WMO Community Platform

The nomination process is as follows:

1. Experts must update their profiles with their full set of skills (list of skills)
2. Agency Approvers must fill in the "Expert Network" form with the following information:
   • Expert: Name of the expert
   • Commitment: Availability for the work of the Technical Commissions
3. The Secretariat will work with the Presidents of the Technical Commissions to propose the group memberships

For more information go to the Experts Database.

Access the WMO Community Platform

The WMO Community Platform launched officially in June 2019 at the Eighteenth World Meteorological Congress. The Platform promises to deliver greater synergies across the work of the WMO Community through transformative collaboration and information sharing.

The WMO Community Platform is designed to improve the way we work together by:

• Improving communication through collaborative tools, document management and knowledge management
• Consolidating business information and visualization for decision-makers on tailored dashboards
• Ensuring that Member-owned and maintained profiles are instantly available to all
• Digitizing WMO administrative processes
• Alignment with the WMO Strategic Plan 2020–2023 and the restructuring of WMO activities as part of the Governance Reform process.

​The new tools and resources launched on the Platform in 2019 include:

• Contacts database: An interactive self-service system allowing Members to review and update information about experts and organizations. It replaces the static Pub5 – update your organization's and experts' information today. 
• Extranet: A one-stop shop with personalized Member dashboards. It is organized by activity area, and integrates events and document sharing for working in teams. 
• Updated Country Profile Database: Now directly managed by Members – update your country profile today. 
• Online nomination and approval of experts: Now easily done via the platform – create/update your expert's profile and then select them (how-to guide available here).

​The new tools to be rolled-out over the coming months will facilitate:

• The taking of surveys
• Registration for WMO event
• The submission of travel claims following participation in a WMO event
• Monitoring and evaluation
• The creation of discussion forums and collaborative working spaces
• Event management
• Task assignment and tracking

For more detailed information about the new WMO Community Platform, read this December 2019 article in the WMO Bulletin. 

For questions, contact: community@wmo.int

The WMO Community Platform is a set of web-based tools designed to bring greater efficiency to the way WMO works with its Members. Anyone can access the Platform. However, landing pages are different depending on a user’s role. For example, once their account is activated, WMO Permanent Representatives, nominated experts and WMO staff all login to get special access to WMO and country information, mechanisms to update their data, as well as tools to communicate with WMO Staff and other Members and partners.  WMO Permanent Representatives, and others they designate as "Agency Approvers", have advanced features to enable them to manage national or organizational content and to help them benchmark national capabilities according to WMO standards and other Members. For more information about the Platform go to the Community Platform page. The WMO Community Platform can be accessed at: https://community.wmo.int

The Platform is also referred to as the CPDB/Extranet (v3.0). In 2019, it was renamed the “WMO Community Platform” to better communicate its expanded features. When all Members are regularly working with the Community Platform, we will move to a new level of collaboration among Members and the Secretariat. The Platform will include the kind of information found in previous versions but more and with more functionality. With the addition of user “identity management” a new contact database just for our community’s needs was created (Expert Database). The Platform now includes information sharing mechanisms as well as powerful collaborative and analytic tools.
 

Member and Partner Organization contacts have received automated emails from no-reply@wmo.int inviting them to activate their account. If you or your staff that have participated in WMO activities have not yet received an invitation email, please send an email to community@wmo.int.  For a video tutorial on activating your account see:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybsGEVhXIwM&feature=youtu.be

Permanent Representatives are considered “Agency Approvers” and can nominate additional Agency Approver(s) to enter the data and perform other functions. Agency Approvers can, in turn, nominate other Agency Approvers. The Terms of reference for an Agency Approver are: 

"Collectively, WMO Permanent Representatives, identified focal points and other competent authorities from national institutions or international organizations are referred to in the WMO Community Platform as “Agency Approvers” and are authorized to act on behalf of a Permanent Representative or WMO Partner organization to:

1. Serve as a contact person for matters related to the WMO Monitoring and Evaluation System;
2. Monitor and maintain details in the WMO Member or Partner profile database;
3. Respond to and coordinate the processing of questionnaires, including delegating particular thematic areas to relevant experts;
4. Authorize the representation of experts in WMO activities, including participation in WMO constituent body meetings, and associated expert team and working groups;
5. Add and maintain contacts from the Member country/state or territory, or Partner Organization in the WMO Members and Partners contact management system;
6. Request the secretariat to review details and update the contents of the WMO Community Platform where necessary."

