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

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

According to the UN,

根據聯合國的資料，

billions of people still live without an address.

有數十億人的住所是沒有地址的。

The economist Hernando de Soto said,

經濟學家埃爾南多德索托說過：

"Without an address,

「若你沒有地址，

you live outside the law.

你就是住在法律之外，

You might as well not exist."

那和不存在沒有兩樣。」

I'm here to tell you how my team and I are trying to change that.

我來此告訴各位， 我和我的團隊在試圖改變這點。

If you go to an online map and look at a favela in Brazil

如果你去看線上地圖， 去找巴西的一個貧民區，

or a township in South Africa,

或是南非的一個鎮，

you'll see a few streets but a lot of empty space.

你會看到少數幾條街， 和非常多的空地。

But if you flip to satellite view,

但如果你切換到衛星畫面，

there are thousands of people, homes and businesses

其實有數以千計的人、 住家、及企業，

in this vast, unmapped and unaddressed spaces.

在那沒有被畫上地圖 也沒有地址的廣大空間裡。

In Ghana's capital, Accra,

在迦納的首都阿克拉，

there are numbers and letters scrawled onto the sides of walls,

有數字和字母被潦草地寫在牆邊，

where they piloted address systems but not finished them.

他們開始嘗試地址 系統，但並沒完成。

But these places, these unaddressed places,

但這些地方，這些沒有地址的地方，

hold huge economic potential.

有著很大的經濟潛力。

Here's why the issue of addressing stuck with me.

我之所以這麼執著於地址議題，

I worked in the music business for 10 years,

是因為我在音樂界工作了十年，

and what you may not know about the music world

你們可能不知道，在音樂世界裡，

is that every day, people struggle with the problems of addressing.

每天，人們都會被地址問題所苦。

So from the musicians who have to find the gigs

音樂家得要找到表演的場子，

to the production companies who bring the equipment,

製作公司要帶來器材，

everyone somehow always gets lost.

大家似乎總會有辦法迷路。

We even had to add someone to our schedules

我們甚至得在計畫表中加上一個人，

who was the person you called when you thought you'd arrived

這個人是你認為你到達了 但接著發現其實沒有時，

but then realized you hadn't.

就打電話求救的人。

And we had some pretty bad days,

我們有些相當糟的日子，

like in Italy, where a truck driver unloaded all the equipment

在義大利，一個卡車司機 把所有的裝備都御貨在

an hour north of Rome, not an hour south of Rome,

羅馬北邊一小時的地方， 而非南邊一小時，

and a slightly worse day

也有更糟一點的日子，

where a keyboard player called me and said,

一個鍵盤手打電話給我，說：

"Chris, don't panic, but we may have just sound-checked

「克里斯，別慌， 但我們剛做的聲音測試，

at the wrong people's wedding."

可能誤做到別人的婚禮了。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So not long after the fated Rome event,

所以，在不幸的 羅馬事件之後沒多久，

I chatted this through with a friend of mine

我和一位朋友聊到此事，

who is a mathematician,

他是個數學家，

and we thought it was a problem we could do something about.

我們認為這是個問題， 且我們能做點什麼。

We thought, well, we could make a new system,

我們認為，我們可以做個新的系統，

but it shouldn't look like the old system.

但它應該要和舊系統不一樣。

We agreed that addresses were bad.

我們都同意，地址不好用。

We knew we wanted something very precise,

我們知道，我們想要高精確度。

but GPS coordinates, latitude and longitude,

但 GPS 座標、經緯度，

were just too complicated.

這些都太複雜了。

So we divided the world into three-meter squares.

所以我們把世界 切割成三公尺的方塊。

The world divides into around 57 trillion three-meter squares,

世界被切成 57 兆個三公尺方塊，

and we found that there are enough combinations

我們發現，用字典中的三個字，

of three dictionary words

就能創造出足夠的組合，

that we could name every three-meter square in the world uniquely

來給予世界上每個三公尺方塊 一個獨一無二的名稱，

with just three words.

只要三個字。

We used 40,000 words,

我們用了四萬個字，

so that's 40,000 cubed,

那就是四萬的三次方，

64 trillion combinations of three words,

三個字就有 64 兆個組合，

which is more than enough for the 57-trillion-odd three-meter squares,

對於 57 兆個三公尺方塊 來說是綽綽有餘了，

with a few spare.

