By Miriam Humbe
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) on Wednesday, signed a memorandum of understanding with a leading weather intelligence company, Tomorrow.io.
The MoU with Tomorrow.io, a leading weather intelligence company based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, with footprints across Africa and the Middle East, is expected to see NiMet and the firm collaborate on a whole range of areas including commercializing weather data, improving accuracy of weather and climate forecasts, and application of artificial intelligence (Ai) in weather and climate intelligence.
Speaking at the MoU signing at NiMet’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, Professor Charles Anosike said: “We have found good partners in Tomorrow.io.
We are aspiring to actualize the mandate given to NiMet by the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN on revenue generation and improved safety of the aviation sector. This MoU will help us achieve that.
“As an agency, NiMet is already doing a lot. We are always on the lookout for partners that will help us improve and expand on our services. Ai and technology are playing leading roles in weather and climate forecasts.
“This partnership with Tomorrow.io will help us to do more for our various stakeholders across the socio-economic sectors we serve including aviation, agriculture, marine, oil and gas, construction, academia etc”.
Mr Yaniv Gelnik, Director of Africa Expansion at Tomorrow.io said that experience from Kenya and in the other countries they served showed that it’s possible to downscale weather and climate information daily to users especially farmers in usable formats.
He said: “This will help them in planning. Farmers will be able to receive via their mobile handsets weather intelligence daily, wherever they are and in a language of their choice.
“That’s part of the value proposition that Tomorrow.io is bringing to the partnership with NiMet. Ai allows for precise, unique, efficient and faster weather and climate forecasts compared to current systems and models. This will be of immense value to NiMet’s value-chain stakeholders”.
