A geographic address system was launched in the emirate on Sunday to enable people to locate buildings within an accuracy of one metre using a application and a 10-digit code.

Makani (My Location) was developed under the supervision of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, for use by Dubai Municipality.

The smart system acquires real-time coordinates from satellites to provide detailed information about location and access points to different buildings and facilities by entering 10 unique numbers assigned for each building entry.

Sheikh Hamdan has directed the Dubai Municipality to issue 10-digit signs to Dubai buildings and access points within six months.

Sheikh Hamdan noted that a smart geographic address system is key for Dubai, a city that is home to residents of more than 200 nationalities and is visited by more than 10 million tourists annually.

“We aspire to launch unique initiatives that would help realise the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to transform Dubai into the world’s smartest city,” Sheikh Hamdan said during a meeting on Sunday with Makani project team: “It takes more than development of smart applications and services to transform into a smart city. It also needs a drastic change in procedures, data transfer mechanism and top-of-the-line digital infrastructure.”