Interview with Gary Delaney, CEO of Loc8 Code – Ireland’s smarter addressing system


To coincide with the launch of the first independent mobile phone application harnessing the power of Loc8 Code, we spoke to Loc8 Code CEO Gary Delaney who gave us an overview of the company’s current progress in implementing this innovative technology, the benefits that Loc8 Code can deliver to Ireland and future plans to ensure their system becomes part and parcel of Ireland’s smarter addressing system.
So what is Loc8 Code? Loc8 Code is a modern postal addressing system for Ireland that operates on an all-island basis, developed to help make the process of finding properties and interesting locations easy. Loc8 Codes exists as an eight digit alphanumerical representation of locations on the island of Ireland, accurate to within six metres. Loc8 Codes can be created freely on the Loc8 Code website and are currently being used on many popular Garmin SatNav devices. Now with the release of point8, an iOS mobile application that is powered by Loc8 Code technology, Loc8 Codes are set to become increasingly ubiquitous and represent a very real, and accurate, postal address solution for Ireland.
To the best of my knowledge, Ireland is the only European member state to exist without a national postcode system. The effects of no official postcode system are only augmented by the very nature of Ireland’s unique land division system, where roughly 64,000 townlands represent the smallest divisions of land. Of course 64,000 townlands ranging in size from one square kilometre to many square kilometres cannot effectively uniquely represent all properties, businesses and organisations in Ireland. This is the very problem that any postcode system will attempt to solve.
Knowing the importance of Irish townlands and placenames to Irish heritage, and the ambiguous nature of placenames with regard to spelling, language and local variations, Loc8 Codes exist as an extra, optional layer that can be appended to existing addresses in Ireland. This way the current OCR-based sorting mechanism employed by An Post remains undisturbed, and organisations that wish to benefit from the addition of a Loc8 Code can do so.
We asked Gary Delaney, CEO of Loc8 Code, a few direct questions to which he was kind enough to take the time and answer in detail.
How important is a smarter postal address system to Ireland’s economy? What are the major benefits of an accurate addressing system to Irish industry, in particular the logistics and tourism industries?
The Irish government’s imminent move towards a smarter, more efficient postal address system has experienced delays in the past. To your knowledge has any further, recent developments been made regarding the establishment of a national postcode system, and is Loc8 Code a part of this?
Why is Loc8 Code best suited to help deliver Ireland’s modern postcode system? What advantages does Loc8 Code have over other private competitors like Go Code, for example?
To this date how many elective Loc8 Codes have been generated? Has Loc8 Code continued to experience strong growth since December 2010, where a reported 64,000 postcodes had been created since the previous July?
Are there any privacy concerns that need to be addressed when implementing a postcode system such as Loc8 Code? With all the benefits of being able to pinpoint locations to within six metres using the Loc8 Code system, are there any disadvantages or personal privacy concerns with a technology that is so accurate?
Once Ireland’s postcode system is officially integrated, could we witness a UK-style “postcode lottery” around the delivery of health and other public services? Will the notion of a “posh” address begin to appear as witnessed in the Dublin postal code system, where land and property prices are heavily influenced by the allocated postal code, like ‘D4’ for example?
What kind of services, devices and platforms can we expect to see integrating with the Loc8 Code system in the future? Are there any plans to release an Android, or a Windows Mobile 7 app in the near future, and what other dedicated SatNav devices, excluding Garmin, will support Loc8 Codes?
Is there anything else that you would like to add that may be of particular interest to our audience?
Loc8 Code Limited are based in Crosshaven, County Cork and currently employing 6 people with plans to employ a further fourteen in the future. Loc8 Code Limited are supported by Enterprise Ireland.
Thank you for the great post. We are an ECAS in the United States – http://www.specialtyansweringservice.net – and we stress the importance of emergency call response as well.