Open Location Code release

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Doug Rinckes

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Oct 29, 2014, 9:09:09 AM10/29/14

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We're excited to announce the open source release of Open Location Code.

The project is a way of generating short codes for locations that can be easily used by people, both on and offline.

The World Bank estimate that half of the world's urban population live on streets without names. These people don't have addresses, making organising deliveries, contacting emergency services, and getting or giving directions difficult or impossible. If it was possible for them to have a short code that gave the position of their home, they could use that like an address.

We think that with the increasing adoption of smartphones, and with their falling prices, that this becomes a practical solution to the problem in many parts of the world.

This list functions as a general discussion forum for the code implementation, announcement for new language support, and a contact point for anyone interested in using them.