33 – National Postal Policy Roundtable
Brief description of the commitment: the commitment proposes the creation of an institutionalized space called the National Postal Policy Roundtable for dialogue and debate with relevant actors in the postal chain, with the purpose of gathering input and monitoring the sector's needs. Based on this, public policy will define actions to address the identified demands and challenges, in coordination with other actors involved in its development.
Organization leading the commitment: Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM), National Directorate of Telecommunications and Audiovisual Communication Services (Dinatel)
Supporting Institutions/organizations: Regulatory and Communication Services Unit (URSEC)
Political representative: Pablo Siris, National Director of Telecommunications and Audiovisual Communication Services. Contact: secretaria.dinatel@miem.gub.uy.
Technical Head: María José Franco, Advisor to the Directorate. Contact: mariajose.franco@miem.gub.uy, Virginia Alonso, Advisor to the Directorate. Contact: virginia.alonso@miem.gub.uy, for coordination at the Postal Desk in Dinatel.
Actors:
Government: Regulatory and Communication Services Unit (URSEC), National Postal Administration (ANC) and agencies linked to cross-border trade.
Civil Society: Chambers of commerce, workers' associations and consumer associations.
Other actors (Parliament, private sector, etc.): Universities and research centers linked to logistics, transport, digital commerce, innovation, sustainability, etc., international organizations (UPU, UPAEP, MERCOSUR, ECLAC), other actors related to the postal value chain.
Implementation period: September 2025 - August 2028.
Problem definition
What problem does the commitment intend to address?
The operation of the postal sector lacks the necessary cohesion and coordination for its various actors to be benefited by synergies, coordination, and opportunities currently offered by the development of e-commerce and digitalization. During the past decade, postal activity has been shifting from mail to package delivery, making greater collaboration among these diverse actors essential.
At a national level, there is no strategic national policy designed for the medium and long term, explicitly defined for a more comprehensive approach of the needs, requirements, and opportunities for the development of the postal sector. Likewise, the agency responsible for postal policy, namely the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM) through the National Directorate of Telecommunications (Dinatel), has committed to supporting development initiatives in the sector. However, its legitimacy and connection with the actors (postal operators) have not been decisive in generating change to these days.
What are the causes of the problem?
Digital transformation, the rise of e-commerce, and new consumer trends have driven changes in the postal sector, forcing postal service providers to rapidly adapt their processes and to incorporate technology to meet these new needs. While this is acknowledged, rigidities persist in the management models of the actors involved in the postal supply chain, requiring a comprehensive review and approach among all parties involved in the operation of this activity.
Among the various challenges and demands for its development and expansion, we can point the lack of investment in the postal sector, the low level of user confidence in the system, the high operating costs, the rapid changes in the determinants of the service, with times that are not in sync with the resilience capacity of the operators, and the high demand for these services from the population and the demand on the postal network to carry out its activity in a timely, efficient and quality manner to respond to other activities, services and operations that require it.
Likewise, the existence of actors with diverse activities in the postal chain generates interests, demands and needs that are not always aligned and/or homogeneous, in addition to a fragmented public intervention where actions are developed more reactively in contact with specific actors in response to concrete proposals.
Description of the commitment
What has been done so far to solve the problem?
Within the framework of the Second National Open Government Plan, the commitment defined and implemented by the Regulatory Unit for Communication Services (URSEC) established a precedent to move forward along the path outlined by this project, with the creation of the Postal Dialogue Sessions. These sessions were held annually from then on, evolving into training courses on topics of interest and addressed by public agencies with jurisdiction in the sector, aimed at representatives of public operators, private operators, and postal workers' organizations. This proposal seeks to take this a step further by establishing a working environment with ongoing dialogue between the parties, fostering an exchange that will contribute to the improved definition and implementation of public policy in order to address the challenges and demands of this sector.
What solution does it propose?
