Summary and Take-Home Messages of the 2012 AMS Washington Forum

The AMS Board on Enterprise Economic Development (BEED) is one of three boards that compose the AMS Commission on the Weather and Climate Enterprise (CWCE). The CWCE and its three boards develop and implement programs that address the needs and concerns of all three sectors – the public, private, and academic. The CWCE promotes a sense of community among the sectors of the Enterprise, fosters synergistic links between and among Enterprise sectors, informs and educates user communities on the value of weather and climate information, and provide appropriate venues and opportunities for frank, open, and balanced discussion. This presentation will inform the audience of the BEED's progress in nurturing the economic development of the weather and climate enterprise.

The BEED is actively engaged in growing the economic base of the weather and climate enterprise by reaching out to the user community. The BEED identifies and communicates business opportunities for all enterprise sectors. It stands up economic-sector committees to facilitate dialogue among these sectors and the weather and climate community, and it organizes the annual AMS Washington Forum, held in Washington, D.C., each spring.

Committees of the BEED address the following challenges: energy and renewable energy, transportation, water resources, financial weather-climate risk management, and international weather-climate issues. Leaders in each of these economic sectors chair these committees and organize productive activities throughout the year.

The capstone of the BEED's activities each year is the AMS Washington Forum (AWF), whose purpose is to provide an opportunity for members of the weather, water, and climate community to meet with senior federal agency officials, congressional staff, and other community members to hear about the status of current programs, learn about new initiatives, discuss issues of interest to our community, identify business opportunities, and speak out about data and other needs.

The need for the United States to become a “weather-, water-, and climate-ready” nation was the theme of the 2012 AWF, held April 10-12. Leaders of industry, government, and academia discussed key topics at this annual meeting organized by the AMS Commission on the Weather and Climate Enterprise. Nine key points emerged from the days' conversation, which will be included in this presentation.

The 2013 AMS Washington Forum promises to be as engaging, stimulating, and productive as past AWFs. This presentation will explain the topics to be addressed at this year's AWF.