

 

The Bureau of Meteorology recently won both the Geospatial Category and the overall Excellence in eGovernment Awards for its Next Generation Forecast and Warning System Project. This is only the third year that the Geospatial category has been included in these awards, and this is the second time that the Geospatial Category Winner took out the overall prize.

 

Through the Next Generation Forecast and Warning System (NexGenFWS) Project, the Bureau of Meteorology is transitioning from traditional text-based based forecasts limited to a number of locations to a fully digital geospatial environment in which users can access more accurate, more detailed and, most importantly, geospatially aware forecasts and warnings.

 

NexGenFWS is now successfully operating in four states, and has introduced a greatly expanded service that provides citizens in rural and regional areas with a level of information formerly only available about metropolitan cities. The technology underpinning NexGenFWS has revolutionised the preparation of forecasts to allow the Bureau to establish a digital geospatial database of forecast information which covers the continent, providing a level of detail and accuracy never before achieved in Australia.

 

Congratulations also to the other Geospatial finalists:
Bureau of Meteorology – Australian Hydrological Geospatial Fabric
City of Melbourne, Victoria – City of Melbourne on-line mapping

 

All the 2012 Category Award finalists can be found here.