what3words interview in Geospatial world magazine

1. Geospatial World • May • 2015
INTERVIEW
36
Mapping the globe,
3mx3m at a time
Mapping the globe,
3mx3m at a time
Steven Ramage,Strategy
Director,What3Words,
shares how his start-up
has simplified the world's
addressing system by
splitting the globe into
titled squares.
H
i! I'd like to get this
package delivered
to purely.dips.dent,
please.’
Now, that may have sounded
unintelligent. But, what if we were
to tell you that it was just a request
made at a courier company, asking
for a parcel to be delivered to Fifth
Avenue,Manhattan,NewYork,US?
A new global addressing system,
called What3Words (w3w), has
divided the world into 57 trillion
3mx3m squares, and given each one
a three-word address. So, while Paris’
Champs-Élysées becomes ‘gushes.
cracker.fronted,’ London's Oxford
Street boils down to ‘tube.gates.leave’
underthisnovelsystem.
And while you may find yourself
searching for what your address is
called under what3words’ umbrel-
la for fun, let's not forget that we
still don't have unique addresses for
a major chunk of planet Earth. It's
these four billion unaddressed people
around the world,what3words really
wantstofocuson.
The company's motto is
‘addressing the world.’Is the
global addressing problem
something we really need to
worry about?
Around 75% of the world suf-
fers from inadequate addressing
systems. In the remaining 25%, a
largenumberofnationaladdressing
systems are plagued with problems,

2. 37
INTERVIEW
May • 2015 • Geospatial World
causing widespread inefficiency.
And while poor addressing is costly
and annoying for some developed
countries, in developing nations
around the world, it is responsible
for hampered growth and progress.
How can a unique address
change the world?
A unique address means that the
four billion unaddressed people of
this planet can now be visible. They
are able to get deliveries and receive
aid, report diseases and exercise
their rights as citizens, because they
have a simple way to communi-
cate where they live or work. It also
means that in remote locations,
water facilities can be found, mon-
itored and fixed; and schools, hos-
pitals, refugee camps and informal
settlements can be managed. It
means that microfinance can scale
up,and local businesses and e-com-
merce can grow. On the other hand,
in countries with advanced systems,
a precise and simple address means
that people don't get lost, packages
are delivered efficiently, utilities are
managed and businesses get found
by customers. This can add billions
to the economies.
How successful have you been in
trying to allocate three words to
any and every location in
the world?
Since what3words is based on a
grid of 57 trillion 3mx3m squares,
we have been able to give everyone
a unique, fixed, three-word long,
simple and usable address. Anyone,
including countries that have poor
or inadequate addressing, can get
started immediately, quickly and
cost effectively.
But,why are you working against
the coordinate system?
Latitude and longitude continue
to be the basis for our system.
And while they are brilliant for
computers and trained profession-
als, three-word addresses are more
human-friendly in everyday use.
There are a few alphanumeric ad-
dressingsystemsoutthere,butthey
are all hard to memorise.The use of
words means that non-technical
people can find any location accu-
rately, and communicate it more
quickly, more easily and with less
ambiguity than any other system.
Words can easily be remembered,
written, said, printed or shared
digitally. And let's not forget that
three-word addresses are available
Steven Ramage, Strategy Director, What3Words
A unique address
means that
the 4 billion
unaddressed
people of this
planet can now
be visible
in multiple languages, including
English, Russian, French, Portu-
guese,Spanish,Turkish,Swahili and
Arabic. And more languages are on
the way.

3. Geospatial World • May • 2015
INTERVIEW
38
‘Table.chair.lamps,’‘curiosity.
peach.deconstructs’—aren't
these sets of words quite strange
in a world which relies on
latitude and longitude?
Each of our wordlist is curated to
ensure that the words are mean-
ingful and used daily in local
language. There are, occasionally,
some odd combinations, but we
believe the benefits of a precise and
simple address outweighs these.
Can you tell us about the
technology and related infra-
structure behind w3w?
An algorithm and wordlist un-
derpin our service. The system is
not a database, but an algorithm
of less than 10Mb in size, so it fits
on any device. The wordlists have
25,000 words in each language,
and 40,000 in English. We have
covered the sea, as well as the land.
The lists go through multiple auto-
mated and human review process-
es to remove homophones (like
sale and sail) and offensive words.
The words are then sorted by the
algorithm, taking into account the
word length, distinctiveness, fre-
quency, and ease of spelling and
pronunciation.
Simpler, more common words
are allocated to more populated
areas that speak that language,
and the longest words are used in
unpopulated areas. The algorithm
also shuffles similar-sounding
three-word combinations around
the world to make it obvious if
you have made an error in typing.
For example, ‘table.chair.lamp’ and
‘table.chair.lamps’ are purposely on
different continents.
We have an error detection
system that makes intelligent
suggestions on where it thinks you
mean as you type, even if you make
typos.We are currently working on a
voicerecognition system.
How do navigation devices
comprehend w3w? Can I type
in an address and navigate to
it easily in an app,like Google
Maps or Apple Maps?
Currently, we have in excess of
25 partner integrations from
organisations offering taxi services
to UAVs. Out of these, the most no-
table is Navmii, one of the world's
leading navigation apps, which
now allows its 23 million users to
specify a three-word address. Our
goalistobecomeagloballyaccept-
ed standard, so you can just use
your Apple device or search word.
word.word on Google, but we are
not there yet.
Howisw3wworkingwithvarious
organisations across the world to
tackle the addressing problem?
We recently attended a number
of key events, including the Unit-
ed Nations Universal Postal Union
(UPU) Strategy Conference in Ge-
neva, and the World Bank Land
and Poverty Conference in Wash-
ington. Our goal has been to ex-
plain to these global organisations
how much of an impact a simple
and precise three-word address
can have on the global population.
Numerous governments from Afri-
ca, Latin America, the Middle East
and South East Asia have now con-
tacted us about addressing entire
countries. And some developed
countries are already using three-
word addresses, such as, Statens
Kartverk in Norway. We also have
several tie-ups at the community
level, including a delivery franchise
operating in the Brazilian favelas,
called Carteiro Amigo; a mapping
and spatial collection app called
Geospago; and a car sharing app
called Gocar share.