WMO

1. WMO Process for Nominating Candidate WMO Information System (WIS) Centres World Meteorological Organization (WMO)Observing and Information Systems DepartmentWMO Information System (WIS) Preparedby WIS Project Office WIS-Help@wmo.int

2. KEY: NC = National Centres GISC = Global Information System Centres DCPC = Data Collection or Production Centres WIS Networks include: A Core Network and GISC area networks (AMDCN) Types of Centres: GISCs, DCPCs, and NCs • GAW World Data Centres • GCOS Data Centres • Global Run-off Data Centre • Global Precipitation Climatology Centre International Organizations (IAEA, CTBTO, UNEP, FAO.. ) • World Radiation Centre • Regional Instrument Centres Internet DCPC • IRI and other climate research institutes • Universities • Regional Climate Centres NC Internet NC Area Meteorological Data Communication Networks (AMDCNs) NC/DCPC NC/DCPC GISC NC Commercial Service Providers NC WIS core network GISC GISC NC NC DCPC GISC GISC DCPC Satellite DisseminationIGDDS, EUMETSAT, etc. WMO World DataCentres Internation projects (eg GMES HALO) WMO World DataCentres Internation projects (eg GMES HALO) SatelliteTwo-Way System Internet Internet NC NC NC NC Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

3. WIS Compliance Specifications • Existing centres within WMO Member States may apply for designation as one of the functional centres forming the core infrastructure of WIS: • Global Information System Centres (GISCs) • Data Collection or Production Centres (DCPCs) • National Centres (NCs) • Designation requires a statement of compliance with WIS requirements, compiled by CBS • The Manual on WIS (WMO No 1060) is the authoritative source for specifications applicable to WIS GISCs, DCPCs, and NCs Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

4. Capabilities Demonstration:GISCs and DCPCs Candidate GISCs and DCPCs "invited to demonstrate to CBS their capabilities to provide WIS services" "This refers to the real-time functions of data and product collection and dissemination as well as to non-realtime services for requests." "adherence to WIS standards and relevant data exchange policies and access rights must be granted." "Upon acceptance of the demonstration of capabilities of the candidate centre, CBS will formulate the recommendation for the centre’s WIS designation." Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

5. Capabilities Demonstration:GISCs Demonstration should "include storage functions for the complete set of WIS data and products and relevant up-to-date metadata... coordination functions with other GISCs and the planning of mutual back-up services" "A formal commitment and time schedule to implement the GISC and to provide GISC services in accordance with the offer will be given by the PR of the Member operating the candidate GISC." Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

6. Capabilities Demonstration:DCPCs Demonstration should "include the provision of relevant up-to-date metadata catalogues." "The coordination and synchronization functions with the associated GISC should also be demonstrated." Note that a DCPC may utilise offsite services (egits principal GISC facilities) to ensure compliance. Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

7. Capabilities Demonstration:NCs • The Permanent Representative is responsibility for NCs WIS compliance. • The NC and PR’s representative are expected to work with their Principal GISC to undertake relevant test cases. • (See RA VI Implementation Plan – Annex IV) • As with DCPCs, an NC may utilise offsite services (eg GISC facilities) to ensure compliance. Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

8. Demonstration Procedures DCPCs and GISCs ET-WISC having recognised a candidature has met the pre demonstration conditions, will authorize its Task Team to review the candidate centre’s submissions. The Demonstration Process is in three phases First phase: Submission of Technical Paper plus Evidence, using the questionnaire tool Second phase: Assessment, Validation and Audit ET-WISC Task Team on Centre Audit and Certification (ET-WISC/TT-CAC) assesses information received and runs the six defined demonstration Tests. For GISCs, this phase includes an onsite audit. Third phase: Report findings to CBS, and if necessary arrange a demonstration to a CBS session. Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

9. Demonstration Procedures:Submission of Technical paper plus Evidence • Candidate centres fill out the online questionnaire, using the tool provided, and conduct the necessary demonstration tests • Responses to the questions should contain sufficient information and detail, including results of the demonstration tests, to ensure that the TT-CAC can make a full assessment Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

