Australia Post - February 2021

AUSTRALIA POST

Delivering digital transformation DIGITAL REPORT 2021

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

AUSTRALIA POST

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Delivering digital transformation

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AUSTRALIA POST

How Australia Post is supporting security and e-commerce with identity checks for anti-money laundering, passport applications, police checks and more

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ustralia Post processes eight million identity transactions every year, supporting consumers, businesses and government

with the implementation of products and solutions which require identity checks: from identity verification to support financial services organisations’ 04

anti-money laundering obligations, to property transfers, passport applications, aviation and maritime security identity checks, and police checks for everyone. “Our mission is to simplify identity moments for everyone,” pledges Alberto Simongini, Head of Technology & Engineering. “Identity products and services are actually one of the key growth areas for Australia Post over and above our core mail and parcel services.”

Simongini joined Australia Post in 2017 in the midst of its digital transformation and notes this transition is allowing the postal organisation’s Business & Government clients to directly interact with their customers. “In regulated markets where a face-to-face identity verification is required, Australia Post can play to its strengths, because we run the largest retail network with trained people in

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the country, with nearly three times the number of retail outlets of the second largest retailer. With our vast range of services to connect Australians in every corner of the country, there is no reason why we cannot become the front door of Australia for important services that require identity verification.”

Australia Post is behind Digital iD™, the first form of digital identity in the country to be accredited by the federal government’s Digital Transformation Agency. In a full online experience, Digital iD™ combines back-to-source

“ Now, we’re establishing new ways of working and it’s more about our passion towards continuous improvement and growing our products - that’s when engineering becomes product engineering” — Alberto Simongini, Head of Technology & Engineering, Australia Post

Digital iD™ – a simpler way to verify CLICK TO WATCH

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document verification and facial biom-

explains Simongini. “Our business

etric binding, which offers communities

transformation triggered a large invest-

access to both government and private

ment into the latest technologies from

sector services. Simongini’s team is

cloud infrastructure to automation (e.g.

responsible for the execution of this

Continuous Integration/Continuous

product roadmap in terms of engineer-

Delivery), from Big Data to machine

ing and operation.

learning and from cyber security to

Technology plays an important role

compliance (ISM and PCI). Now that

in attracting and retaining the talent

we’ve established new ways of work-

required to continue the work started

ing and integrated this with a new

with the organisation’s digital transfor-

technology ecosystem, our team’s

mation. “Our workforce is very diverse,

engagement is more about our passion

from customer experience design to

towards continuous improvement and

development, security and operation,”

growing our products in the market.” w w w.a uspo st . com . a u

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“ We need vendors that keep feeding us with ideas and innovative capabilities that we can leverage, now and in the future, to evolve our level of compliance and digital maturity in what we do.”

— Alberto Simongini, Head of Technology & Engineering, Australia Post

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Simongini believes a tight integra-

the subject matter expert of the prod-

tion between product management

uct in itself, and pushing its area of

and engineering is a must. “At

influence towards sales and cus-

Australia Post, we follow the scaled

tomer engagement rather than being

agile methodology. Most impor-

inward facing; that’s when engineer-

tantly, it’s a collaboration to allow

ing becomes product engineering.”

people to understand why things are

“We’re at an exciting point where we

needed, so you can all rally behind

can see the fruits of our labor and the

the challenges ahead to deliver a

real business benefits of our trans-

customer-focused solution. The team

formation,” affirms Simongini. “It’s

becomes owners of the product and

fantastic to engage customers directly,

we see a shift from engineering being

collect feedback, and continue to work

about execution to actually becoming

on our products, because even with

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

“ Corporations, like Western economies, are often impatient, and moving from innovation to growth takes time and perseverance so we can’t just invest in innovation hoping to find the unicorn” — Alberto Simongini, Head of Technology & Engineering, Australia Post

small changes we can make a very big impact. It’s actually become a part of the lifecycle of our products and the way we take them to the next level, which makes the potential for what we can achieve in the future very exciting.”

Creating the right culture to develop new ways of working and an ability to constantly adapt across the organisa-

Alberto Simongini Title: Head of Technology & Engineering Location: Melbourne, Victoria Alberto Simongini is an award-winning organisational leadership expert with over 15 years’ experience in the Information, Communication and Technology industry. A dedicated 13 program manager Simongini works to overcome obstacles and consistently achieve complex, large-scale program goals within tight timeframes and budgetary and compliance requirements. His experience in previous consulting roles in system integration, network operation and media - have helped him navigate the challenges of Australia Post’s digital transformation.

tion has been integral to the success of the transformation. “Ideally, you want to build your team from the very beginning and scale it so the culture w w w.a uspo st . com . a u

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FACT BOX

How digital is transforming IT roles at Australia Post

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Digital transformation is everywhere, believes Alberto Simongini, Head of Technology & Engineering at Australia Post.

