New innovations are bringing a robust addressing system to Mongolia. Here's how

Mongolia stands at a crossroads of tradition and transformation. The country is eagerly embracing opportunities for growth and diversification, while facing a unique combination of challenges stemming from the interplay of global economic forces, regional dynamics and the imperative to safeguard cultural heritage.

In the intricate dance of progress and development, a seemingly basic element lies at the heart of numerous challenges: a robust addressing system. “There is almost no country left in the world that is still relying on the points of a compass for directions,” Nyam-Osor Uchral, Mongolian Minister of Digital Development and Communications, has said. “Mongolia cannot move forward without solving its addressing issue.”

From hindering emergency responses to challenges in delivering crucial services, the absence of precise location information affects citizens on a daily basis, but it’s an issue that an innovative team within the Mongolian government is addressing head on.

Mongolia is vast. It is the second-largest landlocked country in the world and one of the most sparsely populated with a semi-nomadic population. In many parts of the country, there is little to no street addressing with deliveries sometimes only achieved using descriptive landmarks – “past the crossroads, opposite the gas station”. In extreme cases, emergency responders have struggled to reach distressed citizens.

While the response to issues such as these is well documented around the world, there is not yet a consensus on how to tackle them. A variety of solutions have been trialled, but they often stumble around the same issues: they are slow and difficult to implement, costly to roll out and rarely applicable beyond an individual country’s borders. However, this could be about to change.

Just over 10 years ago, a revolutionary solution emerged – what3words. Borne out of frustration with UK addressing, this innovative geocoding system divides the world into a grid of 3 metre by 3 metre squares and assigns each with a unique combination of three words. This not only provides an accurate and easily communicable address for any location but also transcends the limitations of street addressing systems.

At least that’s what Ganhuyag Chuluun Hutagt thought. Ganhuyag is a businessman, Mongolia’s former Vice Finance Minister and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. In 2015, he heard what3words Co-Founder and CEO and Schwab Social Entrepreneur, Chris Sheldrick describe the what3words system at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of New Champions in Dalian, China, and was gripped.

Here was a system that had already addressed the entire planet, with accuracy and simplicity at its core. Could this technology set in motion a rapid transformation of Mongolia’s addressing infrastructure? Not long after hearing Sheldrick speak, Ganhuyag was presented with an opportunity to find out.

In January 2016, Ganhuyag’s company, Ard Holdings, acquired about 17% of Mongol Post, the national postal service of Mongolia. “He called me and said, ‘We’d love to bring what3words to Mongolia for Mongol Post’,” says Sheldrick. “It was incredibly exciting: here was an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of our technology on a national scale. It’s not every day you get the chance to roll out a new system to an entire country”.

Working closely with teams from across Mongol Post, they began building three-word address support into their operations. Traditional postal systems that had struggled in the vast terrains of Mongolia now found that locations could be pinpointed with three simple words, facilitating seamless and accurate deliveries even in remote areas.

Having garnered worldwide attention for its potential, the technology was now front of mind for ambitious leaders across Mongolia. Guidebooks including Lonely Planet and the Niislel Guide were using what3words addresses to help travellers experience the best of the country. Festivals including the XYYP music festival were printing three word codes on tickets and Mongolian nomads, including Dukha reindeer herders, were using the technology to arrange stays on Airbnb at their forest camps. British TV trivia show QI posted a letter to Mongolia using just 3 words to see if it arrived (it did).

Ganhuyag’s hunch was right – this worked – but there was still a long way to go before anyone could consider Mongolia’s addressing issues to be fixed.

Having carefully monitored the success of the Mongol Post project and the growth of the technology globally, the Mongolian government and prominent businesses have been taking bold action to ingrain the three-word address system in everyday life. The initial results are promising:

“The world is watching; we’re pioneering,” says Ganhuyag. The global implications of a precise addressing system extend beyond convenience; they impact economic growth, public safety and overall quality of life. Depending on the results of the latest integrations, Mongolia’s decision to embrace innovation could serve as a blueprint for other nations grappling with address-related challenges, opening the door to progress and efficiency.