WHILE DELAYS continue to dog the introduction of postcodes here, a Cork company has launched an all-Ireland digital address coding system with the backing of Garmin, one of the leading providers of navigation systems.
GPS Ireland claims its Loc8 codes can define any location on the island of Ireland, accurate to within six metres.
An Oireachtas report in April this year said such codes were far more accurate than the Government’s proposed ABC-123 postcode format.
They would also uniquely identify addresses and could be used as a navigational tool on satnav devices, smartphones or online.
Each Loc8 code is unique. It can be assigned to a residential or commercial property and even to particular delivery points or different entrances at a site. For example, the Loc8 code for the Kildare Street side of Government buildings is NP6-46-40D, whereas the Merrion Street entrance has the code NP5-82-32J.
Any business or individual can get the code for their premises or house for no cost at www.loc8code.com. Since its launch, there have been 16,000 entries on the site.
About 35 per cent of Ireland’s population lives in rural areas. The problem is exacerbated by some houses being referred to by a name rather than a number and townlands rather than street names.
“A postcode is a 1950s solution. It was never built for finding properties,” says Gary Delaney, chief executive of GPS Ireland and a former Naval Service navigator and land surveyor.
Ireland is the only EU country which does not have postcodes, but introducing them would not solve this problem, says Delaney.
“The impetus behind this is, next year the postal market gets liberalised. If that is to succeed, there has to be a level playing field for all logistics and delivery companies.”
Delays have bogged the introduction of national postcodes for years; they have been the subject of five reports since 2005 and were originally due to be launched in 2008.
Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan said last September that a national postcode system would be introduced next year. However the tender process to select advisers for the process was later cancelled.
While GPS Ireland hopes its system will improve efficiency within the logistics sector, Delaney says the codes would also be useful for emergency services.
The Loc8 system cost about €1 million to develop over the past four years and GPS Ireland has been funded to date by private investment and by Enterprise Ireland.
Garmin had been conducting field trials with the system on its satnav devices for the past two years and has now formally made its systems compatible with the Loc8 code format. Anyone who types in a known code into a Garmin satnav unit will be directed to that location.
Loc8 uses mapping technology from Ordnance Survey Ireland and Land Property Services Northern Ireland.
It will remain free to users and GPS Ireland will earn revenue through licensing the technology to satnav manufacturers, iPhone app developers or to online retailers that use courier services to deliver goods.
The deal with Garmin is not exclusive and Delaney says he expects to sign similar agreements with other significant satnav providers “in a matter of weeks”.
