TechSmart Business spoke to Magnus Rademeyer, managing director of AfriGIS, a technology innovation company focused on unlocking the power of addresses. The potential application of which has benefits for both large corporates and everyday users alike.

Chances are that you’ve probably made use of Geocoding while filling out an online form (to sign up for, or apply for services), and haven’t even realised it. Geocoding is also the reason why you may have used technology from AfriGIS, a Pretoria-based solution provider with a specific focus on unlocking the power of addresses. According to Rademeyer, the effective use of this technology enables large corporates, service providers and end-users the ability to “pin information to the surface of the Earth” in a meaningful way. 

Big Data with co-ordinates

This is best illustrated through the value of location, and more specifically the information intrinsically tied to where an individual is located. Any given location is naturally linked to sets of data that can be applied to businesses decision-making. AfriGIS’s goal is to ensure that this location-based information can be accessed simply, intuitively, securely and most importantly quickly. The reason why speed is of utmost importance in Rademeyer’s eyes, lies in the fact that information nowadays is captured at the speed of speech or type. The ability to efficiently capture this information is the true engine behind one of AfriGIS’s key mobility solutions, AfriGIS Search, which is powered by the company’s uniquely designed IntiendoLS API tool. 

IntiendoLS tool is driven by a combination of geocoding and address validation, all of which is aimed at supporting a database that’s constantly being updated and refined. This ensures that AfriGIS Search is continually evolving into a more complete tool, as close to 100 000 new addresses and locations are added to it every quarter. This database is supported by a range of government data- and partner institutions, which makes the AfriGIS dataset not only comprehensive in terms of its scope, but also accurate and relevant in the types of information it can pull. Furthermore, this tool can integrate new types of metadata, which allows it to cater for a range customer-driven service industries.

Location, location, location

Rademeyer went on to stress that the importance of an address extends far further than the physical borders of any given piece of land, but also carries with it a deeper layer in which economic, social and political data is attached. The ability to access these deeper layers of information forms the backbone of AfriGIS’s location-based solutions, and offers companies a more detailed level of customer interaction and territory decision-making. Added to this, Rademeyer noted that “the quality of customer data is inherently linked to the quality of address-based information and being able to find it on a map.” 

As levels of connectedness from a technological data perspective begin to increase, the ability to access and identify this information in an efficient manner becomes all the more important. It has particular importance for those looking to unlock their economic potential, as banks often use addresses to set benchmarks in terms of validating an applicant’s loan. The address one has is now linked to how a financial institution views you. Through AfriGIS’s geocoding-based tools, enterprises have access to more information on any given address. This enriched level of knowledge can drastically change the quality of their decision making, and ultimately reaps benefits for both themselves and everyday individuals. 

For more info on the untapped power of addresses, call 087-310-6400 or head to www.afrigis.co.za to view their comprehensive range of innovative solutions.

Article first published in TechSmart Business (July 2014)