Aspiring to Promote Practical Use of Weather in Asia-Pacific Region

The establishment of the “WNI Weather Culture Foundation” for the promotion of practical use of weather information in the Asia-Pacific region was announced today by Weathernews Inc. The Foundation will award financial assistance to innovators making contributions to the development of “weather culture.” The newly established Foundation's board of directors will initially include Weathernews Chariman Hiro Ishibashi, Oklahoma University Professor Emeritus Dr. Yoshikazu Sasaki, and pro-skier/mountaineer Yuichiro Miura as councilor. Covering a wide range of industries, organizations, researchers and individuals, the WNI Weather Culture Foundation’s goals for developing “weather culture” for practical use are presented here.

Research Grant for Practical Use of Weather Information in the Asia-Pacific Region

Along with the trend of global warming, the importance of practical use of weather information is increasing more and more. Particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, there are many countries that have suffered extensive damage from sudden and violent weather phenomenon, and have expectations for future developments in useful forecasting applications. In the midst of this, the WNI Weather Culture Foundation considers the importance of unconventional wisdom and out-of-the-box thinking for the development of practical weather-based applications that respond to the need for disaster mitigation, economy and environmental issues across a wide range of businesses, organizations, researchers and individuals. The Foundation will award recognition and assistance to those people sharing the results of their research and development from a fair and impartial standpoint.

Spreading Weather Information and Culture Creation as Lifestyle Infrastructure

At Weathernews, we believe that the sharing of weather information, or “weather content” among many people is a fundamental resource supporting people’s lives as a utility like water, power, transportation, and telecommunications. At the same time, we believe that hardware and technology are not the answer to various problems, but that taking culture into consideration is the first step in the spread of critical content that create new value for end users.
Based on this realization, programs to improve “weather literacy” for everyone, and implementation of a weather content sharing database will be an endeavor in which each user can individually make use of weather information.
In addition, 1.7 million shares of Weathernews stock have been transferred from Hiro Ishibashi in contribution for funding for the Foundation. In the near future, the Foundation hopes to be granted approval as a public foundation.

WNI Weather Culture Foundation Overview

１．Name

： WNI Weather Culture Foundation

２．Office

： 1-3 Nakase, Makuhari Techno Garden, Mihama Ward, Chiba Prefecture

３．Established

： December 1st, 2009

４．Management Organization：