New Addressing Systems Expand Access to Civic and Economic Activities, Postal Mail
Press release from the issuing company
Countries are changing and expanding their address systems to cover more residents. These new addresses allow residents to more fully participate in civic and economic activities, including establishing bank accounts and receiving merchandise shipped directly to their new addresses. Some of the new addressing systems, particularly in the developing countries, are unique solutions unlike those in other countries according to a recently released paper, "New and Expanded Addressing Systems".
The Universal Postal Union (UPU) initiatives are encouraging countries to develop systematic addressing and databases of all addresses within each country. The cost of new and expanded addressing systems are both substantial. The new Costa Rican and the expanded South African systems each took 5 or more years and costs from almost US$5 million to over US$20 million. However, Costa Rica postal sources estimate that the lack of an address system cost the national economy US$720 million a year.
The paper, by Merry Law, editor of the Guide to Worldwide Postal-Code and Address Formats and sponsored by GrayHair Software, Inc. and DTP Systems, provides practical observations of what works and what does not in recent address initiatives around the world, using the address developments in Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and South Korea.
Charles A. Prescott, Executive Director of the Global Address Data Association, stated “This is an important work with many very useful policy lessons. Anyone with responsibility for an address database, or any database containing addresses should read it."
The changes to addressing systems are of particular importance to organization engaged in international commerce. "As globalization continues to expand, GrayHair's clients are expanding their international mail, this piece on addressing systems enables our clients to learn from independent experts," says Raymond T. Chin, Vice President of Product Management and Marketing, GrayHair Software , Inc.
"New and Expanded Addressing Systems" can be downloaded from WorldVu's web site. Jody Berenblatt, Senior Advisor for GrayHair Advisors, the consulting arm of GrayHair Software, said "As a privately held, independent company, GrayHair and its divisions are proud to sponsor the work done by independent experts such as World Vu's Merry Law."
Additional papers on issues related to international addressing sponsored by GrayHair Software are planned.
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Discussion
By Charles Prescott on Jul 02, 2013
We welcome GrayHair to the "industry" of the address and helping companies help people communicate accurately. It's getting harder and harder to do, as ecommerce, including international ecommerce, grows at astounding rates globally. And, leaving address hygiene aside, which is its own highly technical specialty, the world is faced with half of its people not having an address. There are many causes, and certainly the cost of implementing these systems is one of them, perhaps the most important.
But, and here's the thing, addresses are still being created, allocated, and recorded with the same system formalized by the UN in the '90's, which formalized the process followed by postal systems since the 19th.
What the world needs is a cheap, easily implemented, portable, and universally understandable system to allocate addresses. The challenge we at the Global Address Data Association make to firms like GrayHair, and to all our members, is to help develop a faster, cheaper, more easily transferable system. Ideas? Visit us and share them at www.globaladdress.org. This is our main mission. Please consider joining our work.
Discussion
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