[okfn-labs] opening up what3words

[willi uebelherr]

Dear Eoin,

thank you for this information. But i don't understand, why they make 
this big theater with secret?

What is Eircode?
http://www.eircode.ie/what-is-eircode

Routing Key
The first three characters of each Eircode, called the “Routing Key”, 
are designed to benefit the parcel/postal industry. It is not directly 
linked to counties, towns, or geographic features.

Unique Identifier
The second part of the Eircode, called the “Unique Identifier,” is 
comprised of four characters drawn from a carefully selected set of 
letters and numbers that identify each individual address.

About Us
In late 2013, the Department of Communications, Energy & Natural 
Resources awarded the “Postcode Management License Holder” (PMLH) 
contract to Capita Business Support Services Ireland. The PMLH contract 
will operate under the trading name Eircode. Our company is based in 
Maynooth, Co. Kildare with some initial start-up work based in Dublin 
City Centre.

If you would like to find out more about Capita Ireland, please visit 
our corporate site at www.capita.ie

---

I ask you? How it works? For what is the routing key? How they define 
the house/appartment key?

No, we need an open method with an open algorithm. And remember, we are 
here in the okfn-labs maillist. And okfn is "open knowledge foundation". 
Is that truth? We don't need any company with their private interests. 
We can do it self.

many greetings, willi
Cordoba, Argentina



Am 18-May-15 um 19:43 schrieb Eoin Sharkey:
> A propos the general point about what3words, I am from Ireland (which has no
> postcode system at to date) and live for a long time in the UK
> (co-incidentally rather near Maidenhead).
>
> When my parents visited last week they told me about a proposal to introduce
> a new 'super-postcode' which actually defines every address in the country :
> Eircode : http://www.eircode.ie/residential/overview
>
> The guy blogging over here (http://mapscribbles.blogspot.co.uk/ ) doesn't
> think much of Eircode, and perhaps of interest in the what3words discussion
> is particularly down on
>
>   - the proprietary nature of the API
>   - the non-hierarchical nature of the coding
>
> Both features also of the (admittedly global ! not just 1 small country)
> what3words system.
>
> He also makes some interesting suggestions about alternatives including an
> open source one OpenPostcode (apparently implemented n Yemen) and some
> proprietary ones :
>
> http://mapscribbles.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/eircode-alternatives.html
>
> I feel rather sad, as an Irish person that the state seems to have messed up
> the introduction of a postcode system so badly. It is not just the
> 'non-open' nature of the system but the inelegance of their solution which
> is so sad.
>
> EoinS