The National Weather Service Modernization and Associated Restructuring
The National Weather Service Modernization and Associated Restructuring

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2012-02-25

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 0309217989

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The Modernization and Associated Restructuring (MAR) of the National Weather Service (NWS) was a large and complex re-engineering of a federal agency. The process lasted a decade and cost an estimated $4.5 billion. The result was greater integration of science into weather service activities and improved outreach and coordination with users of weather information. The MAR created a new, modernized NWS, and, significantly, it created a framework that will allow the NWS to keep up with technological changes in a more evolutionary manner. The MAR was both necessary and generally well executed. However, it required revolutionary, often difficult, changes. The procurement of large, complex technical systems presented challenges in and of itself. The MAR also affected the career paths and personal lives of a large portion of the field office workforce. The MAR created a new, modernized NWS, and, significantly, it created a framework that will allow the NWS to keep up with technological changes in a more evolutionary manner. The National Weather Service Modernization and Associated Restructuring presents the first comprehensive assessment of the execution of the MAR and its impact on the provision of weather services in the United States. This report provides an assessment that addresses the past modernization as well as lessons learned to support future improvements to NWS capabilities.

The National Weather Service Modernization and Associated Restructuring
The National Weather Service Modernization and Associated Restructuring

Author: Committee on the Assessment of the National Weather Service's Modernization Program

Publisher:

Published: 2012-01-25

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 9780309385237

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The Modernization and Associated Restructuring (MAR) of the National Weather Service (NWS) was a large and complex re-engineering of a federal agency. The process lasted a decade and cost an estimated $4.5 billion. The result was greater integration of science into weather service activities and improved outreach and coordination with users of weather information. The MAR created a new, modernized NWS, and, significantly, it created a framework that will allow the NWS to keep up with technological changes in a more evolutionary manner. The MAR was both necessary and generally well executed. However, it required revolutionary, often difficult, changes. The procurement of large, complex technical systems presented challenges in and of itself. The MAR also affected the career paths and personal lives of a large portion of the field office workforce. The MAR created a new, modernized NWS, and, significantly, it created a framework that will allow the NWS to keep up with technological changes in a more evolutionary manner. "The National Weather Service Modernization and Associated Restructuring" presents the first comprehensive assessment of the execution of the MAR and its impact on the provision of weather services in the United States. This report provides an assessment that addresses the past modernization as well as lessons learned to support future improvements to NWS capabilities.

Review of the Draft Plan for the Modernization and Associated Restructuring Demonstration
Review of the Draft Plan for the Modernization and Associated Restructuring Demonstration

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1999-03-23

Total Pages: 30

ISBN-13: 0309184630

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The public law that authorized the National Weather Service (NWS) to modernize its technical systems and restructure its field office organization set the requirements for what has become known as the modernization and associated restructuring demonstration (MARD). The law requires testing of the integrated performance, over a sustained period, of the modernized components and an operational demonstration that no degradation in service will result from the modernization and associated restructuring. In this report, the National Research Council's National Weather Service Modernization Committee reviews the September 1998 draft plan for MARD. The committee drew three conclusions from its review of the plan and offers five recommendations to the NWS.

Weather Services for the Nation
Weather Services for the Nation

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2012-12-02

Total Pages: 110

ISBN-13: 030925972X

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During the 1980s and 1990s, the National Weather Service (NWS) undertook a major program called the Modernization and Associated Restructuring (MAR). The MAR was officially completed in 2000. No comprehensive assessment of the execution of the MAR plan, or comparison of the promised benefits of the MAR to its actual impact, had ever been conducted. Therefore, Congress asked the National Academy of Sciences to conduct an end-to-end assessment. That report, The National Weather Service Modernization and Associated Restructuring: A Retrospective Assessment, concluded that the MAR was a success. Now, twelve years after the official completion of the MAR, the challenges faced by the NWS are no less important than those of the pre-MAR era. The three key challenges are: 1) Keeping Pace with accelerating scientific and technological advancement, 2) Meeting Expanding and Evolving User Needs in an increasingly information centric society, and 3) Partnering with an Increasingly Capable Enterprise that has grown considerably since the time of the MAR. Weather Services for the Nation presents three main recommendations for responding to these challenges. These recommendations will help the NWS address these challenges, making it more agile and effective. This will put it on a path to becoming second to none at integrating advances in science and technology into its operations and at meeting user needs, leading in some areas and keeping pace in others. It will have the highest quality core capabilities among national weather services. It will have a more agile organizational structure and workforce that allow it to directly or indirectly reach more end-users, save more lives, and help more businesses. And it will have leveraged these capabilities through the broader enterprise. This approach will make possible societal benefits beyond what the NWS budget alone allows.