National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) Report:

Progress

NWS Summer Partners Meeting

Joanne Swanson Kagan

Strategic Planning and Policy

August 4, 2014

May 2013: Way Forward

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• Embraced “Weather-Ready Nation” and six strategic goals – emphasized NWS can’t do it alone

• Emphasized importance of private sector “secondary value chain” and need to ensure partnership in meeting the nation’s needs.

• Emphasized stakeholders need for consistency in products and services

Grand Challenge (1) Pace of Change

• NAPA recommends orderly change in NWS with time for full engagement of all stakeholders

“…NWS will need to address the diversity of opinions of internal and external stakeholders on what to change, how to change, and the appropriate rate of change.” (p. 11)

– NWS/NWSEO Team completed initial work on framework for change and approach for stakeholder involvement: emphasis on energizing current mechanisms

– HQ reorganization includes enhancement of communications office to help energize engagement with external stakeholders

• Fiscal environment generally seeks immediate change to achieve savings

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Context for all NWS resource decisions for the next few years

Central challenge: balancing these competing perspectives

Grand Challenge: (2) Budget Restructuring

• NAPA findings support NWS request for realignment of program, project or activity (PPA) lines by operational function and service delivery – plan complete and anticipated for approval and enactment when FY15

budget appropriated• Timeline drives parallel efforts to realign budget and reorganize HQ “a

good place to start”– HQ reorganization plan complete and in discussion with

OMB/Congress. Also anticipated for approval and enactment with FY15 appropriation.

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Goal is a transparent budget process, aligned by function

Central challenge: Aligning budget to function and linking to performance

Grand Challenge (3) Managing Innovation

• NAPA recognizes current strengths and shortcomings– AWIPSII activation helps address many hidden costs of

uncoordinated local innovation– Tapping enormous potential of innovative workforce (and

private sector) will require virtual laboratory approach – next steps

• Improved R2O agile NWS that can prove significant changes work – Operations Proving Ground

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Foundation for orderly process to manage change

Central challenge: Maximizing value of innovation by engaging all stakeholders

Grand Challenge (4) Consistent Services

• NAPA highlights that inconsistent forecast products and services are confusing to emergency managers and other stakeholders

• Moving to Decision Support Services paradigm requires strategic balancing of these services.

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Timely, Accurate, Reliable Services Consistent Across the Nation

Central challenge: Meeting needs for consistency in products as well as decision support services

Next Steps

Short Term (FY14):• Reached agreement on approach for stakeholder involvement• Proposed budget realignment to achieve transparency and functional

alignment.• Integrate effort to frame process for change with new HQ structure and

playbook development• NWS/NWSEO efforts to re-frame relationship• Conducting facilities analysis.Medium Term (FY15-17)• Conduct workforce analysis and develop workforce plan focused on WRN• Energize existing stakeholder mechanisms – use advisory bodies as needed.Long Term (FY18-)• Fully integrated field structure delivering consistent, equitable, and seamless

products and decision support services.• Continuous incremental change driven by stakeholders.• Primary and secondary value chains coupled to build a Weather-Ready

Nation.7