Blog: Thank You, What3Words

Friday 11 February 2022

Thank You, What3Words

What for ?

For fulfilling it’s promise to introduce its technology in India, in Hindi

When did it promise ?

Following is my 4 YEAR old exchange of e-mails with What3Words :

Here is what I wrote to www.What3words.com :

Dear Chloe,

Many thanks for your prompt response

Here is a question :

As far as I can make out, your system is two-dimensional ( surface area based )

How can it be improvised to track / locate properties located 1000 ft above the ground level , in a multi-storied building ? ( 3 dimensions )

On each floor of a residential or commercial building , there are apartments / offices , belonging to different owners

Local governments ( eg; Municipal Corporations of towns / cities ) , do assign / allot an ID ( alpha-numeric digit number ) to such properties to keep track and collect property taxes . This results in a large number of local databases, each differently designed / accessed . Quite often, these are paper-based !

But there is no CENTRAL / COMMON DATABASE of all the properties ( not merely land parcels ) in a country, which can be accessed by different government agencies from any city

At least in India , this ( lack of a CENTRAL / COMMON DATABASE of apartments – offices etc ) has become a BIG issue since billions of dollars’ worth of properties are purchased with BLACK MONEY , in the names of non-existent persons !

Indian Government is looking for a solution where each and every property is given a UNIQUE ID and also linked with Unique “ Aadhar Numbers (https://uidai.gov.in/) “ already issued to over 1200 MILLION persons over the past 4 years

Do you think your system could provide a fool-proof solution ?

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Here is what Chloe replied :

Chloe Day (what3words Support)

Feb 20, 15:18 GMT

Dear Hemen,

Most postal or address systems only work in 2D (e.g. ZIP codes or postal codes in the UK). These always need additional information to specify height: e.g. Flat 6, 5th floor, 12 Lonsdale Road.

With a 3 word address, we recommend a similar approach, e.g. Flat 6, 5th floor, index.home.raft

In terms of indoor addressing, what3words covers all locations in 2D, but the supporting technology (indoor positioning, indoor mapping, indoor navigation) is not yet widespread enough for there to be any great benefit of specifying a point with height included.

However, if and when height becomes helpful to specify, we have various options for including this information with the 3 word address.

Thank you for the information on India's search for an addressing solution - I'll pass it on to our sales team.

All best wishes,
Chloe

what3words support

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I would not be surprised if Amazon offers to buy out What3Words , considering what Chloe wrote to me ( below ) :

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Chloe Day (what3words Support)

Feb 19, 13:40 GMT

Dear Hemen,

Thank you for your email. We are still finalising our Hindi map, and it should be released quite soon.

Thanks again for getting in touch!

Chloe Day (what3words Support)

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Apr 23, 10:07 BST

Dear Hemen,

Thank you for passing this on !

We are working on several more Indian languages at the moment. Hopefully they will all help with adoption in India.

All best wishes,

Chloe

what3words support

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And here is that proof of “ Promise Fulfilled “ ( Advt in Times of India / 12 Feb 2022 ) :