La Poste at CES 2018: innovations that make life easier

La Poste took part in the event for the fourth year running. Its large stand, canopied by a yellow tree, could be seen far and wide, and the public rushed to see it. Among them were many journalists and officials, all eager to find out more about the postal innovations. Welcoming them was a team of experienced demonstrators, including several postmen and women and customer service representatives (post office staff).

La Poste’s conversion to digital has already been illustrated many times over – in particular with the Facteo smartphone carried by all postmen and women, securing and simplifying their letter and parcel deliveries. Then there are the services it has launched, making use of the opportunities afforded by digital technology: send/redirect from your letterbox, mobile registered mail, Watch Over My Parents, ardoiz, Digiposte+, Côté Pro, Courrier plus, etc...

At CES 2018, La Poste once again displayed its ability to invent new services that leverage the maximum benefit of digital technology to make life easier.

The major announcement was the launch of La Poste eHealth, a free app that takes the format of a digital health record. Users enter specific information about themselves (age, height, weight, family history, etc.) and/or link connected objects that will then communicate directly with the app: thermometers, scales or even devices on loan from a hospital, such as a spirometer or a blood pressure monitor. The data recorded in La Poste eHealth can be shared with a doctor, who can then monitor their patients remotely. This app is an interactive solution to supplement Digiposte + Ma Santé, the personal assistant that centralises and shares your health information and documents, identifies your healthcare professionals and gives you important reminders (vaccinations, screening, etc.). The user’s medical data is stored on a secure platform run by a subsidiary of La Poste – Docapost, France’s leading health data hosting provider.

Among the offers presented at CES, Le Vélo drew particular attention. The extremely light electric bike incorporates a screen that can be navigated using a scroll wheel installed near the handlebars. Equipped with a geolocation system, the screen communicates with the cyclist’s smartphone via dedicated apps. From speed and distance travelled to anti-theft with a warning system and programmed routes, there is a multitude of features to enhance the user’s soft mobility experience of the city. And to make the lives of its customers even easier, La Poste will also be providing a repair and charging service at its post offices. Le Vélo will be available in France in late 2018.

The public rushed to La Poste’s stand for each presentation of Jaab, a contactless payment card designed for children that parents can top up via an app which also offers detailed tracking of spending. Again aimed at children, the connected piggy bank Monimalz is a fun way to teach them how to manage a budget. La Poste also presented several innovations for the home, including AtHome, which combines all the everyday connected objects (thermostat, smoke detector, air purifier, etc.) for remote control of your home. Another example is My everyday services, an online platform for local services offered by trusted providers (breakdown, cleaning, DIY, etc.). Lastly, for the office, the AtWork solution combines La Poste’s Digital Hub and connected objects to improve well-being at work (temperature, noise, air quality) or simplify day-to-day activities (room booking, etc.). It is the result of a partnership between La Poste and the start-ups it selected for the French IoT programme.

‘Chat’ as in online conversation and ‘bot’ as in robot, a chatbot is a programme that enables online conversations with users to give them responses suited to their requests. As part of the Government-Citizen Relationship Management (GCRM) offer aimed at regional authorities and administrations, La Poste is innovating with its chatbot. Accessible from Messenger, its gives users and younger people in particular a channel to interact with the government.

Currently in the test phase, it offers a set of five questions for making an appointment with the town hall, having a say in administrative actions or specifying times available. In the long term, it could also include an alert function for certain actions or enable home delivery of your passport by your postman/woman!

* This rate gives an indication of the level of public interest in the content published by La Poste on social media during CES.