10. Demonstration Procedures:Assessment, Validation and Audit • TT-CAC will assess the response submitted by the Member • Feedback will be provided to help complete the documentation • The role of the TT-CAC does not extend to providing advice on technical solutions • TT-CAC will conduct the demonstration test cases remotely • GISC candidate assessment includes TT-CAC site visit • to audit technical infrastructure and organization in place • to exchange information with local WIS team • to review procedures in place • (potentially) to run some of tests Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

11. Results of Centre Audit and Certification • The audit/certification will result in one of three recommendations to CBS 1. Successful certification 2. Certification but with qualifications 3. No certification • A confidential report to the centre will identify strengths and weaknesses of the WIS implementation and may also contain recommendations for improvement • Confidential feedback does not affect the recommendation, • ie it is not a “qualification to the recommendation” Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

12. Demonstration Procedures:Demonstration to CBS Sessions • WIS Centre candidates with qualified certification have to demonstrate WIS functions during CBS sessions in order to obtain a full certification • WIS Centres candidates recommended for unqualified certification do not have to demonstrate capabilities during CBS sessions • WIS Centres considered to have “exemplar” capabilities may be asked to demonstrate these capabilities to CBS sessions and/or Executive Council and/or Congress for the benefit of other Members Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

13. Filling out the Questionnaire • To nominate a candidate WIS Centre, the first step is to notify the Secretariat of the intention. • For DCPC and GISCs, it is then necessary to fill out the online questionnaire and run demonstration tests • We will look in detail at some parts of the questionnaire and then fill in a sample candidate WIS Centre using the online editing tool Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

14. Structure of the Questionnaire • Categorical Questions • Identification Information • General Criteria • Functional Requirements • Technical Requirements • Demonstration Tests Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

15. Entering, Editing and Finalising the Questionnaire Response • The questionnaire tool can be used over multiple sessions to progressively refine the response • Supporting documentation files can be attached to the questionnaire, these can be referenced by name anywhere in the response • When response is final, change the status to “Completed and Locked” so the questionnaire will go to TT-CAC for assessment • To request TT-CAC review prior to final, change status to “ET-GDDP Comments Requested” Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

16. General Criteria 1: Commitment of the Permanent Representative • A WIS Centre is a long-term commitment • The Permanent Representative to WMO commits by letter to WMO Secretary-General • The response indicates if a letter has been sent, its date and reference (may also attach a copy) • Now WIS is operational, ET-WISC will not authorise the TT-CAC to start the review until after this letter is received. Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

17. General Criteria 2: Planned Operational Target Date • WIS formally went operational in Jan 2012 • GISCs Beijing, Offenbach and Tokyo • WIS aims for all Members to be operational and WIS compliant by 2015, although many WIS Centres plan to be operational well before • The response should indicate critical dates of this WIS Centre implementation. • The dates also assist the TT-CAC as they will aim to do the final review once the centre is pre-operational. Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

18. General Criteria 3: Backup power supply • WIS Centres, especially GISCs, are expected to have high availability and backup power is essential • The response describes: • backup facilities (eg. UPS, generator …) • operational capacity such that WIS is not affected by a power fault • how long can WIS operate on backup power Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

19. General Criteria 4: Operational environment of processing facility • Describe service level agreements for infrastructure such as building and hardware (e.g., 24 hour support, week days only, 12 hour call out, …) • Describe air-conditioning, electricity, telecommunications, fire detection and response, water damage control • Describe operational environment support staff (on location / on call) Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

20. General Criteria 5: Human resources Describe staffing arrangements to support this candidate WIS Centre, in particular: • Planned hours of coverage • Number of staff on shift, administrative and development/support staff Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

21. General Criteria 6: Staff training Describe how staff are trained to keep them up to date on new technologies and practices, especially relating to WIS In particular: • Initial training on new WIS functions • Maintaining currency of knowledge of shift /operational workers and support staff Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

22. General Criteria 7: System maintenance contract • Describe service level agreements (e.g., 24 hour support, week days, 12 hour call out or response time, …) covering hardware/software such as servers, routers, Internet, dedicated communications, message switching • Describe preventive maintenance policies and practices • Availability of WIS real-time, operation-critical services should exceed 99.9% over one month Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

