ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chris Sheldrick - Entrepreneur
Chris Sheldrick is providing a precise and simple way to talk about location, by dividing the world into a grid of three-meter by three-meter squares and assigning each one a unique three-word address.

Why you should listen

It's a fundamental logistical problem: not everyone, or everywhere, has a traditional address, and GPS coordinates can be tough to use. While working in the music industry, Chris Sheldrick noticed that bands and equipment kept getting lost on the way to gigs, and he took up the mission to create a better addressing system for the world. He worked with a mathematician friend to devise the what3words algorithm that has named every 3-metre square in the world. Started in 2013, the system is being used by eight national postal services, and has a range of integration partners across the world in fields as varied as humanitarian aid, logistics, and in-car navigation.

More profile about the speaker
Chris Sheldrick | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2017

Chris Sheldrick: A precise, three-word address for every place on earth

克里斯·谢尔德里克: 精准的全球三字地址系统

Filmed:
1,503,691 views

用3个单词,克里斯·谢尔德里克和他的团队将整个地球划成3米见方的小方格,给每个方格分配了一个独一无二的,由3个单词组成的识别码,比如“著名的、粘接处、作家“,或者”街区、平坦的、品种“,用这种方式,解决数十亿人没有精确地址的问题。演讲不长,但创意很不错,谢尔德里克阐述了给人们准确的地址能带来哪些经济和政治上的影响——从基础设施建设,到往灾区投递急救物资,到保证披萨及时送达。
- Entrepreneur
Chris Sheldrick is providing a precise and simple way to talk about location, by dividing the world into a grid of three-meter by three-meter squares and assigning each one a unique three-word address. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
According根据 to the UN联合国,
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根据联合国提供的数据,
00:15
billions数十亿 of people still live生活
without an address地址.
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数十亿人依旧没有地址。
00:19
The economist经济学家 Hernando赫尔南 de Soto索托 said,
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经济学家埃尔南多·德·索托曾经说过,
00:21
"Without没有 an address地址,
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“没有地址,
00:22
you live生活 outside the law.
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你就居于法外之地。
00:24
You might威力 as well not exist存在."
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你甚至有可能不存在。”
00:27
I'm here to tell you how my team球队 and I
are trying to change更改 that.
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我想跟大家分享,
我的团队和我如何试图改变这种现状。
00:31
If you go to an online线上 map地图
and look at a favela贫民窟 in Brazil巴西
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如果你在在线地图上看巴西的贫民窟,
00:35
or a township in South Africa非洲,
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或者南非的某个小镇,
00:37
you'll你会 see a few少数 streets街道
but a lot of empty space空间.
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你只能看到寥寥几条街道,
却有大片的空地。
00:40
But if you flip翻动 to satellite卫星 view视图,
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但如果你切换到卫星视图,
00:42
there are thousands数千 of people,
homes家园 and businesses企业
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你就会发现在那片巨大的,
地图上未标注的空地上,
00:45
in these vast广大, unmapped未映射
and unaddressed未解决 spaces空间.
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有成千上万的居民、房屋和店铺。
00:49
In Ghana's加纳 capital首都, Accra阿克拉,
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在加纳首都阿克拉,
00:51
there are numbers数字 and letters
scrawled潦草 onto the sides双方 of walls墙壁,
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人们会在墙壁上
刻下潦草的数字和字母,
00:55
where they piloted试点 address地址 systems系统
but not finished them.
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这就是他们简易的,
尚未完成的地址系统。
01:00
But these places地方,
these unaddressed未解决 places地方,
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但这些没有地址的地方,
01:03
hold保持 huge巨大 economic经济 potential潜在.
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却有着巨大的经济潜力。
01:07
Here's这里的 why the issue问题
of addressing解决 stuck卡住 with me.
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为什么我如此在意地址这件事呢。
我在音乐行业工作了10年,
01:10
I worked工作 in the music音乐
business商业 for 10 years年份,
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01:12
and what you may可能 not know
about the music音乐 world世界
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音乐界有一件事可能大家不了解,
01:14
is that every一切 day, people struggle斗争
with the problems问题 of addressing解决.
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就是每天我们都会遇到地址的问题。
01:18
So from the musicians音乐家
who have to find the gigs演出
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音乐家要找到演奏地点,
01:21
to the production生产 companies公司
who bring带来 the equipment设备,
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演出公司要提供乐器,
01:23
everyone大家 somehow不知何故 always gets得到 lost丢失.
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大家永远处于迷路的状态。
01:25
We even had to add someone有人
to our schedules时间表
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我们甚至要在日程中加上联络人,
01:27
who was the person you called
when you thought you'd arrived到达
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我们认为自己已经到了,
就给他打电话,
01:30
but then realized实现 you hadn't有没有.
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结果发现并没有到。
01:32
And we had some pretty漂亮 bad days,
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我们遇到过非常糟糕的情况,
01:34
like in Italy意大利, where a truck卡车 driver司机
unloaded卸载 all the equipment设备
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比如在意大利,
卡车司机把所有的乐器
01:37
an hour小时 north of Rome罗马,
not an hour小时 south of Rome罗马,
