Evaluating Climate Products: Ensuring End User Usability in Climate Operations-to- Service

Creating a successful bridge between private sector end users and public deliverers of climate information involves both having great data in the right context and understanding how commercial end users need that information. Evaluation plays an important role in meeting users needs by clarifying key end users objectives from the beginning, creating iterative pathways for users to inform the data and context needed, and demonstrating the effectiveness of delivery methods and approaches. It can create efficiencies in the public-private dialogue, saving time and money. Evaluation also then provides climate service deliverers concrete data to demonstrate to new partners the efficacy and the value of their approach and products In this talk, we focus on an evaluation framework that can be used to support public-private partnerships for climate services, one that moves beyond needs assessment into richer evaluation tools and protocols to ensure that climate service providers are meeting their customers needs.