Australia Post has announced a research partnership with QUT's PwC Chair in Digital Economy to explore opportunities generated by digital transformation.
Australia Post's Group Chief Operating Officer, Ewen Stafford announced the agreement with the Chair, a joint partnership between QUT, PwC, Brisbane Marketing and the Queensland Government Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation.
Mr Stafford said the partnership aims to ignite digital and disruptive thinking, enabling their staff to innovate and provide better outcomes for their customers.
"Australia Post is at the forefront of the digital revolution, with over $2 billion invested in our IT and broader business in the past four years," she said.
"We have the platforms and capability, and we now need to further grow our digital mindset and QUT have agreed to help us do that.
"QUT's team has a wealth of expertise and we will be working with them on three streams over the coming year. Staff and clients will have the opportunity to participate in a series of innovation building activities so that the experience is shared and allows for global ideas to be brought to life here."
The three streams of investigation are:
• Igniting Australia Post's Success - A study with tangible outcomes exploring how Australia Post's retail stores can be transformed for community and productivity gains, how store success can be replicated and how Australia Post's assets and resources could be used differently for more effect
• Igniting E-Commerce - understanding how to thrive in the digital economy with a particular focus on small and medium sized businesses and a focus on food producers exporting to Asia Pacific
• Revenue Resilience - how large organisations such as Australia Post innovate and decrease time to market and commercialise opportunities
QUT also works with organisations including Woolworths and Brisbane Airport to develop a range of innovative outcomes including the world's first Digital Departure Card being trialled at Brisbane International Airport.
QUT Head of Information Systems School in the Science and Engineering Faculty Professor Michael Rosemann said the opportunity was for the Chair to assist Australia Post to take advantage of their unique offering in the marketplace and create new business models for the future.
"The rise of digital identity management and how that changes traditional value chain is just one area that we will explore with Australia Post," he said.
"We see the engagement as an ongoing relationship whereby the PwC Chair can provide Australia Post with insights and resources to enable their leadership to better explore and develop their own solutions in the digital economy."
The engagement will formally commence with an innovation workshop on 21 May, held at QUT Gardens Point.
Media contact:
Australia Post 24/7 National Media Line, 03 9106 6666, media@auspost.com.au
Rob Kidd, QUT Media, 07 3138 1841, rj.kidd@qut.edu.au
