With most countries in the world lacking a decent addressing system, could there be a better way for packages and parcels to find their recipients?

1. ADDRESSING
2017
www.PostalTechnologyInternational.com
49
2017
www.PostalTechnologyInternational.com
ADDRESSING
How do you deliver mail to someone if
they do not have an address? Around 75%
of countries have inconsistent, complicated
or non-existent addressing systems, making
the task more difficult, while problems can
still occur even when a letter or package is
labeled – the location can be hard to find,
or the item itself may go missing.
Setting up a national addressing system
from scratch costs millions and takes years;
maintaining it even more. Even highly
developed nations such as Ireland and
South Korea have spent years introducing
new systems, and both have struggled to
roll them out. A developing country
without the same level of resources would
find it even harder.
what3words is a new approach to global
addressing. Using an algorithmic engine
similar to that of a coordinate system, it has
divided the world into a grid of 3 x 3m
squares; 57tn of them. Each square is
pre-assigned a unique three-word address:
simple, memorable and effective.
Using words instead of numbers or
alphanumeric strings is a simpler way of
referring to the delivery point of any place
in the world, be that a house, an office, a
township hut or a specific corner of a field
– even in countries with an existing
addressing system, deliveries can now
arrive at a specific or remote location if this
is preferable. The drop-off point can be
viewed on a map and navigated to, with
100% geocoding accuracy.
Addressing the unaddressed The
what3words system is already being used
in one of the most challenging delivery
locations: Rocinha, the largest favela in
Brazil, has thousands of tiny roads and
walkways. Crammed into the south side
of Rio de Janeiro, its residents are full of
economic ambition. However, with the
favela virtually impossible to navigate,
that potential has always been limited.
The what3words app offers three-word
addresses to the favela’s residents, written
on stickers for people to use when ordering
online. The system understands the district
and the delivery station, simplifying the
process of getting packages to their
recipients. The post office can then scale
WITH MOST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD LACKING A DECENT
ADDRESSING SYSTEM, COULD THERE BE A BETTER WAY FOR
PACKAGES AND PARCELS TO FIND THEIR RECIPIENTS?
what3words
48
its operations, reduce time training new
recruits and work out more efficient routes.
Mongol Post, Mongolia’s national postal
delivery service, has also adopted the
what3words addressing platform across the
country. Mongolia covers an area nearly the
size of the European Union, and every
citizen now has a three-word address.
Mongol Post customers can discover their
address via the what3words app, then write
it on an envelope or enter it at the checkout
of an online shopping website.
Batsaikhan Tsedendamba, CEO of
Mongol Post, says, “I have been working
at Mongol Post for 10 years now. During
this time, we have been presented with
numerous local and international
addressing systems and technologies. Of
them all, I believe what3words is the most
user-friendly and optimal technology.”
Satisfied customers what3words is
being used by a host of other delivery
and logistics firms across the globe. In
the UK, Direct Today Couriers now uses
what3words as part of its last-mile express
delivery service to rural parts of the
country. Missed deliveries have been
reduced by 83% as a result.
Global logistics giant Aramex has
integrated the technology into its
e-commerce operations, ensuring more
efficient and effective deliveries. With a
move toward unmanned delivery solutions,
what3words can now be used to set
waypoints, destinations and landing points
for the Altavian drone aircraft: medicine
and aid can be sent directly to a disaster
zone, or a pizza delivered to a park bench.
This is all part of a concerted effort to
add commercial partners who can see a
clear benefit to the three-word addressing
solution. By plugging the API into their
own software, apps and services,
what3words can drive real efficiencies
for delivery and logistics, enhance the
customer experience for mapping,
navigation, travel and business, and
improve lives via governments, NGOs
and charitable organizations.
Lost and found Main image: what3words’ global
location reference system gives
everyone, everything and everywhere
a simple address
Left: In June 2016 what3words
announced it will provide a national
addressing system to Mongol Post,
Mongolia’s national postal operator
Below: Mongol Post customers can
now discover any three word address,
via the free what3words app
th th

2. 2017
www.PostalTechnologyInternational.com
ADDRESSING50
Expanding the offering what3words has
apps for iOS, Android and the web. It is
currently available in 12 languages – from
English and Arabic to Spanish and Swahili
– and is being used in more than 170
countries. In addition to mapping the globe
with 3 x 3m squares, users can easily batch
convert and reverse geocode latitude and
longitude coordinates to three-word
addresses via an Excel plug-in. More
importantly, the API and SDK are available
for businesses and developers to integrate
into their existing systems, or to build
entirely new apps and services.
An algorithm and wordlist underpin the
system. The core technology is contained
within a file around 10MB in size, meaning
it can be used off-line with no data
connection and installed on the simplest of
smartphones or devices. The wordlists have
25,000 words per language – the English
version has 40,000 words, as the sea has
been addressed as well as the land.
Words take into account the length,
distinctiveness, frequency, ease of spelling
and pronunciation. Simpler or more
common words feature in more populated
areas, while longer words are used if the
population is minimal.
The system is non-hierarchical and, since
all units referenced are the same size, there
is no need to interpret the code based on
the size of geographical area. It is also
non-topological; a three-word address used
to reference a 3 x 3m square on the Earth’s
surface is not dependent on the addresses
of adjacent squares.
Importantly, the algorithm also shuffles
similar-sounding three-word combinations
around the world to make it obvious if an
error has been made when typing or saying
the address. For example, ‘table.chair.lamp’
and ‘table.chair.lamps’ are purposely found
on different continents. Error detection also
makes intelligent suggestions on what it
thinks is meant as the address is entered. It
even accounts for typos and human error.
Humble beginnings Having spent 10 years
organizing music events around the world,
Chris Sheldrick, CEO of what3words,
constantly faced logistical frustrations as a
result of poor addressing. He discussed the
idea of a more usable and less-error-prone
version of the latitude and longitude
coordinate system with a mathematician
friend. An early version of the what3words
algorithm was written on the back of an
envelope, and in March 2013 the company
was founded by the pair.
Since then, growth has been rapid. The
native app was released and the website
launched in July 2013. The API followed in
November 2013 and the offline SDK in
October 2014. Off-line functionality was
added in February 2015, and voice input
capabilities are already in development.
The team has worked hard to ensure
three-word addresses are available across as
many platforms as possible. The service is
available in Esri, ArcGIS, AutoCAD,
Hexagon and Fee. You can also type a
three-word address straight into the
DuckDuckGo search bar, through the
Facebook Messenger App, and can even
find a three-word address via a Garmin
SmartWatch. n
IN THE NEXT
20 YEARS...
Drone delivery – This will be more
commonplace, with drones taking
medicine and food into a disaster area or
a pizza to a park bench.
Population – The world’s cities will be
even bigger, with more people, making
finding them with current addressing
systems an even harder task.
Delivery – Rather than just delivering
‘door-to-door’, the phrase will be
‘anywhere-to-anywhere’, with no
limitations on pick-up or drop-off points
thanks to innovations and technology.
th
All images: what3words
is now in use worldwide,
including in the UK (left),
Mongolia (above) and
Brazil (below)