31 January 2012: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has launched a new international information system to improve climate and weather-related data exchange. The new WMO Information System (WIS) aims to facilitate access and use of meteorological observations.

The WIS will also ease the sharing of meteorological observations with various stakeholders, including the research and disaster risk reduction (DRR) communities. WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud describes the WIS as “the pillar of our strategy for managing and moving weather, climate and water information in the 21st century.”

The system will build on the WMO’s existing World Weather Watch, which has been operational for the past 40 years. The new system, which will seek to take advantage of recent advances in communications technologies, is expected to reduce the costs of information exchange for national meteorological and hydrological services. [WMO Press Release] [UN Press Release]