Social datamining platform DataCapable integrates what3words

If a water main breaks, if there’s an electricity outage, if a pothole is found on the street or if there is an incident at a large sporting event, rather than making a phone call business people will post about on social media. These posts can give valuable operational information for utility companies, emergency services and local governments to respond quickly and efficiently.

DataCapable develops products for the intelligent detection and real-time visualization of this social data. Their flagship product UtiliSocial is a comprehensive Social Engagement platform that enables utilities and other corporations to respond to events faster, while interacting with customers on the platforms they are on.

In many circumstances a response will require knowledge of the location of the incident. Street addressing is often not accurate enough and it isn’t universal. However almost all reports are geotagged with GPS coordinates and whilst they are very accurate they are prone to error when writing them down or telling them to someone. This causes inefficiencies, frustration and in certain circumstances can be life-threatening.

To solve this DataCapable have partnered with what3words to bring simple communication of locations to their users. what3words is an innovative new addressing system that has assigned a unique 3 word address to every 3m x 3m square on the planet.

It means when people report incidents through social media or SMS the what3words technology will convert the location from GPS coordinates into 3 word addresses.  These are simple to communicate, work offline and have built in error detection to avoid mistakes. All locations are pinned to a map of real-time information so responders have the geolocated data they need.

At Seattle City Light, for example, operators of UtiliSocial are able to visualize the 3 word addresses of grid events outages, damage or thefts. This includes sharing information on poorly addressed locations, such as transmission and distribution power lines that cross through fields and wooded areas.

what3words is also being used by first responders and emergency services, including the UNDP and Santa Clara Fire Department, and with DataCapable mining social media for critical data this can improve reporting during incidents in real time.

what3words and DataCapable ensure responders of all types – from emergency to utilities management – have the data they need in a simple, communicable form. Both companies are part of Esri’s emerging business program.

Learn more about using what3words for Deliveries, Logistics & Ecommerce

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