PostEurop has announced the winners of the 2026 PostEurop Innovation Award and published the latest edition of its annual Innovation Booklet, featuring the twelve projects submitted by members this year.
PostNL was named the winner of the PostEurop Innovation Award 2026 for its project “Reinventing OOH around consumers”.
The Rising Star Award 2026 was presented ex aequo to Pošta Slovenije, for “Digital Twin Delivery Planning”, and Ukrposhta, for its “AI Back-Office Agent”.
This year marks the 10th edition of the PostEurop Innovation Award, which recognises innovative solutions developed by European postal operators and promotes the exchange of knowledge, experience and best practices across the sector.
PostNL’s winning project presents a data-driven approach to the development of out-of-home delivery networks around evolving consumer needs. Pošta Slovenije’s project uses a digital twin to strengthen delivery planning and support more informed operational decision-making. Ukrposhta’s project applies artificial intelligence and automation to document-handling workflows, reducing manual intervention and allowing employees to focus on cases that require human judgement.
Alongside the announcement of the winners, PostEurop has published the PostEurop Innovation Booklet 2026. Issued annually, the booklet brings together all twelve projects submitted to this year’s Awards.
The publication is intended not as an additional ranking, but as a practical reference for the PostEurop community. It allows members to discover solutions already being developed and tested by other postal operators, learn from their experience and explore opportunities for bilateral cooperation.
The twelve projects are organised into five thematic areas:
- AI in Operations
- The Automated Back Office
- Last-mile & Access Networks
- Cross-Border & E-Commerce
- Digital Value & People
Two major trends emerge from this year’s projects. The first is the transition of artificial intelligence and automation from experimentation to real-world implementation. Across sorting centres, delivery planning, back-office processes and parcel locker networks, postal operators are already deploying solutions that generate measurable operational benefits and cost savings.
The second trend concerns access. Several projects use innovation to make postal networks, services and professional opportunities more accessible. These include interoperable parcel locker standards, solutions that improve access to e-commerce for island communities, smart monitoring of temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical shipments, and internal training programmes that open new career paths in data and artificial intelligence.
These developments are taking place against a challenging backdrop of geopolitical instability, disrupted supply chains, cost pressures and regulatory change. Despite these conditions, European postal operators have continued to deliver essential services while investing in the transformation of their networks and operations.
“I would like to congratulate PostNL, Pošta Slovenije and Ukrposhta on this well-deserved recognition. Their projects show that innovation in the postal sector is not an abstract ambition: it is already improving operations, decision-making and the services provided to customers. Through the annual Innovation Booklet, we want to extend the value of the Awards by making all twelve projects available to our community, enabling members to learn from one another and explore new opportunities for cooperation,” said Carlos Bhatt, Chair of the PostEurop Innovation Forum.
The PostEurop Innovation Forum is chaired by Carlos Bhatt (CTT – Portugal Post), with Sophie Desier (La Poste Group) and Thierry Golliard (Swiss Post) serving as Vice-Chairs.
As the Innovation Award enters its second decade, PostEurop will continue to recognise impactful projects and promote cooperation among members, helping promising ideas develop into solutions that create tangible value for postal operators, employees and customers.
The PostEurop Innovation Booklet 2026 is available at: [LINK]
About the PostEurop Innovation Award
The PostEurop Innovation Award recognises innovative projects developed by PostEurop members and promotes the sharing of knowledge and best practices across the European postal sector. The Rising Star Award distinguishes projects that represent a particularly significant step forward in relation to the respective postal operator’s starting point.
About PostEurop
PostEurop is the association representing European postal operators. It is dedicated to supporting and developing a sustainable and competitive European postal communication market that is accessible to all citizens, ensuring a modern and affordable universal service. Its members employ 1.6 million people, operate over 212,000 service and pick-up points across Europe, handle billions of items annually, and deliver to over 295 million homes and 48 million companies across Europe.
For more information, visit www.posteurop.org
For more information, please contact:
Cynthia Wee-Neumann
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