還有可以備用的。

So that's exactly what we did.

所以我們就這麼做了。

We divided the world into three-meter squares,

我們把世界切割成三公尺的方塊，

gave each one a unique, three-word identifier --

給每個方塊一個 由三個字組成的識別碼，

what we call a three-word address.

我們稱之為「三字地址」。

So for example, right here,

比如，在這裡，

I'm standing at mustards.coupons.pinup,

我現在站在「芥末． 折價券．釘飾」上，

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

but over here ...

但到這裡……

I'm standing at pinched. singularly.tutorial.

我就站在「擰捏．奇特．教程」上。

But we haven't just done this in English.

但我們並不只有用英文來做。

We thought it was essential that people should be able to use this system

我們認為重要的是要 讓人們能用自己的語言

in their own language.

來使用這個系統，

So far, we've built it into 14 languages,

目前，我們已經建立了十四種語言，

including French, Swahili and Arabic,

包括法文、斯華西里語、阿拉伯文，

and we're working on more now, like Xhosa, Zulu and Hindi.

我們還在努力做更多， 如科薩語、祖魯語、北印度語。

But this idea can do a lot more

但這個點子還有更多其他用處，

than just get my musicians to their gigs on time.

不只是能讓我的音樂家 準時到表演的場子。

If the 75 percent of countries that struggle with reliable addressing

如果 75% 苦於沒有 可靠地址可用的國家

started using three-word addresses,

開始使用「三字地址」，

there's a stack of far more important applications.

那會有非常多更重要的應用。

In Durban, South Africa,

在南非的德爾班，

an NGO called Gateway Health

有個非政府組織叫做「健康入口」，

have distributed 11,000 three-word address signs

已經分發了 11,000 個 「三字地址」標誌

to their community,

到他們的社區中，

so the pregnant mothers, when they go into labor,

這麼一來，當懷孕的母親 開始臨盆陣痛時，

can call the emergency services

能打緊急求救電話

and tell them exactly where to pick them up from,

並告知他們應來的正確地點，

because otherwise, the ambulances have often taken hours to find them.

因為，若不這麼做，救護車 需要幾小時才找得到他們。

In Mongolia, the National Post Service have adopted the system

在蒙古，國家郵政服務 採用了這個系統，

and are now doing deliveries to many people's houses

現在能送信到許多從來沒有

for the first time.

收過信的人家。

The UN are using it to geotag photos in disaster zones

聯合國用它來標記 災區照片的地理位置，

so they can deliver aid to exactly the right place.

這樣就能把援助準確送達。

Even Domino's Pizza are using it in the Caribbean,

甚至達美樂比薩也在 加勒比海使用這個系統，

because they haven't been able to find customers' homes,

因為他們找不到客人的家，

but they really want to get their pizza to them while its still hot.

但他們真的想把比薩 熱騰騰地送到客人手上。

Shortly, you'll be able to get into a car,

簡言之，你可以進到一台車裡面，

speak the three words,

說出三個字，

and the car will navigate you to that exact spot.

那台車就會把你載到正確的地點。

In Africa, the continent has leapfrogged phone lines

非洲大陸跳過了有線電話，

to go to mobile phones,

直接使用行動電話，

bypassed traditional banks to go straight to mobile payments.

越過了傳統銀行，直接用行動支付。

We're really proud that the post services of three African countries --

我們很驕傲，有三個 非洲國家的郵政服務：

Nigeria, Djibouti and Côte d'Ivoire,

奈及利亞、吉布地、象牙海岸，

have gone straight to adopting three-word addresses,

也直接採用了「三字地址」，

which means that people in those countries

意思就是，在這些國家的人民

have a really simple way to explain where they live, today.

可以用很簡單的方式 說出他們現在住在哪裡。

For me, poor addressing was an annoying frustration,

對我來說，編得很差的地址 是種很惱人的挫折，

but for billions of people,

但對數十億人而言，

it's a huge business inefficiency,

它會使商業非常沒效率，

severely hampers their infrastructure growth,

嚴重妨礙了他們的基礎建設成長，

and can cost lives.

還可能造成人命損失。

We're on a mission to change that,

我們的使命就是去改變它，

three words at a time.

一次三個字。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）