Since January 4, staff members of the services in Atlas receive their postal mail in a digital format in their inbox. And as of April 1, incoming mail for the departments of Industrial Design and Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, also both located in Atlas, is digitized as well. By May 9, incidentally, the total number of those postal items was nine.

The digitization is part of a broader program known as ‘Verzekered Digitaal Werken’ (Guaranteed Digital Working), and its main advantage is that mail ends up on the desks of the right people more often and quicker. In addition, digital mail is easier to trace, making it simpler to optimize operational processes, project leader Pieter van Besouw explains. “Invoices that should have gone to the Financial and Economic Affairs department (DFEZ) would often be left sitting on a staff member’s desk for days. That should soon be a thing of the past.”

Confidentiality of mail

The process of scanning and sending mail is performed by five appointed staff members of the Information Expertise Center (IEC) who have signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement, Van Besouw says. “And they know that they will lose their jobs if they disclose anything about the contents during a lunchbreak in the cafeteria.” A breach of the confidentiality of mail is out of the question in any case, he explains. “Confidentiality of mail ceases to apply the moment a postal item is delivered. And since the mail is sent to a TU/e staff member, the university has control over this after delivery. We consulted law firm Kennedy Van der Laan about this matter, and they have confirmed that to be the case. As a matter of fact, this is already common practice at many government agencies.”

Incidentally, only a part of the mail that will be digitized is sent to the IEC. Parcels are left untouched as a general rule, and the same applies to mail marked as confidential or personal, or intended for the University Council, Health & Safety expert, or student psychologist. In addition, mail intended for companies that are located on campus is also forwarded unopened. Internal mail is not part of the project for now, but it will be at a later stage. In fact, as a result of the advancing digitization, the number of internal postal items has dropped sharply.

Evaluation

Van Besouw says that the implementation at the services involved has gone relatively smoothly. An evaluation shows that over the period between January 4 and May 9, approximately 2600 of 3200 postal items could be sent in scanned format. Of these items, 1423 were sent to DFEZ, 760 to Personnel and Organization, and 172 to Real Estate Management. Under current planning, the remaining seven departments and Education and Student Affairs (ESA) will become part of the project by this end of the year as well.