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Space Weather Week Activities Related to Vendors

• Space Weather Vendors, remarks by Barbara Poppe, Vendor Contact for SEC
• Notes from the Vendor Meeting
• Sugggestions for a Vendor Association-Alan Foster
• SEC Policies on Information Dissemination

"Space Weather Vendors"

You have heard about vendors and our wanting to foster a space weather industry. We define a vendor as someone providing space weather services to selected others. Whether the vendor makes money on those services is not a criteria for being a vendor. NGDC is, by our definition, a vendor who doesn't make money. Some of our vendors who want to make money don't either!

To give you an idea of what we mean by space weather services, we have seen development or potential development these areas.
 

We are working on several aspects of supporting current and potential vendors:

1. We need to provide high-volume, very current, and highly reliable dissemination of data. We support vendors by supplying a base of information on which they can build value-added products.
2. One of the reasons vendors are interested in participating in the Research-to-Operations part of this Week is that, although they may not be researchers, they are interested in making use of models to create value-added products. In particular, models can be used to give predictions or description of specific sites at specific times. This is something that SEC clearly is not going to do and vendors want to do.
3. Another aspect of SEC support is as a broker of sorts for vendors. Even here at the meeting, users have asked me to connect them with vendors for one service or another. Our job is to get the word out that there are vendors providing various services, done so as not to give preference or endorsement. One way we do that is through announcements in User Notes. Another is to provide access to users through Space Weather Week. We hope that has been helpful to the vendors.
4. A different way in which we work with vendors is through cooperative agreements of one kind or another. Our first CRADA, which we implemented with Sterling Software, has resulted in the launching of the RPC that Terry has just described. The CRADA allowed both Sterling and SEC to invest resources to more rapidly put out a product that is now available to everyone on the Web. Sterling, then, can use that output to develop value-added products that are based on official SEC nowcasts.

1. That we will describe the environment, but not tailor products to individuals or localities.
2. Another is that we will make our data and information available to everyone.

We hold this conference to try to assess what customers want from us with the idea of satisfying those requests. Last night you all heard that NOAA wants us to respond to constituents, and that their requests drive what we do. We are proud of our customer service record that spans decades.

At the same time, we have stated how we are dedicated to fostering a space weather industry. At odds, perhaps, with our above stated devotion to customer service, is the need to step away from those requests and create a void of services which can be filled by vendors. This has been hard for us to do, even though we recognize that we cannot do everything for every user. Mixed into this dilemma is a chicken-and-egg problem: we are willing to let vendors take over services, but they may not be ready to do so; if we then providde the services, the vendors can't get a start. (Please consider where this leaves the user.) This dichotomy has not yet been settled in our own minds, as some vendors have noted.

The emergence a space weather industry has just begun and it obviously poses some challenges.

I look forward to our vendor meeting this evening, and expect that we will discuss the different perspectives that have come to light this week. Perhaps we can begin to resolve the dichotomy of who will provide services.
 

Notes from SEC Vendors Meeting, NCAR, April 21, 1999
by Gary Heckman

Barbara Poppe then lead a discussion regarding the "two lines in the sand", one side was what SEC planned to do, and one which was what vendors want to do. Her question was how to get a definition of the two lines. These suggestions were:

Kent Tobiska suggested that vendors set up an on-going discussion, with meetings or via e-mail, to address the issue

Consider a Space Weather Vendors Association. Alan Foster prepared a presentation (notes attached below).

Devrie Intrilligator questioned whether there is enough of a critical mass of vendors for an association.

Barbara Poppe said SEC would welcome a vendor group.

Dave Bouwer thought that other advantages of an association would include benefits that are available to groups, such as insurance.

John Kappenman expressed concern that we will run into conflict down the road. For Example, some companies are offering a service based on electrojet models, yet the government can choose to provide this service. He believes that there needs to be a strong definition of roles.

Ernie Hildner cited NOAA policy on services and the cost and made the point that if vendors charge too much or provides unsatisfactory products, the government need to provide them.

Jim Secan recognized that some satellite operators, say, use the free generic service from SEC even though the service does not provide them with adequate information. They can choose to bypass adequate protection from a commercial service and still have legal coverage.

John Kappenman explained that the government is in the power business, which is undergoing deregulation, even though it is not in other deregulated business such as airlines. The difficulty of competing against the government provides a continuing basis of conflict.

Devrie Intrilligator stated that she believed there is a need to keep SEC robust. The problem is how to structure a process that helps this and serves vendors.

John Kappenman noted that the end users puts different pressure on SEC than will the vendors.

Barbara Poppe emphatically stated that SEC needs vendors to help draw the lines. Vendors who step up to providing services will keep SEC from having to do it. But we need to know what services vendors are prepared to provide.

Kent Tobriska wants SEC to let vendors know of user requests that vendors might offer.

Rather than vendors letting SEC know what services they are providing, vendors would like to have a Services Provider Website where queries can be posted. It was suggested that SEC forward inquires to this Website, but it is not possible for SEC to make those inquires known. Rather, SEC can tell the requester to post to this Website. Then vendors could respond. This was widely regarded as a desirable solution.

Allen Foster offered to do the Vendor Website (allan.foster@cwix.com)