Dear all, firstly, I must make an apology for taking down a post on Everything Mull in relation to Dr. Prendergast and Mike Russell. This was ill advised, as the situation regarding both is now of a confidential nature. I have been in contact with Dr. Prendergast regarding the next stage of w3w and he is still committed to seeing it rolled out further. In terms of health care this means ambulance but also other emergency services, but to really embed W3W we need to facilitate use by commercial and 3rd sector users – this work is on going and I know that our M.S.P is taking a supportive interest in all dimensions. I will be visiting Tobermory surgery in a week or so’s time when things have settled a bit, to talk to the new staff member about how she wishes to proceed with w3w.
We now have the missing 400 plaques that were omitted from the housing estates or lost in the first delivery. I hope that all properties will get a plaque, but some places like the Bond store in Tobermory will need other solutions. The task of delivery will take some time, although we now have volunteers for many of the areas like Rockfield and Java etc. I can’t promise that some plaques may be still be missing, but I have done what I can. I thank what3words and Land Rover for doing this one last push with the plaques.
I have now been in contact with Argyll and Bute planning dept. re using their data for the next stage of the roll-out in Argyll. They have been very supportive and are trying to clear any legal problems related to the release of information. The Ambulance service has access to the same Gazetteer data as A&B Council, and so the next step may not be as tricky as I thought. Equally, w3w as been incorporated into the Police systems and the main dispatchers, have access to what3words. So their dispatcher will have to opt-in to use it, but it is available in the software system called Sopra Steria.
Finally, I feel that with a bit of an audit and some profile lifting, we can get the w3w system rolled out further. Fuel costs an expenses could be reduced for all looking for addresses and, lives saved and response times reduced.
I thank all of the people who have helped so far and welcome Michael Russell’s involvement in the future. He has already offered is help, and this could open even more doors.