See instructions in the downloadable CPDB Basic User Manual in PDF: how-to guide available here

 Also, a video tutorial on nominating experts is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE62L_LGbqk&feature=youtu.be

The Expert Database is a component of the WMO Community Platform that contains information about experts who may be nominated for the work of the technical commissions.  The Expert Network consists of those who have been nominated by agency approvers and may be selected for specific technical commission roles and responsibilities. Click here for an overview of the nomination process

No

The participation in the technical commission session is a separate issue and is a decision of each participating Member government.

Those WMO Members who have chosen to be represented at a technical commission and are in good standing in WMO, may propose officers of the commissions and participate in elections and formal decision-making during the intergovernmental commission sessions. Experts nominated by Agency Approvers will be part of the Expert Network from which a number will be selected for the work of the technical commissions through a process led by the technical commission presidents. Their work will be primarily outside the formal sessions of the technical commissions but could involve work during the technical commission sessions.

In this regard, WMO Members and Partners are encouraged to select appropriate experts to be part of their national delegation to participate in the technical commission session. Officers and other members of the technical commission management committees would normally be expected to attend commission sessions as observers, or as part of a Member delegation.

Whilst the nomination process will remain open, to be considered for the positions of Chair and Vice-chair of Standing Committees and Study Groups, Members must complete their nominations by 10 April 2020. By indicating that they will be available for up to 30 days per year for the work of the Commission, they become a candidate for Chair or vice-Chair of a subsidiary body.

Nomination of experts is an ongoing process and the names included by nomination in the Expert Network will be drawn upon when needed for specific work. The presidents of the Technical Commissions have recognized the importance of commencing the work of their respective bodies as soon as possible. As a result, priority is being given to the appointment of Chairs and vice-Chairs of Standing Committees and the Study Groups of the Technical Commissions for the interim period.

It is important to the work of the Commissions that their membership is finalized and Members are urged to continue making nominations of experts based on the existing nomination process (explained at: https://public.wmo.int/en/community-platform). 

Each developing country Member or Territory may request financial assistance for one technical expert to participate in the non-intergovernmental part of the technical commission session.  In the case of a joint session, two experts may request financial assistance.  In any event, the experts must be in the Expert Network having received the nomination of a WMO Permanent Representative or Member government.
 

Member and Partner Organization contacts have been sent automated emails from no-reply@wmo.int inviting them to activate their account. Heads of Partner organizations have been sent letters asking them to nominate an Agency Approver who will be able to nominate you once their account is activated.  If you have participated in WMO activities and have not yet received an invitation email or are not sure if a letter was received by the head of your organization, please send an email to community@wmo.int .   

For the nomination and selection of technical commission Standing Committee and Study Group Chairs and Vice-chairs and the wider composition of the technical commissions’ management groups, the technical commission presidents working with the Secretariat and other bodies will establish a Joint Technical Commission (JTC) Selection Committee.

Then the technical commission management groups, once established through the JTC Selection Committee process, will progress by using the expert nominations available through the Community Platform Expert Network to establish the necessary additional subsidiary bodies of the technical commissions.

WMO provides travel funding for members of TC structures (SC, SG and their sub-structures) within the available budget and upon request by Permanent Representatives in accordance with General Regulation 31, Resolution 12 (EC-71) item 13 and WMO travel policy and rules.

WMO General Regulation 31 indicates that expenses of attendance of members of subsidiary bodies of constituent bodies at sessions of these groups shall normally be borne by the Members to which those members belong. However, a session of a subsidiary body of a constituent body may be financed by the Organization by decision of Congress or the Executive Council, provided that the questions to be dealt with:

1. Are of general interest to the Organization;
2. Are such as to necessitate the services of individual experts specially chosen in view of their specialized knowledge or to represent a regional interest rather than the interest of a Member or an international organization;
3. Are such that they cannot be solved by correspondence; and
4. Are considered by Congress or the Executive Council as having high priority.

In accordance with WMO travel rules, air travel shall be provided in economy class, for the most direct and economical route.  Travelers are responsible for to ensure their own health insurance.  For the Request for Financial Assistance for and excerpts of travel regulations click here.

See also General Regulation 29, 30 and 143 that relate to experts who may be eligible for financial assistance. WMO Regulations may be download from the WMO on-line library at https://library.wmo.int/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=14206

 Click here for Resolution 12 (EC-71)
 

WMO General Regulations apply to the Research Board as well as to WMO constituent bodies and other bodies of the Organization.

The Research Board's Rules of Procedure (will be approved by the Executive Council at its next session) specify the process of nomination and selection of experts from the Expert Network in accordance with the General Regulation 143 (2019 edition) in the same manner as for the technical commissions. That means that scientific/technical experts from Member States or Territories should be concurred by the respective Permanent Representative. Members from the United Nations and relevant international organizations with whom WMO has formal relationship (working arrangements or agreements, memorandum of understanding, or similar), will be concurred by the head of the organization or their designated Agency Approver.