Digital Mail - A Revolution Interrupted

The post 9/11 era reset our national consciousness in many ways. Our vulnerability revitalized the need to focus our attention on issues of safety and security. From travel restrictions to personal privacy, times were changing, and we began to adjust to the “new normal.”  One change, in particular, sought to capitalize on a new, more secure way of delivering mail.  Many may have forgotten that soon after the World Trade Center attacks, a new threat was exposed via the postal system.  Specific individuals were being victimized by hazardous materials, sealed in envelopes, delivered straight to their targets.  

A New Way

This new threat awareness paralleled the growing use of the term “digital mail” in the industry vocabulary. New challenges arose, new questions were asked:

• What if a technology-driven system could be derived that offered an alternative to the traditional mail delivery method?
• Couldn’t such a system not only be safer but also create new efficiencies?
• Could this “new way” be a marketable service model?
• What technology currently exists and what would need to be developed?