The current dynamics of the postal sector requires for the national policy to keep pace with recent changes, in order to promote the development of this activity, keeping up with the need for innovation, engaging and enabling coordinated work among all actors in the supply chain, and meeting user demands. Establishing this permanent framework will allow for collaborative work among the public and private institutions involved, as well as other actors in the operational functioning of the postal sector, to propose initiatives that capitalize on opportunities and address existing challenges.
Therefore, the purpose is to contribute to the better definition and execution of public policy on the subject, as well as to facilitate its follow-up and monitoring in order to make transparent and accountable the actions that result in this framework.
In order to achieve this, the National Postal Policy Roundtable proposes a series of activities, beginning with the formal establishment of the framework, followed by a participatory process to identify needs and priority issues for the sector. This will lead to the development of action plans, which will be addressed and agreed upon in various working groups created within this framework. These groups will then request responses from the public agencies involved in postal matters, which will also be required to provide accountability regarding their actions, ensuring transparency in agreements and progress. A final evaluation of the framework's performance is planned to gather new input and identify opportunities for future improvement.
What are the Expected resultss while implementing this commitment?
Through the implementation of this participatory framework, it is excepted to move forward in the development of a more efficient sector, which aims at innovation and to adapt the services and operations to the expectations of customers, with streamlined and reliable processes, based on the legitimacy conferred by the exchange and ongoing construction with interested counterparties.
The aim is for the creation of this area to have a positive impact, improving the experience of users of postal services (companies or individuals), and adapting postal operations to meet the development objectives proposed for the sector.
Commitment analysis
How will the commitment promote transparency?
In line with the details in the following point, public access will be provided to the work agenda, agreements, and implementation commitments managed within the framework of the exchange mechanisms, facilitating access to information on public matters and resulting decisions. Furthermore, the outputs of the working group will be promoted to generate information that enables to monitor the evolution and functioning of the sector, making them publicly available as open data on a periodic basis to be defined, in order to facilitate subsequent analysis and evaluation by actors.
How will the commitment help foster accountability?
Citizens and actors will be provided with the opportunity to monitor and track the public management of the sector's policy resulting from the working group, through the formalization of its institutional framework and the publication of its operating mechanisms, as well as the minutes of the meetings held and the progress made in implementing the agreed-upon lines of action. This information will be publicly available on the Ministry's website in a dedicated section for the postal sector within the Dinatel sub-homepage.
How will the commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions?
Part of this commitment involves formalizing and developing an open forum for actor´s participation, enabling them to formulate and introduce their demands and needs related to the sector so that these can be addressed within this institutional framework. Furthermore, it is expected that, allowing public access to and monitor the issues addressed by the participating parties within the Roundtable, will contribute to identifying interests and proposals that other actors may bring forward to complement and exchange within this forum.
Milestone | Milestone description | Expected results | Completion date | Leading Institution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Creation and implementation of the National Postal Policy Board.
| Rules of operation agreed at the level of government institutions.
Angled and installed mechanism to make transparent and accountable the actions carried out at the table.
Communication channel for receiving concerns or proposals to be addressed within the framework of the established table. | March 2026 | Dinatel |
2 | Definition of the working method of the participatory process for the identification of needs and Topics to prioritize.
| Formal launch of the working group's work with at least one plenary session for the identification of problems and challenges. Document that compiles the needs identified and prioritized By the participating actors.
| August 2026 | Dinatel |
3 | Process of monitoring progress on the proposed lines of action/improvements. | Working groups established for the definition of the lines of action.
Meeting schedule established.
Semi-annual accountability reports on the actions taken by each working group, including the record of the results achieved from the defined lines of action.
| September 2027 | Dinatel |
4 | Conducting an accountability session on the actions taken and evaluating the functioning of the area in which contributions can be gathered for its continuity and improvement. | Report on the execution of the work period published with objectives, working groups and lines of action evaluated.
At least one public accountability mechanism. | August 2028 | Dinatel |