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

p. 2 Joel N. Myers 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 , “Obtaining Environmental Data from External Parties” Issues Regarding Government Use of Private Sector Data

p. 3 Joel N. Myers 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 , “Obtaining Environmental Data from External Parties”

p. 4 Joel N. Myers 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? Issues Regarding Government Use of Private Sector Data

p. 5 Joel N. Myers THE CURRENT SITUATION: NWS operating under NWS Instruction , “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.” Issues Regarding Government Use of Private Sector Data