We have recognised that some tasks cannot be performed completely in the Horace environment because the necessary data are not on the system. This information will be put into a text bulletin and passed across to Horace, where MetWatch will recognise it and generate a first-guess text message for the forecaster to amend as necessary before transmission. The outlook Existing applications software will gradually be enhanced as a result of user experience. Initial requirements tended to focus on the product to be produced from a particular application, whereas now the users are more adept at specifying the working practice, i.e. how they want to generate a product. Over the coming year or so we will also be exploring how best to optimise the use of Horace and the Met.
New technologies provide many options for sharing systems, software and data.
One of our prime challenges is to decide how best to exploit them to meet both the current and future needs of our business, our existing users and their customers.