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Executive Summary
Pages 1-10

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From page 1...
... 3. The private sector (weather companies, meteorologists working for private companies or as private consultants, and broadcast meteorologists)
From page 2...
... Identify the effects that advances in observing, modeling, forecast~ng, and information dissemination technologies may have on the respective roles of the public, private, and academic sectors. Examine the interface between the various sectors, identify barriers to effective interaction, and recommend changes in policies or practices that could improve the potential for providing weather and climate information.
From page 3...
... Moreover, the current policy specifies that the NWS will not provide services that the private sector is currently providing or could provide, unless otherwise directed by law. This guideline is untenable because the private sector can now do much of what the NWS legitimately does, and there may be good public policy reasons for the NWS to carry out certain activities, even if the private sector does or could do them.
From page 4...
... The NWS shouict establish an inclepenclent advisory committee to provide ongoing advice to it on weather and climate matters. The committee shouict be composed of users of weather and climate clata and representatives of the public, private, and academic sectors, and it shouict consider issues relevant to each sector as well as to the set of players as a group, such as (but not limited to)
From page 5...
... Although some in the private sector would prefer that the NWS not issue forecasts, the committee believes that scientific, legal, and economic arguments overwhelmingly support the continued dissemination of NWS forecasts and other weather products. Not only has the infrastructure supporting the forecast already been paid for, but disseminating forecasts provides a measure of visibility to the NWS, which helps ensure continued congressional support for the expensive infrastructure needed to generate weather and climate services.
From page 6...
... For example, it is socially beneficial for the NWS to create products related to public health, even if the private sector sees such products as a business opportunity. The NWS has recently clevelopeci guiclelines for clecicling which products to incorporate into operations, although they clo not cover all the complexities of product clevelopment.
From page 7...
... NWS headquarters and regional managers should develop an approach to managing the local forecast offices that balances a respect for local innovation and creativity with greater control over the activities that affect the public-private partnership, especially those that concern the development and dissemination of new products or services. The public relies on the trustworthiness of NWS data; the private sector relies on high-quality, timely NWS data to produce specialized products for clients; and all sectors rely on the NWS to maintain scientifically valid meteorological and climatological databases.
From page 8...
... Private sector use of NWS data, which form the basis of many commercial products, greatly increases the value of the data and further justifies the high cost of the national observing system infrastructure. In response to an invitation to all sectors issued by the committee, a relatively small number of commercial weather companies highlighted problems with NWS data quality and timeliness and with the public-private partnership, particularly regarding existing or potential duplication of effort.
From page 9...
... Recommendation 11. Universities seeking to commercialize weatherrelated research results should follow transparent procedures for transferring technology and for avoiding conflicts of interest.
From page 10...
... On the other hand, although created for different purposes, some of the products and services offered by the different sectors are similar, which creates potential friction and inefficiencies in the weather enterprise. A number of attempts have been made to better differentiate the roles of the sectors, but with limited success (see "History of the NWS-Private Sector Partnership" below)


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