Dubai addresses its need for directions with navigation system

DUBAI // The only thing more complicated than giving directions to a stranger in Dubai is brain surgery. And brain surgery is probably less painful.

Now the emirate’s civic body has promised to put an end to the headache with a new National Coordinates plan, a navigation system that will pinpoint the exact location within metres of every possible destination in Dubai.

Using a Military Grid Reference System (MGRS), even individual apartments in skyscrapers will be given codes that provide the precise co-ordinates to your doorstep.

“By the first half of 2013, we plan to have the system fully functioning,” said Hussain Lootah, director general of Dubai Municipality.

“In collaboration with Garmin, we will distribute a special location number and bar code to each and every place and building in the emirate, so you will be able to identify your desired location with a single click of any smart phone, navigator or computer.”

The move is also designed to help Civil Defence respond to emergency situations more quickly and it will improve the record keeping efforts of city inspectors.

For a closer look at how the system will work, you can visit the website at www.mylocation.ae.

newsdesk@thenational.ae