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卸到了罗马以北一小时车程的地方,
而实际应该是以南一小时,
01:40
and a slightly worse更差 day
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还有更糟糕的情况,
01:41
where a keyboard键盘 player播放机
called me and said,
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键盘手给我打电话,
01:43
"Chris克里斯, don't panic恐慌,
but we may可能 have just sound-checked声音核对
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“克里斯,不要抓狂,
我们刚刚貌似在别人的婚礼上
完成了试音工作。”
01:46
at the wrong错误 people's人们 wedding婚礼."
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01:48
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
01:49
So not long after the fated命运多舛 Rome罗马 event事件,
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在罗马的悲剧发生后不久,
01:52
I chatted this through通过
with a friend朋友 of mine
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我跟一位朋友聊起这件事,
01:54
who is a mathematician数学家,
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他是一名数学家,
01:55
and we thought it was a problem问题
we could do something about.
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我们觉得可以做点什么
来解决这个问题。
我们想,也许可以做一个新的系统,
01:58
We thought, well,
we could make a new system系统,
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02:00
but it shouldn't不能 look like the old system系统.
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要跟旧系统有所区别。
02:03
We agreed同意 that addresses地址 were bad.
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我们都承认地址不好用。
02:06
We knew知道 we wanted something very precise精确,
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我们明白自己想让它变得更加明确,
02:08
but GPS全球定位系统 coordinates坐标,
latitude纬度 and longitude经度,
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但是GPS坐标,经纬度这些,
02:10
were just too complicated复杂.
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又太过复杂。
02:13
So we divided分为 the world世界
into three-meter三米 squares广场.
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因此我们将整个世界
划成了3米见方的格子。
02:16
The world世界 divides分歧 into around 57 trillion
three-meter三米 squares广场,
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全世界总共被分成了57万亿个方格,
02:20
and we found发现 that there are
enough足够 combinations组合
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我们发现,只要用3个词
02:22
of three dictionary字典 words
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就能组成足够多的组合,
02:24
that we could name名称 every一切 three-meter三米
square广场 in the world世界 uniquely独特地
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来给全世界所有3米见方的小格子
02:28
with just three words.
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取一个独一无二的名字。
02:30
We used 40,000 words,
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我们挑了4万个词,
02:32
so that's 40,000 cubed立方,
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4万的3次方,
02:33
64 trillion combinations组合 of three words,
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就是64万亿个由3个词组成的词组,
02:37
which哪一个 is more than enough足够 for
the 57-trillion-odd-trillion奇 three-meter三米 squares广场,
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对于57万亿个3米见方的
小格子而言,足够用了,
02:40
with a few少数 spare备用.
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还能剩下一些。
02:43
So that's exactly究竟 what we did.
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这就是我们所做的事情。
02:45
We divided分为 the world世界
into three-meter三米 squares广场,
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我们将世界划成3米见方的小格子,
给每一个格子一个独一无二的、
由3个单词组成的识别码,
02:48
gave each one a unique独特,
three-word三个词 identifier识别码 --
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02:50
what we call a three-word三个词 address地址.
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我们称之为“三字地址”。
02:53
So for example, right here,
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举个例子,我现在站的地方,
02:56
I'm standing常设 at mustards-coupons-pinup芥末优惠券,性感女郎,
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就叫“芥末、优惠券、招贴画”,
02:58
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
03:00
but over here ...
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但如果走到这,
03:02
I'm standing常设 at pinched-pinched-
singularly-tutorial奇教程.
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就是“清瘦的、奇怪地、辅导课”。
03:09
But we haven't没有 just doneDONE this in English英语.
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我们不光用英文单词。
03:11
We thought it was essential必要 that people
should be able能够 to use this system系统
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我们觉得让大家用自己的语言
来使用这个系统非常重要。
03:14
in their own拥有 language语言.
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03:15
So far, we've我们已经 built内置 it into 14 languages语言,
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到目前为止,我们已经完成了14种语言,
03:18
including包含 French法国, Swahili斯瓦希里 and Arabic阿拉伯,
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包括法语、斯瓦西里语和阿拉伯语,
03:20
and we're working加工 on more now,
like Xhosa科萨, Zulu祖鲁 and Hindi印地语.
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我们正在做更多的语言,
像豪萨语、祖鲁语和印地语。
03:25
But this idea理念 can do a lot more
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但这件事的意义
03:27
than just get my musicians音乐家
to their gigs演出 on time.
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远比让我的音乐家们
准时抵达演奏地点要大得多。
03:29
If the 75 percent百分 of countries国家
that struggle斗争 with reliable可靠 addressing解决
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如果那些因为没有准确的地址
而深受其苦的国家中,
03:33
started开始 using运用 three-word三个词 addresses地址,
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有75%开始使用“三字地址”,
03:35
there's a stack of far more
important重要 applications应用.
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就会有许多更加重要的应用。
