India Post has launched an open source, interoperable, geo-coded and grid-based digital address system called Digipin, which can be used offline also. Once integrated with navigation applications, it could become India’s ultimate addressing solution.
India Post has collaborated with IIT, Hyderabad, National Remote Sensing Centre (under ISRO) to develop this.
Digipin transform’s geo-location data into a 10-character code based on latitude and longitude co-ordinates. It will uniquely identify every corner of the country. It gives precise location-based identification and is especially useful in areas with unstructured or changing addresses. The codes are independent of the changes in infrastructure or street names. Even when a new building is constructed, the Digipin remains the same.
Digipin is an alpha-numeric code. It divides the geographical territory of India into 3.8m x 3.8m grids. A bounding box is used to cover the entire country. The box has 16 regions; each region divided into 16 sub-regions. The encoding of successive characters and thus the next eight levels is done to get 3.8 m x 3.8 m grid level.
Each of the grids is assigned a unique 10-character alphanumeric code, using the 16 symbols — 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, C, J, K, L, M, P, F, T, derived from the latitude and longitude co-ordinates of the unit.
The user can get Digipin by providing location access to fetch Digipin value without login or sign-Up. The device must have GNSS facility to find exact latitude and longitude.
It is a game changer facility. It is sharing of an exact location. It facilitates logistics and emergency response. It is a needed precision tool. It is an additional layer to postal address. It can provide addresses of Indian assets in the sea — oil rigs, man-made islands etc.
India’s satellite system NavIC can be integrated to Digipin to get extra-ordinary results.
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