23. General Criteria 8: Operational coordination Describe arrangements and procedures for operational coordination and trouble shooting with other WIS Centres, in particular: • How staff communicate with other WIS Centres • Procedural documentation for shift workers • On-call support and escalation procedures • Availability/ability of staff to participate in international activities such as expert teams • Availability/ability of staff to participate in area meteorological communication networks (AMDCN) coordination meetings Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

24. General Criteria 9: Help Desk • Does this Centre plan to offer a help desk to users, both internal and external to this organization, to use WIS effectively? • If so, describe the Centre's help desk, including languages, access (telephone, email, web interactive), hours of coverage Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

25. General Criteria 10: Support activities in responsible area Describe capacity building and other support, such as: • Training seminars on creating and maintaining metadata; • Consultation on WIS functions such as the search service • Support on recommended data formats (e.g., Table Driven Code Form), file naming convention, WMO core metadata • On-call support to other centres • Capacity-building (e.g., "train the trainer" programmes, shared training infrastructure) Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

26. General Criteria 11: Updating of operational information catalogues Describe procedures for keeping up-to-date operational information catalogues, e.g., • Measures to collect updated information from in-house and/or related organizations in a timely manner • Procedures for verifying catalogue contents Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

27. General Criteria 12: System and network monitoring Describe monitoring practices and procedures: • Networks (capacity, performance, congestion) • System usage (CPU, memory, disk, input/output) • Alert and response processes, including on site support, on call, or contracted • Typical tools or applications used in monitoring (in house, commercial off the shelf, other,…) • Monitoring is 24/7 or support staff during work hours Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

28. Demonstration Tests • WIS Compliance is defined by the 15 interface technical specifications • Responses should include results of the Demonstration Tests, or a date on which the tests can be accessed by TT-CAC on the candidate system • Demonstration Tests will be checked by TT-CAC to advise the CBS certification Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

29. Test 1: Uploading of Metadata for Data and Products into DAR catalogue GISC and DCPC (where desired) as a receiver • Get a new/updated metadata set from another site and from another WMO Programme – pull • Receive a new/updated metadata record or set from another site – push • Show mechanism to delete a metadata record DCPC (sender) • Add/update a metadata record at the GISC • Delete a record metadata record at the GISC Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

30. Test 2: Synchronizing DAR catalogues between GISC nodes • Show that GISC has global metadata (at least show metadata from all collaborating GISCs involved in the test) • Show GISC to GISC synchronization (between separate centres) • Give evidence of the timeliness and the accuracy of synchronization • Test should complement the “add, change and delete” mechanisms for metadata demonstrated in Demonstration Test 1 Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

31. Test 3: Uploading and downloading of data between WIS Centres • Show the Centre's ability to upload and download information between WIS Centres and to supply information to users • (For centres wishing to publish data to WIS) Show ability to submit the information into WIS, and, if required, to upload it to a GISC • Show the Centre’s mechanism for users to access the information requested-- via dedicated networks such as the GTS, via the Internet, or via other means Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

32. Test 4: Centralization of Globally Distributed Data • Show how a current data or product originating from another centre can be found via the GISC DAR search mechanism, and retrieve that item from the GISC cache • Attach a document describing how the GISC will ensure it holds a complete cache for 24 hours, including performance metrics Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

33. Test 5: Maintenance of users, roles, authorization, authentication and dissemination metadata • Creation of users • Attribution of roles • Given a user status and role, a user can access authorized data • User subscription process • Change of subscription process • Cancellation of subscription process • Ability to subscribe to and receive the subscribed item from the centre Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

34. Test 6: DAR Catalogue Search and Retrieval • Discovery of metadata using ISO239050, Search by URL (SRU), with several search criteria: • full text • subject keyword • geographic area • date range; • Authorized user can retrieve the discovered data Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

35. EXAMPLE RESPONSE Fill out a Questionnaire response for a (fictional) candidate DCPC http://www-db.wmo.int/WIS/centres/candidates.asp Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

36. WIS Reference Documents WIS Demonstration Process Procedures and Guidelines http://www-db.wmo.int/WIS/centres/guidance.doc Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres

37. 1. Approvals required for WIS Centres: WMO Member Permanent Representatives, Technical Commissions, and Congress/Executive Committee2. Answers required for items in the Candidate WIS Centre Questionnaire Review of Key Points http://www-db.wmo.int/WIS/centres/candidates.asp Process for Nominating Candidate WIS Centres