for the TWCs should be undertaken as part of the comprehensive, enterprise-wide, long-range planning effort recommended in this chapter.

The success of the TWC mission is critically dependent on technical infrastructure and human capital, both of which the committee assessed to be insufficiently supported. Because of the rapid evolution of IT and its importance in the overall process of detecting and warning, the committee found that the TWCs lack sufficient state-of-the-art technology; IT support, maintenance, assessment and planning processes; and IT personnel and leadership. The committee recommends that NOAA/NWS provide these capabilities to the TWCs and establish an external IT advisory body, with membership from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), other seismic network operators, social and information scientists, emergency managers, and other large-scale, safety-critical systems professionals to advise the TWCs.

Workforce development and recruitment can be challenging. Frequent, regular, and varied types of training as well as stronger connections with the external research community are required. TWC human capital requirements, training, re-training, development, and mentoring and requirements for professional exchanges should be included, reassessed, and updated as part of the recommended enterprise-wide tsunami planning effort, so that technology and human and organizational requirements can be considered and developed together by tsunami program members and their customers. Overall, the TWCs should adopt NOAA- and government-wide standards for recruiting, retaining, training and re-training, planning, developing, nurturing, and mentoring the critical human resources that are at the center of tsunami warning and detection system success.

Finally, the committee found that an organizational culture change within the NOAA/NWS Tsunami Program would be beneficial to advance operational excellence. Such a change should also lead to increased support to adopt national and international standards, processes, best practices and lessons learned for all functions, technologies, and processes and products; and result in ongoing, continuous process improvements.

As detailed in the chapter, some of the steps to improve long-term operations recommended by the committee include the following:

• NOAA/NWS should undertake a comprehensive, enterprise-wide, long-range planning effort for the TWCs. The goal of the planning effort would be to analyze TWC functions and requirements; articulate the technological, human, physical, and intellectual infrastructure required to meet the TWC requirements; and integrate the technology, applications, tools, processes, networks, leadership, policies, organizational structures, and human capital required to provide long-term reliable and sustainable global TWC operations. Such a technology planning effort should develop assessments of:

  • technology, applications, tools, processes, networks, hardware, software, and systems;

  • the requirements for human capital, training, re-training, development, mentoring, professional exchange, leadership, and policies; and

  • the organizational structure(s) required to ensure that the two TWCs can function