PostEurop celebrated its 30th anniversary and awarded Österreichische Post AG the 2023 Innovation Award and Haypost the inaugural Rising Star Award.

The awards were unveiled at the PostEurop General Assembly held in Bratislava, Slovakia on 18 October 2023.

Amidst ongoing global challenges, including geopolitical tensions, natural disasters, economic instability, and supply chain disruptions, innovation has become a critical component for the postal and logistics industry. The PostEurop Innovation Award recognises outstanding contributions to innovation among its members.
The Award process and procedures is organised by PostEurop’s Innovation Forum Team, composed of:
  • Felix Blaich (Deutsche Post) – Chair of the Operational Activities Circle
  • Maire Lodi (PostEurop) – Operations Manager
  • Carlos Bhatt (CTT Portugal Post) – Chair of the Innovation Forum
  • Sophie Desier Biehler (La Poste Group) – Co Vice-Chair of the Innovation Forum
  • Thierry Golliard (Swiss Post) – Co Vice-Chair of the Innovation Forum
In this seventh edition of the award, PostEurop received 12 innovative applications from member companies, including An Post (Ireland), CTT Portugal Post (Portugal), Deutsche Post DHL Group (Germany), La Poste Groupe (France), Österreichische Post AG (Austria), PostNL (Netherlands), S.E. Correos y Telégrafos S.A. (Spain), Swiss Post (Switzerland), HayPost (Armenia), Bulgarian Posts (Bulgaria), Omniva (Estonia), and PostNord (Denmark-Sweden).

 

Winner of the 2023 PostEurop Innovation Award

A distinguished jury carefully evaluated each entry, ultimately awarding Österreichische Post AG the Innovation Award for their “Crypto Stamp 5.0” project.
The Österreichische Post’s Crypto stamp is a groundbreaking product that combines traditional postage with blockchain technology. It’s a physical postal stamp with a digital twin on the blockchain, initially released as Crypto stamp 1.0 by the Austrian Post. It gained global recognition and led to the adoption of blockchain technology by many postal organisations. The Crypto stamp has become popular among collectors and has expanded its audience. The latest version, Crypto stamp 5.0, features an NFC chip for authenticity verification and can be activated on the blockchain, while the new Crypto stamp Safe allows for creating unique NFT stamps through morphing.
“Philately has always been the driving force behind new developments and innovations in the postal sector. This award is a real highlight and encourages us to continue pursuing these ideas. I am proud that our team was able to make such an important contribution.” Said Patricia Liebermann, Head of Philately at Österreichische Post AG.

Introducing the PostEurop Rising Star Award

In addition to the Innovation Award, PostEurop introduced a new category, the Rising Star Award, to recognise the member that achieves the most significant innovative breakthrough compared to its own status quo. In its inaugural year, Haypost (Armenia) was selected amongst the entries and awarded the Rising Star Award for their “HayPost+” project.
“HayPost+” is an innovative app developed by iNovation, a subsidiary of HayPost CJSC, transforming the customer experience with mail services. Available on Android and iOS platforms, it simplifies postal interactions by allowing users to create letters and packages, track deliveries, calculate postage rates, complete post office registration, make secure payments, manage addresses, and easily connect with a call center for support. It streamlines and enhances the way customers engage with post offices, eliminating manual forms and long queues.
“HayPost will be consistent in the development of postal services. We have received a very important and binding award, we must develop the existing solutions, create new services, as well as modernize the infrastructure in order to comply with all European standards to provide even better-quality services to our customers,” said Mr. Artak Ghulyan Deputy of CEO of HayPost.
Both winners were honoured with uniquely designed 3D trophies crafted exclusively for the PostEurop Innovation and Rising Star Awards.
This year the jury* composed of:
  • Botond Szebeny – PostEurop Secretary General – President
  • Felix Blaich – Chair of the Operational Activities Circle – Vice-President
  • Carlos Bhatt – Chair of the Innovation Forum – Vice-President
  • Simona Bratuša – Chair of the Market Activities Circle
  • Margaux Meidinger – Chair of the Corporate Social Responsibility Activities Circle
  • Candan Senyüz – Chair of the Best Practices Wider Europe Transversal
  • David Pilkington – Chair of the Security Customs Transversal
  • Reto Hermann – Chair of the RADAR (Reactivity, Agility, Decision, Adaptability, Result) Transversal
*Jury Members were not allowed to vote on their home country company’s application

“Over the seven editions of the Innovation Award, we have consistently witnessed the highest calibre of projects that showcase the commitment of PostEurop’s members, driving innovation and excellence within the postal industry. These awards not only signify our enduring commitment to innovation but also the pivotal role they play in shaping the future of the postal sector, adapting to evolving customer needs, and advancing the industry as a whole” sums up Carlos Bhatt, Chair of the Innovation Forum.

PostEurop congratulates the winners and all entrants for their outstanding contributions to postal and logistics innovation.

For more information about the Innovation Forum please visit www.posteurop.org/innovationforum

About PostEurop

POSTEUROP is the association which represents European public postal operators. It is committed to supporting and developing a sustainable and competitive European postal market accessible to all customers and ensuring a modern and affordable universal service. Our Members represent 2.0 million employees across Europe and deliver to 800 million customers daily through over 175,000 counters.
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