Weathernews believes that seminar and education of disaster management personnel in the field is an extremely important theme, along with the development of services and technologies to cope with the increasingly severe and frequent disasters caused by climate change.

On February 20, 2024, we welcomed visiting researchers from six Asian countries (Azerbaijan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Maldives, and Laos) invited from member countries of the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) to visit our Global Center in Makuhari, Chiba City. The participants learned about our disaster prevention efforts in Japan, advanced meteorological services and technologies, and international cooperation activities centered on disaster prevention.

There was strong empathy from the researchers toward the founding spirit of Weathernews to protect the lives of sailors and help people in times of need. We also shared the importance of being prepared for disasters even in ordinary times, of flexible cooperation between the public and private sectors based on an understanding of their roles, and of creating an environment in which information and services can reach every last citizen.

After sharing information and exchanging opinions, the participants took a tour of various departments that provide services for transportation infrastructure such as shipping, airline, rail, and road, services supporting industries such as electric power and distribution, as well as mobile internet services and forecast center operations.

In particular, there were many questions from the researchers around the studio of "Weather News LiVE," a video program that continues to provide weather forecasts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, created together with "supporters," and there seemed to be a strong interest in the program format in which each "citizen" actually "participates" through reports and chats. There seemed to be a strong interest in the format of the program, where each "citizen" actually "participates" through reports and chats.

At the end of the seminar, one of the researchers said, "I have always heard that Japan's disaster prevention technology is very advanced, but it was a wonderful experience for me to actually see it in action. I would like to continue to consider how I can make this experience useful for my own country.”

Through seminar programs like this, we hope to help educate valuable human assets for disaster prevention in countries around the world, and together work for the future of disaster prevention.

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Theme03/Technological Innovation & Partnerships