Partner: Aligned Assets Introduces what3words into Gazetteer Products

Aligned Assets are a UK-based full service company from Surrey that develops address management and gazetteer software for local authorities, the emergency services and the commercial sector including utilities and telecommunications.

A gazetteer is a directory that contains information about the geographical makeup, cultural information, social statistics and physical features of a country, region, or continent. When used in conjunction with maps and atlases, a gazetteer can be a very powerful tool. At the heart of the system is addressing, a simple way to describe a location. Historically this has been done with latitude/longitude coordinates or street addresses. But whilst coordinates are accurate they very hard to use. Transcribing and communicating long strings of numbers like 51.521049, 0.202721 are prone to error and prohibits their widespread use. Street addressing is not universal or accurate and there are numerous locations which need to be recorded which are not covered.

Addresses often end up being long and complex in an attempt to be precise “ELECTRICITY SUB STATION 16M FROM PREMIER INN, LOCKYERS QUAY, 36M FROM ALBERT ROAD”

To solve this problem Aligned Assets have added 3 word addresses to their product range. what3words is a simple way to communicate a precise location based on a global grid of 57 trillion 3 meter x 3 meter squares. Each square has been pre-allocated a fixed and unique 3 word address. A 3 word address is both a unique identifier and a precise location, accurate to 3 meters. It is easier to use “Electricity Sub Station at blunt.keeps.film”.

Aligned Assets users will be able to automatically generate and store the 3 word address for any address held in its Gazetteers. 3 word addresses can then be viewed, searched for and updated across Symphony, iManage,Bluelight and their Street Naming and Numbering module.

The SinglePoint search engine also enables 3 word address search for land and property by linking it with AddressBase Premium and the LLPG. iMatch will also now match against a 3 word address.

How can 3 word addresses help my organisation?

Local Authorities – 3 word addresses can be used to help identify any property with a complex or ambiguous address. They can also use the 3 word address for any UPRN without a postal address. Any service to these locations can then use a 3 word address to minimise confusion where use of a postcode or absence of one poses a problem. Local Authorities can also allocate a 3 word address during a development phase of new builds. This address can then be passed to other interested parties such as utilities, telecoms or other service providers before a formal address and postcode is allocated. This benefits the local authority, service provider and residents.

Fire – 3 word addresses can help identify any property with a complex or ambiguous address and navigate to it more effectively. Any service to these locations can then use the 3 word address to minimise confusion where use of a postcode or absence of one (such as storage areas for combustible or hazardous materials) poses a problem.

Locations of Fire Hydrants, Extinguishers, Life Buoys or other equipment needed for fire and rescue can also be accurately logged using the 3 word address. The 3 word address can also be used to more accurately identify the location of an incident by using searching services provided by Aligned Assets and what3words. These searching services combine the 3 word address with conventional addressing data sets such as AddressBase Premium to provide the best of both worlds.

Police – 3 word addresses can to help identify any property with a complex or ambiguous address and reach it more effectively. Any service to these locations can then use the 3 word address to minimise confusion where use of a postcode or absence of one poses a problem.

Locations of crime hotspots can also be accurately logged using the 3 word address. The 3 word address can also be used to more accurately identify the location of an incident by using searching services provided by Aligned Assets and what3words. These searching services combine the 3 word address with conventional addressing data sets such as AddressBase Premium to provide the best of both worlds.

Ambulance – can use the 3 word address to help identify any property with a complex or ambiguous address and reach it more effectively. Any service to these locations can then use the 3 word address to minimise confusion where use of a postcode or absence of one poses a problem such as open spaces.

Locations of defibrillators or other equipment and access points can also be accurately logged using the 3 word address. The 3 word address can also be used to more accurately identify the location of an incident by using searching services provided by Aligned Assets and what3words. These searching services combine the 3 word address with conventional addressing data sets such as AddressBase Premium to provide the best of both worlds.

Utility Provider – 3 word address can accurately identify both billing and service addresses. Addresses can be very ambiguous, especially in rural areas. This can cause significant inefficiencies in both the billing and service provision for utility companies.

A 3 word address can also be used to identify fixed assets for the utility companies such as stand pipes, telephone masts, exchange boxes, man hole covers, etc. This accuracy can be further enhanced by customers of the utility company confirming or providing their 3 word address if they regularly suffer the inconvenience of misdirected mail or services.