Building Partnerships between the Academy and

Private Sector Meteorology

John T. SnowCollege of Geosciences

The University of Oklahoma

In the last 20 years, forecasts of future weather have improved dramatically due to …

… enhanced understanding of Earth's atmosphere,

… better observing systems, and

… faster computers

Today's improved forecasts support the traditional applications of …

… Providing vital warnings about severe and hazardous weather, helping to protect lives and mitigate property loss

… Supporting critical aviation and marine transport

These are traditional roles for the National Weather Service, as mandated by the Congress

Today’s improved forecasts also support a host of new and improved applications in private industry to …

… increase efficiency of operations, and… enhance economic competitiveness while reducing

risk

Servicing this growing demand for weather information is the role of the private sector

Weather sensitive industries are recognizing the value of incorporating weather information into decision cycles

• Most decision processes are cyclic, often contain time-critical elements; key information must be current and available exactly when needed asynchronous

• Most decisions are made by non-meteorologists minimize interpretation, discussion of the delivered information package

• Most decisions are focused on small regions; need to inter-relate weather information with distribution of infrastructure, demographics, etc… at county, watershed, plume level GIS format

• Rare but extreme events often the critical item! (at same time, must keep broader perspective, e.g., 3 May 99 events outside OKC)

Fundamental question: Where can weather information can make a significant difference in a decision process?

Bottomline:Modern meteorological products and services have great

potential for significantly enhancing business decisions IF those products and services are correctly tailored to support the relevant decision processes

Question: How do private sector meteorologists best take advantage of this rapidly evolving situation?

Parts of the answer: • Move beyond repackaging to developing capabilities to

produce own products and services

• R&D driven by the private sector since they are the interface to the customer

Public Sector vis-a-vis the Academy

• Private Sector Meteorology by and large continues to use modern technology “to do old things better” tailoring of existing products from federal government

• New generation of meteorologists in universities looking for opportunities to use modern technology “to do new things” design of new products and services

• Private Sector Meteorology has little internal research capability; has largely relied on informal tech transfer of federally funded research

• Universities desire to grow research base by partnering with private industry, but communication can be a challenge

NEEDED – A New Paradigm: Universities and Private Sector Meteorology must approach weather-related R&D as partners

The Diverse Private Sector• Commercial Forecasting Firms provide industry-specific

forecasts and consulting services

• Data Providers obtain data from government, repackage it and pass it on to the public, other users

• Media communicate data to general public

• Instrument manufacturers provide observing equipment

• Government contractors provide a range of supporting services to the federal government

• Largely Missing: Modelers, Observing Systems

What do Universities Bring to the Table?

• Students – the “best and brightest” from all around the world• Stimulating intellectual environment

– Unique blend of education, research, and operations– Proximity to key federal facilities– Visitors, seminars, conferences, etc...– Breadth - multi-disciplinary expertise, specialty areas, “human dimension”

• Facilities, including massive computational resources• Entrepreneurial spirit

– Funding opportunities, leveraging of research funds• Access to new ideas, new technology• Role of “honest broker” between federal, state, and local governments and the

private sector (neutral territory)

• Negatives: Universities seldom do anything very quickly; bureaucratic; often internally very territorial; faculty are individualistic, self-made entrepreneurs

What Do Universities Need from Private Industry?

• Funding• Access to private sector data and data gathering

facilities• Internships, trainee-ships for students• Collaborative arrangements to access private

sector employees and provide professional opportunities for university employees

• Return on prior investments in R&D in terms of technology transfer and local economic development

Mechanisms 1, 2, 3

• Donations• Grants• Contracts

These are various types of traditional relationships between a university and a private sector entity, but they do not represent, by themselves, partnerships

Mechanisms 4 and 5 • Co-operative Agreement – an arrangement with one entity• Consortium – a joint arrangement with multiple entities

– Built around a limited number of specific “research themes” focused on topics of mutual interest

– Private sector partner(s) guarantee(s) a certain level of core funding; other funds provided on a project- by-project basis; leverages third-party funds obtained via competitive grants and contracts

– 5-year agreement, renewable continuity– Private sector partner(s) get(s) advantage of a collaboration with

minimum upfront investment; recovers investment through reduced University Indirect Cost (overhead) on specific research projects

By their nature, these require active participation of all involved partnership

Important Details

• Intellectual Property management• Security of proprietary materials, techniques• Publication• Start-up details • Size of core staff – minimize administration, maximize

researcher, post-doc, student support• Detailing of private sector staff

– Special product development– In-house “sabbaticals”

• Relationships with other university programs – in-house collaboration, not competition

Challenges 1

• Conquering “the not invented here syndrome”– Must eliminate the insecurities that perceives external input

to an organization as a threat – Come to see research as a continuum stretching from

basic/fundamental to prototyping/beta-testing to operational applications, with both universities and private sector having roles to play

• Overcoming the territorial mentality common in both private sector and universities– Organizations with strong territoriality are poorly adapted to

working in a systems context, or across traditional boundaries

Challenges 2

• Crossing the “Valley of Death” – the transition from research results to operational practice– Traditional “over the transom” approach very slow, very

inefficient partnership effort necessary for efficient, timely transfer

– From the outset of a research project, establish ownership of intellectual property and have a formal tech transfer plan detailing how the results will be infused into the sponsor’s operations

– Be open to a variety of approaches – workshops, experimental forecast facilities, etc…

– Insure that all players are recognized and rewarded

What Does It Take to Make a University – Private Sector Partnership Work?

• Complimentary working relationship between private sector and university insures that results are market-oriented

• Critical mass of faculty, professional staff, students + private sector staff intellectual capital

• Intellectual leadership with a commercial orientation willingness to undertake a market-driven research and development agenda within the University

Potential Research Themes On Which Universities and Private Sector Could Partner – a University View

• Flexible environmental observing systems to supplement, extend national systems – smart sensors, adaptive observing networks, intelligent agents

• GIS-based integrated display and analysis systems to simplify transport of information to a wide variety of customers

• Decision support systems for a broad range of customers• High resolution, extended capability radars• Asynchronous predictions at storm- and meso-scale• Seasonal and interannual climate• Agriculture and bio-meteorology

How can Private Sector Companies Promote Partnerships with Universities?

• Articulate a research agenda and establish goals and priorities; disseminate to the university community

• Support open publication of research results• Develop mechanisms for sharing people, e.g.,

model the IPA program• Co-locate appropriate facilities, with a secondary

mission of developing partnerships

Awareness Interactions Collaborations

Challenge to Universities: Re-Invent Meteorology as an Engineering DisciplineRefocus on design and construction of products and services based

on accumulated knowledge of last 50 years of research + inexpensive computing power + telecommunications – Understanding of the user’s needs is a critical factor– Multidisciplinary, systems approach – the weather is likely

only one factor in a complex management equation – Combine understanding of the atmosphere with …

… Powerful, affordable computing technology decision support models can be very sophisticated… Communication and analysis tools that allow vast amounts of information to be considered quickly

John T. SnowDean, College of GeosciencesThe University of Oklahoma

Sarkeys Energy Center, Suite 710100 E. Boyd St.

Norman, Oklahoma 73019

Tel: 405-325-3101FAX: 405-325-3148

jsnow@ou.edu

http://geosciences.ou.edu/