Samanta Thaver, senior manager of commercial at the South African Post Office, took to the stage today at Parcel+Post Expo in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to outline how the 16 countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have to work together if they want to be successful in the future.
Thaver’s presentation covered how countries in the SADC need to collaborate in order for the postal operators in the region to survive the fourth industrial revolution. She outlined how harnessing and analyzing data will be key to ensuring that services are developed to meet the specific needs of customers in each country.
“The postal industry is going through a major transformation,” Thaver said. “We recognize that the current business model at posts in the SADC is broken, and therefore we need to rethink how we do things. We need to make a paradigm shift into a new ecosystem where data is key.”
Thaver said that big data and the use of AI will help posts better predict trends and challenges in real time and in the future. “The SADC needs to create a synergized network, so we can all benefit from each country’s strengths and help address any weaknesses,” she continued. “Globalization is eating us up, but if the 16 regions work together then we will have a strong future.”