EPFL – New master's for future postal leaders
Launched on 28 April, the Executive Master in Postal Leadership at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne – Switzerland, is an advanced programme of continuing education, specially designed to address postal issues through an industry-wide, multi-stakeholder approach. This part-time programme is intended for senior postal managers with 10 to 15 years’ technical or commercial experience. The first intake comprises 10 students from six countries of Africa, Asia and Europe.
The UPU supports this training as part of the memorandum of understanding it signed with the EPFL in 2006, which aims to promote research and education in the postal field. In this connection, the UPU Director General, Edouard DAYAN, and a UPU economist, José ANSON, led two sessions on 5 May in Lausanne. Mr. DAYAN spoke about the important role of multilateralism in postal sector development in the current context of globalization, and about migration and the development of trade by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, while José ANSON presented various models for postal sector development in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and the emerging Asian countries. Mr. DAYAN expressed his delight at the conducting of exchanges with students from around the world, and noted the fruitful collaboration between the UPU and the EPFL. Competition, regulation, the universal service obligation and innovation will be on the agenda of forthcoming sessions. In addition to postal issues, increased emphasis will be placed on management. Consequently, this master’s programme may be regarded as a sort of postal MBA. By the end of this training, participants will have acquired the skills to assume management responsibilities with public and private postal operators, regulatory authorities, governments, suppliers and strategic partners.
