MeteoForum is a pilot project whose goal is the creation of an international network of World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Regional Meteorological Training Centers (RMTCs). The RMTCs will work collaboratively with universities to enhance their roles of regional training and education. By accessing a comprehensive, internationally developed collection of training materials, software, and real-time and historical data, the RMTCs will be able to enrich the education they offer to hydro-meteorological professionals in their region. MeteoForum will build a stronger sense of "community" among the RMTCs through Internet-based interactions and through the sharing of educational concepts, educational materials, and hydro-meteorological data with one another and with their affiliated universities.

A key element in the ultimate success of real-time data delivery in MeteoForum is the availability of good-quality, high-speed networking at participating institutions. Sharing of high-volume, real-time, hydro-meteorological data between Unidata universities, the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, and the RMTC located at the Universidade Federal do Pará in Belém has been made possible by the Internet-2 connectivity provided by Brazil's National Research Network (RNP) through the AMPATH project of Florida International University and Global Crossing. Initial successes in data sharing in Brazil have lead to the creation of the IDD-Brazil, an extension of the Unidata IDD network that currently provides real-time data to educational institutions in North America.

Efforts aimed at extending data sharing to MeteoForum sites in Argentina through IDD-Brazil, and to Costa Rica and Barbados through the creation of an IDD-Caribbean, and an update to MeteoForum activities described by Laing, et. al. (AMS 2002-18 IIPS) will be presented.

MeteoForum is being developed jointly by the COMET and Unidata programs of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.