what3words Addresses Added to United Nations Disaster App
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what3words Addresses Added to United Nations Disaster App

Commissioned by United Nations, AnsuR Technologies has developed UN-ASIGN, a free crowdsourced report app used during a natural disaster or humanitarian crisis. UN-ASIGN allows individuals to collect and disseminate crowdsourced photos and reports. Data such as points of flooding, damaged buildings and hazardous electric lines are automatically mapped and help to improve overall situational awareness and response during a crisis.

The data is collected by UNOSAT who then shares the relevant data with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and other responding agencies such as the government and NGOs. The application has successfully been used in Haiti, Pakistan, Nigeria and Thailand.

The latest release of UN-ASIGN has integrated the innovative georeferencing system called what3words. It means all photos and reports will now also be geotagged with their 3-word addresses.

3-word address 

what3words is a universal location reference system based on a global grid of 57 trillion 3mx3m squares. Each square has been pre-assigned a fixed and unique 3-word address. It works in multiple languages, offline with no data connection. The use of words means non-technical people can find any location accurately 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.

Communication of location

In times of crisis the communication of location is key and due to their memorability using 3 words simplifies this; reducing errors and ambiguity. This integration will also enable the affected community to refer to any precise location; when they are there, once they have left that location or if they want to refer to an entirely different location. This will help all responding agencies to communicate the location of any area using a 3-word address.

what3words enhances what is an inclusive, rapid response solution with a simple way to communicate location, making it easier to coordinate a response effectively.

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