More Government services in Mongolia adopt innovative location technology what3words

what3words has today announced major partnerships with the e-Mongolia Academy, Mongol Post, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism at the Mongolia Economic Forum. Adoption of what3words in Mongolia is growing at pace; the Mongol Post spearheaded use of the addressing system in 2016, and NEMA (National Emergency Management Agency) already uses the technology to locate emergencies, as do Lonely Planet and Airbnb for tourism.

The E-Mongolia Academy plans to roll out the use of what3words as part of its e-Mongolia platform and to improve emergency and incident reporting processes for councils and residents.

Mongol Post develops its existing relationship with what3words to explore Optical Character Recognition technology to increase parcel delivery speed as more and more Mongolian e-commerce brands integrate what3words.

The Ministry of Culture has adopted what3words for listing cultural heritage sites, including sites that are registered to UNESCO, across Mongolia. what3words addresses will be listed in Mongolian and English to give greater visibility to important places across the country and enable them to be identified easily across a range of mapping services.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism will be using what3words for key touristic sites across Mongolia so travellers can navigate and get around the country in the language of their choice.

Mongolia offers an exciting culture of innovation, home to many forward-thinking businesses that are open to trying new and exciting technologies to improve everyday operations and customer experience. Over the years, what3words has proved to be particularly useful in overcoming some of the addressing challenges that stem from Mongolia’s unique infrastructure. It’s the second largest landlocked country in the world, and also one of the most sparsely populated, with a semi-nomadic population. Its three million people are scattered across the country, from the bustling capital, Ulaanbaatar, to the remote grass steppes.

In many parts of the country, there is little to no street addressing. Citizens often collect mail from Post Office boxes, kilometres away from their homes. Deliveries to a specific address are often only achieved using descriptive landmarks – “past the crossroads, opposite the gas station”. Customers also provide a mobile phone number so a driver can call for directions. Yet still, failed deliveries are commonplace, inconveniencing customers, raising courier costs and holding back the development of businesses and government.

what3words is revolutionising the way the world communicates location. It has divided the world into a grid of 3 metre x 3 metre squares and given each square a unique combination of three random words: a what3words address. Now, every apartment building entrance, parking space and ger camp has its own what3words address. For example ///universes.gardens.magically identifies the entrance of what3words’ Ulaanbaatar office, while ///evaluate.video.nails identifies a 3 metre square deep in the forests of northern Mongolia, where one of the world’s most remote Airbnbs can be found. The technology also works offline, making it ideal for use in areas with an unreliable data connection such as hiking trails, and is currently available in over 50 languages, including Mongolian, allowing more than 5 billion people to use it in their native tongue. The app is free to download for both iOS and Android devices and can also be used via the online map at what3words.com

NEMA has been using what3words for a number of years to locate callers and respond faster. And in 2016, Mongol Post, the national postal delivery service, made the addressing system integral to its operations and part of a drive to boost the country’s economic development.

The Prime Minister of Mongolia, L. Oyun-Erdene, comments: “This new partnership builds on the progress we have made to foster innovation and transform Mongolia’s digital capacity. I am pleased that, in our vast country, it will make it easier to bring people together, and also help promote our unique culture. We look forward to working alongside what3words to enhance the impact of the Government’s agenda and unlock new opportunities to deliver our sustainable development goals.”

Uchral Nyam-Osor, Minister of Digital Development and Communications, comments: “We are building a multitude of ways for people to use what3words as part of our e-Mongolia services, whether that’s to describe their home address as part of an important document, or for emergency & incident reporting. Millions of Mongolian citizens interact with our e-Mongolia services, and adding what3words will provide an additional layer of accuracy and ease when it comes to addressing.”

CEO of Mongol Post Ankhbaatar Badamrai adds: “Mongolia is a beautiful and vast country with an addressing infrastructure like no other. what3words has become part of our everyday operations to support our national deliveries, and we’re truly excited by the potential of our partnership. Bringing what3words to more e-commerce businesses will streamline the delivery experience for retailers, couriers, and customers across the country.”

Minister of Culture, Nomin Chinbat comments: “Mongolia is home to some of the world’s most beautiful landmarks, rich with culture and history. We’re thrilled to partner with what3words to provide a simple and reliable way to find, identify, and share our heritage sites in the country. It means that tourists and citizens have an easy way to see some of the most incredible places that our country has to offer.”

Minister of Environment and Tourism Bat-Erdene Bat-Ulzii, adds: “When travellers visit Mongolia, they want to experience the untouched landscapes, clear rivers, and spectacular valleys. Their locations aren’t always easy to describe with a street address or postal code. In recognition of what3words’ game-changing technology, we are adding what3words addresses for key touristic destinations across Mongolia. We believe this will revolutionise the way people navigate when they’re travelling.”

Co-founder and CEO of what3words, Chris Sheldrick, comments : “ Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to experience some of Mongolia’s beautiful and remote landscapes. It also means I know first hand how difficult it can be to describe the exact location of a remote ger, or spot in the Gobi desert. That’s why Mongolia is perfectly suited to our technology – in a place with so much vast and unaddressed land, it makes a difference to have a simple and reliable way to talk about location. what3words is being built into the services that Mongolian citizens use and access everyday, and we’re really excited to continue our expansion in the country.”

The what3words ecosystem in Mongolia continues to grow. Expert travel guide, Lonely Planet, has added what3words addresses to its Mongolia guide, offering travellers a world of adventures, unexpected encounters and authentic experiences. The Niislel guide, the capital city’s leading guidebook, the Khovd Province Tourism Board domestic guidebooks, and the Mongolian Travel Passport Guide all use what3words addresses to help travellers experience the best of the country. Airbnb partnered with what3words to list stays with Mongolian nomads, such as the Dukha reindeer herders at their forest camp where there aren’t any street addresses to use to find them.