“Technology is at the heart of everything we do and what every modern company does.

Therefore, its development and a better understanding of what it can achieve, can help all areas of a business, including sales,” he says. “It’s not all about transactional sales; it’s about understanding what the technology, its environment, and how our solutions, can promote integration.”

grows with it,” reasons Simongini.

“This is not always possible, so we have to find ways to support other parts of the organisation by inheriting the resources of different teams.

Often, each team brings their own technology and culture, so we’ve had to break down the old ways and encourage a new esprit de corps a

“There is a shift in the industry where the product engineer becomes the expert in that product and can support sales and move up in the chain. So, when it comes to digital transformation of the traditional model the more your skill develops, the more your worth in the organisation is changing.

To some extent it is about selecting the right person or the right skills for the outcome required. It means the traditional model of HR is transforming across the ICT industry.”

few times.”

This approach has been vital for Simongini when faced with resistance to change. “It’s been a barrier to overcome because ultimately we are accountable for the end-to-end results and delivering the benefits to the business and customers.”

Building the alliances and partnerships required to sustain Australia Post’s digital transformation has led Simongini and his team to source field contractors to ensure they keep control of the outcome. “The traditional ways of sourcing contractors didn’t fit our purpose, so we are enriching our approach with different ways of recruiting the right people,” he says. “Not just in terms of what they know and the way they execute, but also in the way they engage and operate within the business. That’s why we have started prototyping different ways of engaging consulting companies in the market.”

Simongini notes, “we’re working successfully in this way as our suppliers are deeply engaged in our delivery rhythm and provide us the flexibility to make sure we find talent that is the right fit in our teams. They are w w w.a uspo st . com . a u

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in a relationship with solid and international companies providing specific, extremely reliable and secure software for our products. We need vendors that keep feeding us with ideas and innovative capabilities that we can leverage, now and in the future, to evolve our level of compliance and digital maturity in what we do.”

Simongini sees a place for startups in the ecosystem, viewing them as offering “cherry on top” potential.

“They’re not necessarily at the core of our ecosystems, but we definitely see the value in specific and innovainvested in developing and maintain-

tive tools in software lifecycle to help

ing with us the right people within

us better build, operate and moni-

the teams’ culture and Australia Post

tor our applications. At Australia Post,

delivery framework.”

we’ve learned how to select and groom

Australia Post collaborates with

opportunities with our innovation pro-

key providers in the identity products

gramme to select ideas to accelerate

and services space and innovators in

and incubate before we actually start

developing and deploying biometric

to invest considerably. Corporations,

authentication and identity assurance

like Western economies, are often

solutions worldwide, like Daon with a

impatient, and moving from innovation

long history of product development

to growth takes time and persever-

to enable high quality and international

ance. We can’t just invest in innovation

standard photo capture. Simongini

hoping to find the unicorn; we must

notes that the business is very careful

carefully analyse the potential and the

in its vendor selection: “We’ve invested

timing of the commercial return.” w w w.a uspo st . com . a u

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“For example, we’ve been working with the National Australia Bank on a joint venture for identity fraud prevention called TrustCheck,” reveals Simongini. Essentially, TrustCheck is a service aiming to build a positive reputation and strong engagement across all functional areas - particularly risk, legal, privacy, sales, governance, corporate development and partnerships, and data service owners. “This new e-commerce fraud detection product came through our innovation 18

programmes, and allows for applied machine learning to offer merchants a high degree of confidence that

“ Now the market is ready to embrace the SaaS concept, we’ve also signed an agreement with Mastercard to enable the digital ID to be a form of identification in the credit card application process” — Alberto Simongini, Head of Technology & Engineering, Australia Post

to automate pre-employment identity verification checks, removing the burden of manual processing for HR departments. “It’s been a great success,” confirms Simongini. “In just six months we already have 30 customers on board. They’re attracted by the fact that our digital services are ISM and PCI compliant, accredited by the Australian federal government’s Digital Transformation Agency as a provider of the identity exchange to be rolled out across government services. Now, the market is ready to embrace our solution, which gives consumers the choice of face-to-face or digital identity verification and puts consumers in control customers they are interacting with are

of their identity. We’ve also signed an

not using stolen or synthetic identities.”

agreement with Mastercard to use

Australia Post understands the

Digital iD™ as a form of identification

complexities of transforming a vast

in its trial of a broader digital identity

network of legacy systems, pro-

service for customers when interact-

cesses and people and has been

ing with other businesses and private

focused on utilising its own digital

organisations.”

solutions. In 2019, it launched its own Workforce Verification product, enabling businesses and government departments to utilise a SaaS offering. This enabled a re-use function in Digital iD™, which has the ability w w w.a uspo st . com . a u

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