Op-ed | Open Access to Weather Data in a Changing Landscape

" ... Accurate, up-to-date weather information is something we take for granted in the United States. When traveling abroad, one can’t help but observe that U.S. weather information is of higher quality and ubiquity relative to other countries. So why is that? The relative size of the U.S. in terms of population, gross domestic product and land mass with its associated wide variety of different types of weather hazards certainly is part of the answer. We have also benefited from federal investments in basic research. But in my opinion, it is the combination of a strong federal infrastructure with the National Weather Service at the forefront working in concert with a vibrant private sector. This public-private partnership is underpinned by the U.S. government’s policy of making its data available to anyone. This U.S. model of open data access not only benefits us at home but also has allowed us to export weather services. While it’s not possible to measure the size of the private weather sector in the U.S. compared with other countries, it is possible to infer it. The Weather Co.’s major competitors overseas are primarily either other U.S. companies or quasi-government organizations such as the U.K. Meteorological Office. As a nation, we have built the largest weather enterprise on the planet — and it didn’t occur by accident. It was the result of a government policy based on public-private partnership, where the private enterprise built on the infrastructure of the public enterprise ..."