The world address book

Linking the physical and digital worlds

Billions of people don’t have an address Did you know that billions of people do not have an

address? In most developing countries there is no address system based on street name and property numbering

Did you know that billions of people change their residence or work and loose contact with their governments, doctors, businesses etc?

Did you know that one of the challenges for international e-commerce development is the absence or the inaccuracy of a delivery address? E-commerce companies loose a lot of money on wrong address delivery of the mail that does not reach the destination

The values of an address

The UPU, UN specialized agency for the postal sector, created the initiative “ Addressing the world”, as a key initiative for achieving the millennium development goal. http://www.upu.int/en/activities/addressing/addressing-the-world-initiative.html

An address is important and has social and economic impact:

A person can be identified: an address is important for government to provide their citizen with an official identity

A person can communicate with the world: he can receive and send letters and parcels to organizations and businesses

In case of emergency or for understanding the need of the population, allows to act quickly and brining appropriate help

Securing and adding trust to e-commerce and e-services by verifying the identity of the person by confirming his physical address

The world address book

Mobile workers open the application that uses the the new technology for geo location maps on mobile ( e.g. google map). On Google map for instance I you can localize any house with the satellite images .

With some clicks workers add to this digital geo address the physical address in the local language (e.g. Arabic). These local people usually know the name street in the local language. They will preferably use international standards such as UPU and ISO S-42 standard.

We cannot currently

see any of the names of these streets in

Beirut

The world address book

Translating the address on a map: If the worker know how to enter the address in another international language they are paid more for the extra task. Otherwise, another mobile worker can translate the address (for example into English), and he is paid for this task.

If the worker is certified by the government, he can also enter the name and identity of the person who lives in this location.

But we can currently see the

buildings in these

streets in Beirut and

local mobile workers can

provide them with

an address

The world address book

International address book

database: cloud computing and

open data

National identity and address book database: cloud

computing

GOVERNMENT

Certified worker

Enter physical address linked to the digital map

Translate the address in different international languages

Conclusion The world address book can be used by organizations and

businesses in different ways:

Government can use it for emergency and social planning

E-commerce and e-services can linked it to their website to facilitate accurate address entering and validate the identity of the person

The system can be updated easily and instantly to insure accurate and dynamic addressing, therefore making digital map more complete

Therefore many organizations could be willing to pay the mobile workers. e.g. google , ebay, governments , NGOs, direct mail companies, touristic companies etc.

It is technologically very feasible as most technological means are already existent: geolocatisation and mobile technology. It is a matter of integration and adaption of these technologies.

The challenge is the coordination with governments and local administrations

What do think about it ? Looking forward you comments and ideas