What should the post office do in the digital age?

■What should the post office do in the digital age?

“Round-table conference on postal services in the digital age”

An interim summary has been announced.

I will act as chairperson.

I also gave a presentation.

We will be forced to digitize in the midst of the declining birthrate and aging population and the impact of Coronavirus.

The number of mail items has decreased by 40% over the past eight years. Under the long-term low interest rate environment, fund management at Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance was difficult, and there were also scandals.

Now, how does the postal service deal with data utilization and regional revitalization?

That's the question.

In the report, digitization and data utilization considers

(1) Improving operational efficiency and improving the quality of existing services

(2) Creation of new businesses (income sources)

(3) Utilization for public services

I decided that it should be divided into these items.

It consists of three aspects: defense, offense, and public use.

① About defense.

"Regarding the data that the postal service already possesses, such as delivery records and customer information, a wide range of uses should be considered, including the use of ‘pseudonymized information,’ centered on the use of data that is already held by the postal service as part of our core business, while giving due consideration to the protection of the confidentiality of correspondence and personal information. "

② About offense.

"We should develop and provide attractive new services that ‘focus on individuals’ and ‘assume obtaining consent’ for users (from ‘anonymous masses’ to ‘named individual customers,’ and we should switch to ‘experience’ and move toward ‘creating new relationships with users.’) "

Furthermore, the Japan Post Group should provide a "platform business" that makes maximum use of post office network resources, and it is necessary to actively seek partnerships with external companies.

This is the point that I also pushed in my presentation.

"For example, it is important to try participating in projects such as 'smart city' and 'education' that are made up of stakeholders from various industries, raising awareness of different fields, discovering hints for business services, and discovering partners."

CiP and super-education activities I'm promoting will also be helpful.

The following is a concrete service image.

・Become an “information bank” and provide local residents with monitoring, remote medical examinations, insurance services, etc.

・Participate in projects utilizing “Smart City” and “MaaS,” and provide delivery by drone, mixed cargo, and passenger services, etc.

I would like to make two comments on the interim summary.

1) In addition to providing social and economic infrastructure, special public corporations in telecommunications and broadcasting have the dual responsibility of leading the way in cutting-edge fields.

Postal services are also expected to play a leading role in the latter.

I expect aggressive development of information banks, smart cities, and platforms.

2) However, since it is a management strategy of a private company called Japan Post, the sorting here should be limited to images and hints.

On the other hand, what matters is what countries and governments do in this regard.

It would be good to dig deeper into that area.

In my presentation, I said, "It wouldn't be strange for Rakuten to become a telecommunications carrier or enter the ICT business. It wouldn't be surprising if the post office took Rakuten's position." I felt like I was frozen.

Did I say too much?

However, after the interim summary meeting, Japan Post and Rakuten announced a capital tie-up.

Surprising.

But is it really?

The companies will step in with their own DX strategy rather than discussing that of others.

It is something that I see often.

Is it a scene change? Understood.

That's what it means.

For now, that’s the report.