A UK firm's location-finding tool, what3words, has been adopted by countries worldwide and is helping emergency services locate deadly wildfires and rescue casualties, including a heart attack victim saved by a three-word address.
How what3words works
The app, invented by English entrepreneur Chris Sheldrick, breaks the world down into trillions of three-metre by three-metre squares, each assigned a unique combination of three words. This makes any location instantly identifiable, even without a postcode, landmark, or sat-nav signal.
Sheldrick, 45, developed the idea after years as an events organiser, frustrated with bands getting lost on their way to venues. In 2013, with co-founders Dr Mohan Ganesalingam and Jack Waley-Cohen, what3words was launched.
Life-saving use in wildfires and emergencies
Fire brigades in England have used the app to reach rapidly spreading wildfires, including a blaze that engulfed half of the 660-acre Holme Fen nature reserve in Cambridgeshire. Peter Bromley, crew commander at Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "At Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service we encourage our communities to use what3words when reporting an incident, as the additional layer of accuracy helps us pinpoint exactly where to send help."
"This has been especially important during this exceptionally busy wildfire season, when getting crews to the right place in wide open spaces quickly, is critical to managing and resolving the reported incident. This gives the best possible service to the public, and allows our resources to be redeployable as quickly as possible once the incident is safely brought under control."
The app also saved the life of double cancer survivor Gary Mason, who suffered a major heart attack on a remote B road. His son Joe used the app's three-word address "anyway.lend.give" to guide paramedics to their location. Joe told the Bromsgrove Standard the "app definitely saved my dad's life".
Global reach and future ambitions
what3words is now used in more than 190 countries and in over 60 languages, including by governments and emergency services. In Mongolia, where many people live nomadic lives, the app has become essential for deliveries and emergency calls. Chris Sheldrick noted that a BBC TV show sent a test letter to Mongolia using only the person's name and three words, and it arrived.
Looking ahead, Sheldrick joked about going to the Moon: "We're very happy to go to the Moon, and if there are users there for sure we will come up with something when the time comes."
