economic Development The Post Office... has played an essential and fundamental role in economic and social development has encouraged the improvement and expansion of the transportation system manages a network for distributing retail goods establishes a commercial link with the outside world

10. 10 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Inefficiencies of Today’s Online Services Businesses, governments, consumers, world trade organizations, etc. strive to adopt more efficient services Conducting business online has delivered benefits Range of online activities already large (e.g. shopping, banking, government services) These applications work, but still contain inefficiencies Many applications are prevented from going online

11. 11 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Inefficiencies of Today’s Online Services Why are real estate transactions not conducted online? Why can’t we, for the most part, sign a contract online? Why are costly paper trails maintained for high- value business-to-business transactions?

12. 12 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Inefficiencies of Today’s Online Services Missing elements to improve online transactions User-friendly technology Government policy and law concerning online commerce A global network that provides recognized and trusted digital evidentiary services.

13. 13 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Removing the Inefficiencies Technology companies are building the platform to facilitate digital commerce (e.g. Adobe, Microsoft, Unisys, Sun) Governments and organizations are moving to develop the policy and legal framework for digital commerce But, a gap remains

14. 14 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Removing the Inefficiencies The postal industry is committed to filling this gap Posts have centuries of experience as a trusted third party Posts are establishing strategic partnerships to enable the services that will remove the inefficiencies

15. 15 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 The Posts Have a Significant Role Posts… provide in-person proofing services provide address management offer Registered Mail services apply a “postmark” - legally binding proof of mailing in many countries are global (UPU)

16. 16 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 The Posts Have a Significant Role Regulated by governments and international organizations such as the UPU Universal service is provided to all citizens Important to the developing countries Intergovernmental character of UPU as a UN agency maintains people’s right to communication

17. 17 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 The Posts Have a Significant Role For the Information Society, Posts have developed new ICT services Physical mail services are integrated with electronic services and Internet kiosks in post offices

18. 18 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Posts Facilitating Global Trade If trust and digital evidentiary services are global, the opportunities for organizations to become more efficient suddenly become possible Ultimately, as organizations become more efficient, whole economies improve Without these services, identity fraud, credit card theft and the cost of processing paper trails will only get worse

19. 19 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Conclusion Posts… facilitate domestic and international trade assist in building economies are the hub for the world’s three main economic flows : information, goods and money bridge the Digital Divide provide a universal communication service manage addresses are trusted are busy building the digital evidentiary services required by the Information Society

20. 20 International Forum on Trade Facilitation May 2003 Conclusion Posts are very busy building the digital evidentiary services required by the Information Society Electronic PostMark Identity Management Developing Standards and Policies for global interoperability Investing resources in the UNeDocs initiative