Sunday, June 23, 2019

Thegana, a new address system in Nepal

Thegana Services has announced the launch of Thegana – a mobile phone App – that’s compatible with both iOS and Android operating systems.
“Android version is available now and iOS will be coming in a week,” chief executive officer of Thegana Services Bishal KC said, adding that ‘Thegana’ is a re-engineered address system which divides the surface of Nepal into 858 million squares that are (14m x 14m) each, and every one of them identified with unique fixed codes. “The codes give addresses to everyone everywhere, allowing them to receive deliveries, access emergency services, register the address to a bank account, navigate to and from, and more.”
The main goal of ‘Thegana’ is to provide everyone with an electronic address, a press note issued by the company reads. ‘Thegana’ code is more accurate than the existing physical street address, it reads, adding that the people can pinpoint a specific location anywhere in Nepal and communicate with it more quickly and easily than any other method. “One of the key features of ‘Thegana’ App is that it works offline.”
In order to ascertain a user’s location, ‘Thegana’ code is composed of 9 characters – the first 3 corresponds to a district and the latter 6 to a specific location in that district. For example, ‘Thegana’ address for General Post Office, Sundhara, Kathmandu is KTM-P82746 (KTM for Kathmandu district). Likewise, the address for Ashoka Pillar in Lumbini is RUP-F79GV6 (RUP for Rupandehi district). The last 6 characters can also be customised to one’s liking by registering it with the app, the press note reads, “For example, Thegana has customised its office address to KTM-HELLO.”
‘Thegana’ will provide users with greater working flexibility by integrating and digitising existing addresses and assigning unique ‘Thegana Codes’ to them, KC said, adding that ‘Thegana’ has worked hard to roll out the initial release Nationwide so everyone from every corner of the country. “As we know, the addressing system in Nepal is poor, thus and we have incorporated crowdsourcing mechanism to collect, verify and digitise existing addresses.”
In times of natural disasters, for example, ‘Thegana’ can provide the simplest way to communicate with a specific location, which can be critical to effective disaster response, which ‘Thegana’ is able to address effectively. “The App also comes with turn-by-turn navigation option.”
Thegana Services has already partnered with few local authorities to provide a much-needed proper addressing system, he said, “Bouddha Ward No. 6, Kathmandu has taken that first step in addressing the need of proper addressing system by working with ‘Thegana’.
“We have been talking about ‘Smart Cities’ for quite some time now, and smart addressing system is the foundation of making the rest of the features of ‘Smart City’ truly smart, as address is one of the basic elements of communication between individuals, businesses and public institutions alike,” according to KC. “The lack of a complete, accurate and proper addressing system constitutes a major socio-economic challenge in Nepal,” he said, adding that without an address, we might as well be non- existent, let alone calling oneself a citizen of a smart city. “Thegana App has been designed to work seamlessly with our other services, enabling a rich user experience made with modern mobile framework to meet user needs wherever and whenever they need.”

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