AMS Weather and Climate Enterprise Summer Meeting

1. AMS Weather and Climate Enterprise Summer Meeting Wednesday 8/12/09 8:30AM Panel Discussion: Steps to Ensure Progress Dr. Joel N. Myers Founder and President AccuWeather, Inc. myersj@AccuWeather.com

2. Issues Regarding Government Use of Private Sector Data • PRINCIPLE 1: Government data should be available to everyone • It is paid for and therefore owned by the public, so it should be available to everyone without any use restrictions • It is paid for and therefore owned by the public, so it should be readily available for no charge, with the only fee (if any) being the incremental cost of distribution • Since some data is used to make decisions that impact both safety and economic interests, it should be available to everyone at the same time on an equal basis • The only exception would be for data whose release would damage the national interest, such as secret military data • This principle is incorporated within the NWS Instruction 1-1201, “Obtaining Environmental Data from External Parties” Joel N. Myers myersj@AccuWeather.com

3. Issues Regarding Government Use of Private Sector Data • Principle 2: Private sector data is by its nature proprietary with full rights accrued to its owner • If a private sector entity bears the cost of gathering the data, it has the right to restrict its distribution and utilization • If a private sector entity determines to make the data available to the government on a restrictive basis, that is within its ownership rights • The government has the choice to accept the data with any restrictions placed upon its use or to not accept the data and not get access to it • This principle is also incorporated within the NWS Instruction 1-1201, “Obtaining Environmental Data from External Parties” Joel N. Myers myersj@AccuWeather.com

4. Issues Regarding Government Use of Private Sector Data • THE ISSUE: What should the government do when offered data on a restrictive basis? Should the NWS use private sector data that is not available to everyone? • If so, what guidelines should be followed? • If so, how does NWS ensure data accuracy and quality? • If so, how can users of NWS products understand the basis of the products? Joel N. Myers myersj@AccuWeather.com

5. Issues Regarding Government Use of Private Sector Data • THE CURRENT SITUATION: NWS operating under NWS Instruction 1-1201, “Obtaining Environmental Data from External Parties”, issued March 20,2009 • “NWS always prefers to obtain data with no restrictions on redistribution …” • “ … NWS must strike a balance between the Government’s need and the provider’s legitimate proprietary interest …” • “ It is the Data Acquisition Officer’s responsibility to determine what data redistribution rights are needed …” • “To justify a decision to obtain data from an external party, the Data Acquisition Officer must make a determination that the value of the data exceeds the cost of the data.” Joel N. Myers myersj@AccuWeather.com