by Alexandra Carvalho
INESC and its associate company Correios de Portugal (Portuguese Post Office), have enjoyed a strategic partnership ever since the start-up of INESC's activities and the relationship is now being enhanced in the form of a number of contracts involving INESC in the modernisation of post office operations. This new approach involves a strategic understanding, permitting a new series of contracts to be entered into.
The joint development of the "Counter" project (computerisation of public counters of post offices) is the first major project between INESC and the Post Office and is also a highly advanced solution in international terms. The objective is for this platform and future enhancements thereof to be used as a basis for new productivity gains and organisational efficiency through a greater degree of involvement in the computerisation of the Portuguese Post Office, associate networks and, ipso facto, various organisational aspects focusing on the modernisation of the quality of service and new concerns associated with competitiveness.
The solution for the computerisation of counters will therefore be enhanced with the further, natural extension to the provision of new bank type services with the implementation, at the same time, of management solutions for the flow of postal objects and will help to improve the company's competitive position vis-à-vis other international operators.
The future development of other joint projects include the possibility of INESC teams analysing and rationalising the Post Office's integrated (i.e. voice and data) network and the structuring of software quality and development processes as part of the Post Office's Centralised Computer Operations.
Please contact:
Alexandra Carvalho - INESC
Tel: 351 1 3100377
E-mail: asc@inesc.pt