Mobile app development is huge nowadays. There is an app for just about anything, and most of them are free. Despite the fact that these apps are growing exponentially, and the fact that many more people already rely on them for hazardous weather information than, say, NOAA Weather Radio, the National Weather Service (NWS) had decided to drop out of the app-creating business. Why? Well, it may be because their first app was deemed a financial disaster by many.
Last year, the US Department of Labor spent over $200,000 creating a mobile app that looked at the weather in your area, and used that information to determine how much water a person should drink every hour. The Blackberry version of this app never worked, and eventually and didn't even end of debuting.
One of The Register's journalists asked AEA how it managed to bill the US Government for more than $200,000 for basically, is an app that picks up the local temperature from the internet and displays text that is pre-programmed based on that number. Rich Jones, an Android app developer, figures he could develop the same exact app for less than $2,000.
Samullah Khan, a writer for SolidGadget.com explained his disgust with this app, "This app which is named OHSHA Heat Safety Tool, is the worst weather app I have seen so far, its interface is as horrible as its usage, and it does much fewer things than the free weather apps already available in the app store."
So what is the solution? One of the writers at Nextgov, Joseph Marks, said that they have seen government-built apps that clearly waste taxpayer money by re-creating free apps that are already available. And that they have also seen some high-quality apps that the private sector likely could not reproduce profitably. So there really is no good answer on whether they should continue to develop apps, but it seems the NWS has already made that decision.
Now, whether it is because the heat safety app failed, or for other reasons, the NWS has decided to temporarily halt development of other mobile apps (note: this hold does not apply to apps developed for internal use). Shortly before the new year, an email was sent to NWS employees from their deputy director explaining this decision. Here is a portion of it:
"There are thousands of weather applications available for iPhone, Android, iPad, and similar wireless devices. Many of them are provided at little or no cost. Many of them use National Weather Service (NWS) warnings and other weather products and some explicitly identify NWS as the source of their information. Given this well-established and growing market for device-specific weather applications for wireless devices, NWS is declaring a hold on use of any NWS resources, including on-duty time of NWS employees, to develop such applications. This will avoid using NWS resources to duplicate products readily available in the marketplace and give NWS time to carefully evaluate our appropriate role."
In other words, the Weather Service has prohibited its employees from developing apps for specific mobile devices. The memo goes on to say that the NWS is going to stay out of the apps business, for now, especially since so many private companies have produced a lot of great (and usually free) apps that communicate the Weather Service's products. So why such a strict ban on creating these apps? It has been met with resistance from many of the NWS agency’s rank and file, who see it as a move to privatize the core function of the agency, which is the delivery of timely weather warning information.
Dan Sobien, the director of the National Weather Service Employees Union, said that he is hopeful that a new policy will be crafted that will allow the Weather Service to expand its presence in new media without crowding out private companies.The previous policy, he said, was viewed as an attempt to privatize the dissemination of NWS products and services.
Sources: Federal Times, Washington Post, Nextgov Tech Insider (Atlantic Media Company), SolidGadget.com
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