03:40
In Durban德班, South Africa非洲,
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在南非的德班,
03:42
an NGO非政府组织 called Gateway网关 Health健康
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有一个叫“健康途径”的非政府组织,
03:44
have distributed分散式 to 11,000
three-word三个词 address地址 signs迹象
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向当地社区发放了11000个
03:47
to their community社区,
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三字地址牌,
03:48
so the pregnant mothers母亲,
when they go into labor劳动,
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当怀孕的妈妈临盆之际,
03:50
can call the emergency services服务
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就可以打急救电话,
告诉他们准确的地址,
03:52
and tell them exactly究竟
where to pick them up from,
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03:55
because otherwise除此以外, the ambulances救护车
have often经常 taken采取 hours小时 to find them.
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否则的话,救护车可能
得花好几个小时才能找到她。
03:58
In Mongolia蒙古, the National国民 Post岗位 Service服务
have adopted采用 the system系统
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蒙古的国家邮政局
也开始采用这套系统,
04:02
and are now doing deliveries交付
to many许多 people's人们 houses房屋
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第一次为许多家庭
04:04
for the first time.
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送去了邮件。
04:06
The UN联合国 is using运用 it
to geotag地理标记 photos相片 in disaster灾害 zones
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联合国使用这套系统
来为受灾区域加注地理标签,
04:09
so they can deliver交付 aid援助
to exactly究竟 the right place地点.
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以便精确送达救援物资。
04:12
Even Domino's多米诺 Pizza比萨
are using运用 it in the Caribbean加勒比,
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甚至是达美乐披萨,
也在加勒比地区使用这套系统,
04:15
because they haven't没有 been able能够
to find customers'顾客' homes家园,
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因为他们也经常
找不到顾客的家庭地址,
04:17
but they really want to get
their pizza比萨 to them while its still hot.
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而他们又真的需要保证
披萨送到的时候还是热的。
04:21
Shortly不久, you'll你会 be able能够 to get into a car汽车,
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很快,你就可以在上车之后,
04:24
speak说话 the three words,
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说出3个单词,
04:26
and the car汽车 will navigate导航 you
to that exact精确 spot.
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汽车就会把你送到准确的位置。
04:29
In Africa非洲, the continent大陆
has leapfrogged一举超越 phone电话 lines线
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在非洲,他们跳过了固定电话,
04:33
to go to mobile移动 phones手机,
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直接进入移动电话时代,
04:34
bypassed绕过 traditional传统 banks银行
to go straight直行 to mobile移动 payments支付.
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跳过了传统的银行服务,
直接进入移动支付时代。
04:39
We're really proud骄傲 that the post岗位 services服务
of three African非洲人 countries国家 --
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我们很自豪,
将3个非洲国家的邮政服务,
04:43
Nigeria尼日利亚, Djibouti吉布提 and CôteTE d'Ivoire科特迪瓦,
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尼日利亚,吉布提和科特迪瓦,
04:45
have gone走了 straight直行 to adopting采用
three-word三个词 addresses地址,
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直接带入了三字地址时代,
04:48
which哪一个 means手段 that people in those countries国家
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这些国家的人们
04:50
have a really simple简单 way
to explain说明 where they live生活, today今天.
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如今可以非常简单地
描述出自己住在哪里。
04:55
For me, poor较差的 addressing解决
was an annoying恼人的 frustration挫折,
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对我而言,地址不好用
只是一件烦心事,
04:58
but for billions数十亿 of people,
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但对于数十亿其他人而言,
05:01
it's a huge巨大 business商业 inefficiency低效,
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是非常低效的商业,
05:03
severely严重 hampers
their infrastructure基础设施 growth发展,
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严重阻碍他们的基础设施建设,
05:06
and can cost成本 lives生活.
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甚至会影响生死。
05:08
We're on a mission任务 to change更改 that,
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我们的使命就是改变它,
05:10
three words at a time.
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从3个单词开始。
05:11
Thank you.
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谢谢大家。
05:12
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Alvin Lee
Reviewed by Helen Chang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chris Sheldrick - Entrepreneur
Chris Sheldrick is providing a precise and simple way to talk about location, by dividing the world into a grid of three-meter by three-meter squares and assigning each one a unique three-word address.

Why you should listen

It's a fundamental logistical problem: not everyone, or everywhere, has a traditional address, and GPS coordinates can be tough to use. While working in the music industry, Chris Sheldrick noticed that bands and equipment kept getting lost on the way to gigs, and he took up the mission to create a better addressing system for the world. He worked with a mathematician friend to devise the what3words algorithm that has named every 3-metre square in the world. Started in 2013, the system is being used by eight national postal services, and has a range of integration partners across the world in fields as varied as humanitarian aid, logistics, and in-car navigation.

More profile about the speaker
Chris Sheldrick | Speaker | TED.com