Wouter Slotemaker

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An often heard critique of our increasingly connected society is the claim that we are losing track of real human connections. While we are more connected to the rest of the world than ever before, we are all living more and more isolated lives. This problem has now also been recognized by the largest mail & delivery corporation in the Netherlands; Royal PostNL. Also according to them, the world is changing due to urbanization, increasing individualism and an aging population. Read on to learn more about their digital transformation towards a truly connected society.

PostNL is one of the largest employers in the Netherlands with over 44,000 employees and an average delivery volume of 675,000 parcels and 8 million letters per day! However, their traditional business model has been under a lot of pressure from global digitalization and other threats. This has moved PostNL to overthrow their distribution model and go beyond their traditional delivery operations, expanding into additional value-adding services for their business partners. This proved very successful and led to the implementation of cross-doorstep services such as kitchen and furniture assembly.

However, in recent years this transformation has taken a more humanitarian turn and PostNL now envisions their mailmen to become the eyes and ears of their local neighborhoods, offering so-called ‘smart city propositions’. The Smart Society division of the delivery company hired Deloitte Digital to imagine & deliver a new platform which can realize this vision. The new MyWork platform won a renowned silver Dutch Interactive Award (DIA) because it does not only connect their own employees, but also allows them to be connected to new (societal) assignments. The first trials included tasks such as monitoring the public space by recording trash and damages throughout the neighborhood, measuring water levels, and executing surveys to prevent loneliness among elders, but of course the possibilities with this initiative are endless. What a great example of digital transformation!

References

AD | Postbode 2.0 meet ook waterstanden

AD | Postbodes moeten ‘ogen en oren’ van wijk worden

Deloitte | How the MyWork app helped PostNL become more future-proof

DIA | Silver Award 2017 for PostNL

Emerce | E-Guide PostNL MijnWerk Case

PostNL | Who are we

PostNL | The connected society

note: some references are only available in Dutch unfortunately

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Last month Apple revealed their fourth iteration of the Apple Watch Series, which has now more than ever secured the tech giant’s foothold in the healthcare industry. The latest version of the Watch was presented at Apple’s annual Keynote with a major focus on the health & wellness features, including mental health programs, improved heart rate monitoring and even the possibility to create an electrocardiogram (ECG). Making it the only smartwatch ever approved by the US Food & Drug Authority. These ground-breaking innovations could change countless lives for the better, but there’s another side to Tim Cook’s venture into health that should not be overlooked.

Away from the eye of the average consumer, Apple’s Enterprise division is also starting to show an increasing amount of B2B healthcare solutions, supported by the Watch and other health products. For now these are still primarily focused on solutions for corporations such as hospitals – who operate within the health industry themselves, but their scope has already started to go beyond that. Some website pages of the Cupertino-based company seem to aim at partnerships with regular companies, one time even calling it “the centerpiece of your corporate wellness program”. This is further supported by Apple’s very own medical clinics quietly launched under the name AC Wellness, who will provide healthcare to Infinity Loop-based employees and their families. I myself have even already heard of at least one multinational here in The Netherlands that will start with an Apple Watch trial before the end of this quarter. Will health be the next (and one of the last) parts of our private information to be breached by corporates?

What if the current focus on fitness and wellbeing is all smoke & mirrors, disguising a mission to tighter employee control? Would it be possible we’re headed towards a society where for example calling in sick is no longer accepted if your wearables tell your employer you’re not? Or how will actually being sick even be defined in such a situation, will Apple become the judge of your capability to work?

Now to be clear, I’m not saying we are and – to be fair – Apple has a good reputation when it comes to privacy. But the implications of what could be possible with these technologies are simply too big to adopt such innovations at face value. And even if Apple indeed turns out to be honest about its focus for health technology, who can guarantee your employer is too?