mapIT adopts global Mapcodes

mapIT has adopted Mapcodes – an international standard for representing any location on Earth by using a short code that is made up of between 4 and 7 characters.

This new addressing system will affect businesses operating in SA and across Africa. mapIT will be incorporating Mapcodes into every part of its technology value stack offered to clients and partners. The South Africa Post Office (SAPO) will be incorporating Mapcodes into the SAPO National Address Databases.

The Mapcode system was designed specifically as a free, unbranded international standard for representing any location on the surface of the Earth by a short, easy to recognise ‚”code‚” usually consisting of between 4 and 7 letters and digits. The short length of a Mapcode is the key differentiating factor between coordinates and other codes. They are precise to a few meters, which is good enough for every-day use.

Kewal Shienmar, Managing Director of the Mapcode Foundation commented: ‚”Since its roll-out less than a year ago, Mapcode has been embraced throughout the world but, particularly in the continents of Africa and India. Over the next years we expect a considerable uptake of Mapcodes and believe that they will change the way we find people and places.

“We are delighted to learn of this wonderful initiative taken by mapIT. By adopting this technology at this early stage, mapIT has demonstrated its forward thinking. It places mapIT at the forefront of a major innovation and clearly paves the way for many more African organizations to run with the baton and bring Mapcode to full usage in South Africa and its neighbours. ‚””

For Africa this is a solution to the endless struggle to connect an address people, properties and points-of-nterest. Service delivery constraints due to the lack of addressing systems are a thing of the past. The challenges faced by emergency services failing to find addresses for a patient or police not making it in time to a crime scene due to lack of address information is a thing of the past. Not being able to make use of eCommerce and have a basic right like home deliveries not working in Africa is a thing of the past.

In most African countries both the native language and English name is used for an address resulting in variations of spellings which makes it difficult for both locals and tourists visiting the country. Mapcodes solves this with a unique and simple code to remember.

Etienne Louw, Director Sales & Marketing for TomTom Africa says: ‚””Never in my 28 years of specialising in location based services and solutions have I seen a solution as simple and powerful as this that will change the face of how we use location aware systems in Africa and the rest of the ‚’un-addressed’ world overnight, forever. Now Mr Cement Dude operating on a street corner in Lagos can become part of the modern world of location based marketing and direct customers to his business.‚””

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