Open innovation and the case for community model development

Despite having the largest associated research community and a rapidly growing private sector, the lack of a well-coordinated national research and development effort for U.S. numerical weather prediction continues to impede our ability to utilize more of the scientific and technical capacity of the nation more efficiently. Over the last few years, considerable progress has been made toward developing a community-friendly Unified Forecast System (UFS) by embracing an open innovation approach that is mutually beneficial to the public, private, and academic sectors. Once fully implemented, the UFS has the potential to catalyze a significant increase in the efficacy of our nation’s weather, water, and climate science and prediction.