Location data and technology platform, HERE Technologies has announced an expansion of its global partnership with innovative addressing system what3words.

Customers using the HERE platform’s Location Services application programming interfaces (APIs) will be able to easily activate their what3words license via HERE from later this year.

HERE is making what3words available in its platform amid what it calls increasing consumer demand for the innovative location technology. HERE’s automotive customers are already able to activate their what3words license via their HERE account managers, and the latest agreement between the two companies will bring this offering to customers across other verticals.

The company explains that what3words is revolutionising the way the world communicates location, having divided the globe into a grid of 3m x 3m squares, and given each one a unique combination of three words: a what3words address. For example ///epic.parade.salad takes you to the Department for Transport’s Great Minster House. what3words enables users to easily convey locations as specific as delivery entrances, parking spots and stadium gates, and it provides easy location references in places with no street addresses, such as beaches, parks and remote hiking trails.

HERE and what3words first partnered in 2020 to offer automotive customers the next generation of precision in-car navigation. Since this announcement, the joint solution has already enabled major players including Jaguar Land Rover to enable the technology with ease.

Clare Jones, Chief Commercial Officer at what3words commented “Our partnership with HERE has proven to be a major accelerant to our growth in the automotive industry. Integrations that would have taken years of development can now be done in months, and innovative updates can even be delivered over-the-air. The speed and ease offered by this partnership will enable what3words to leapfrog slow legacy processes that have held back innovation in other industries, and we’re incredibly excited by the opportunities this partnership presents.”

Remco Timmer, Vice President of Product & Technology at HERE Technologies commented “As the world’s leading location platform, we’re committed to providing our customers with best-in-class products and services. what3words’ innovative technology creates another layer of precision in the way the world communicates location and we see so much potential in making what3words readily available for thousands of our customers around the world.” (The company says additional conditions may apply.)

(Picture – HERE)