what3words Joins Forces with Safe Software

FME, the spatial data transformation technology created by Safe Software, now supports the innovative location-referencing system, what3words. Don Murray, president of Safe Software, said the collaboration with what3words helps to provide a way for people to integrate this new solution into their existing data and gives FME users a new option for identifying location information.

FME is a software solution for anyone working with multiple data formats, particularly location data. It provides a graphical user interface and pre-built tools that allow data to be integrated and transformed, and for these jobs to be automated. The software is used by large multinationals, including Shell, Arup and Enel to help them manage their geospatial data.

3 by 3 metre squares

what3words has divided the world into 57 trillion 3mx3m squares and has given each square a pre-allocated and fixed 3 word address. Words are easier to remember and use by people everyday than any other coordinate system.

Support for what3words can be used in FME Desktop 2015.1.1 (Build 15515) or newer, FME Server, and FME Cloud. Users simply access the what3words custom transformers by typing "what3words" in the Transformer Gallery directly within FME Desktop. A what3words API key is also required. These tools will enable users to encode and decode what3words addresses to and from latitude,longitude coordinates, without writing any code.

The ability to convert 3 word addresses in FME makes it easier for geospatial professionals to connect with all of their audiences, making location information more usable by all. Now, 3-word addresses are just a couple of clicks away, said Steven Ramage, director of strategy at what3words.