The University of Technology Jamaica (UTech) and Y Smart Data – a Jamaican geospatial technology company focused on transforming how communities are mapped, identified, and served — have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on digital solutions aimed at modernising Jamaica’s postal system.

The partnership will mobilise over $15 million in cloud services, training, and technology to pilot transformative, cost-effective solutions, with the goal of digitising mail notifications in five non-delivery post offices by 2026.

The two entities finalised the partnership on Friday, April 25, 2025, with the signing of the MoU at the UTech’s Papine Campus.

Under the agreement, UTech Jamaica, through its Technology Innovation Centre (TIC), will provide incubation services to Y Smart Data. Both entities have agreed to collaborate and share relevant information for the development of an addressing system for Jamaica that enhances logistics, increases e-commerce adoption and improves geo-spatial analysis in Jamaica.

The initiative also aims to create national address codes for Jamaica that can uniquely identify a parcel of land or premises, serving as a solution for implementing a modern postal code system.

Additionally, staff and students of both institutions will benefit from professional development and resource sharing opportunities, including training, lectures, seminars, conferences, and joint publications on emerging ICT trends.

In addition to its commitment to providing an incubation plan and incubation services to Y Smart Data through its Technology Innovation Centre, UTech, where applicable, will also provide resources for the establishment of a joint advisory committee through its Faculty of the Built Environment.

Y Smart Data will be responsible for developing and maintaining the address system, inclusive of national address codes. The company will also implement products and services derived from the addressing system and provide the necessary software development resources to deploy the technology effectively.

As part of its broader national postal system enhancement initiative, Y Smart Data also signed separate MoUs with Sagicor Group Jamaica, Orba Technology and Insurance Company of the West Indies (ICWI).

Y Smart Data, which has made history as the first company to develop smart codes for Jamaican communities, offers an innovative system that enhances location accuracy and landowner identification.

Explaining the significance of the initiative, Ray St Michael Williams, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Y Smart Data, said, “The Jamaica Smart initiative seeks to modernise and standardise Jamaican addresses using smart codes. A smart code is just a simple alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies an address in Jamaica, and it is also aligned with international standards.”

Williams shared that the idea behind Y Smart Data’s innovation, took root a few decades ago while he was working at one of UK’s leading digital marketing firms where he was introduced to a geospatial mapping application that functioned with impressive precision.

“That got me to start thinking about how I would replicate this in Jamaica and that’s when I started to work on customer segmentation, only to find out that Jamaica does not have a proper addressing
system,” he explained.

He added that this realisation started an 18-year journey of innovation and passion that has led to current partnerships.

Delivering his remarks at the signing ceremony, Dr Kevin Brown, President, University of Technology, Jamaica expressed his pride in the university’s role in the pioneering and entrepreneurial venture.

“It warms my heart to be here today because this is certainly an entrepreneurial partnership in what Ray and Y Smart Data have been doing and will continue to do, and we want to see more of these
projects emerge that involves our people,” Dr Brown stated.

Dr Brown emphasised the university’s commitment to supporting innovation, telling the representatives from the partnering firms: “UTech wants to solve your problems and if it’s one thing we can guarantee you that the university has is brain power. I have over 500 academic staff with expertise in all topics and I have 12,00 students who are young and enthusiastic, so there is no problem that you should have in the private sector that you cannot turn to us to solve…we should be the
ones that you look to.”

Dr Brown also commended the Y Smart Data team for choosing the university as its academic partner while signaling his optimism about the success of the initiative.