Event Week Pack : simplebooklet.com

HydrometAFRICA 2022 ConceptNoteTheme: Sustainability and Inclusion Funding, Finance, Data, Technology, and Capacity BuildingTHE EVOLUTION OF AFRICAN OBSERVING AND FORECASTING CAPABILITIESWhat is it?HydrometAFRICA is a 3-day pan-African conference following the highly successful Symposiumformat established by Varysian. Senior stakeholders in the African hydromet sector will gatherto discuss region-specific solutions to climate change, climate resilience, capacity-building, andweather observation challenges including meteorological and hydrological services,government, development banks, private sector, consultants, and relevant IGOs and NGOs: allbe in attendance.HydrometAFRICA - in context.Commitment to the development of the Global Basic Observing Network (GBON) by 193 WMOmember states, backed by the 2021 COP26 agreement to create the Systematic ObservationsFinancing Facility (SOFF), will provide financial support to capacity-building efforts in the leastDeveloped Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDs). Of 46 UN recognisedLDCs, 33 are in Africa. 200M USD is committed to the 3-year first implementation period andis leading directly to the procurement of surface observation systems, advanced forecasting,and nowcasting capabilities, and upper air observation systems, with 400M USD totalcommitment over the next five years. Please view the SOFF program >>here<<Why should we care about public-private engagement?In 2018 and 2019 the WMO established and refined guidance and policies to enable NMHSs topursue mutually beneficial relationships with ALL hydromet stakeholders. This approachencourages investment in all links of the Hydromet Value Chain, from observation to last-miledelivery, to ensure effective use of SOFF resources and effective development of the GBON.How does this change hydromet in Africa?It means that African NMHSs now have the strongest mandate and motivation to improvetheir observation networks in a sustainable manner and at last a clear path to finance theircapacity-building efforts. HydrometAFRICA supports this mandate in full. 3

Page 3

How will HydrometAFRICA help?HydrometAFRICA is the ONLY pan-African event to include all stakeholders, which brings majorplayers together to deepen Public and Private Sector Engagement. Senior figures from NMHSs,governments, funding agencies and private sector solution providers will meet to discuss region-specific challenges and how said challenges can be met through human effort, collaboration, andtechnical innovation.The Varysian MethodIn Q1 2022, we are undertaking a major research project in each region. Beginning with a surveygoing out to 17,000 professionals globally, we will use this data to aggregate the key issuesaffecting regions in early warning systems and environmental monitoring. The second phase is the establishment of our Regional Focus Groups. This will be the comingtogether of some of the key stakeholders representing the interests of their sector (private sector,public sector, NGO, etc.) with the hope of finding common problems to address at the symposium.We aim to deduce the thematic areas to three or four to focus on in 2022. Varysian is not theexpert, but we bring the experts to the table. Once the thematic areas are defined, we invite speakers, and content is written around this: theagenda is created. The format of the content will be presentations, roundtable groups, and paneldiscussions, ensuring even sector representation throughout. Post-eventTo ensure the continuation and to meet objectives, we are recruiting the help of multiple high-level report writers to aggregate the survey data, focus group findings and the event discussionsto compile into an industry report for Africa, and distributed to all involved. ExhibitionVarysian has partnered with some of the best technology and service providers globally to supportthe PPE initiative in hydromet. In attendance will be 17 companies who will be involvedthroughout the conference with panels and presentations. Additionally, there will be a dedicatedexhibition displaying what they have on offer. It is a chance to understand the latest and besttechnology in the industry and make vital contacts for future projects. We will be sending out a full breakdown of all exhibitors before the event and please interact andinclude them as much as possible, they are here to see you. 4

Page 4

AgendaTimes in SASTDay 1 - 17th MayTheme - Capacity building / the hydromet value chain 9.00am-9.50am - Opening discussion: sustainability and inclusionSpeakers: Tom Copping, Varysian CEO and Amos Makarau, WMO 10.00am-10.50am - Presentation: Public private engagement (PPE) Speaker: Stefan Von Gruenigen, Consultant, World Bank 11.15am-11.30am - Innovation session: A PPE Case Study Speaker: Michal Najman, CEO, Meteopress 11.30am-11.45am - Innovation session: EWR Success StoryBen Cosstick, International Business Development, EWR Radar Systems11.50am-12.50pm - Roundtable sessions Tables A-B: Capacity building Tables C-D: Public private engagement and partnerships (PPE and PPP) Tables E-F: Developing new ways of working together Table G-H: Staff recruitment, training and retentionModerators: Georgina Campbell Flatter, TomorrowNOW, Brian Bellew, Baron Weather, Tom Copping, Varysian,Richard Fellner, Nowcast, Roelof Bruintjes, ARC, Jan Bester, Africa Weather, Mnikeli Ndabambi, SAWS, Ben CosstickEWR Radar2.00pm-2.30pm Presentation: Developing a national framework for climate, weather and waterservices Speaker: Dr. Inga Jacobs-Mata, International Water Management Institute Southern Africa 2.35pm-3.30pm - Panel discussion: capacity building and the hydromet value chainPanellists: Stefan Von Gruenigen, Consultant, World Bank, Georgina Campbell Flatter, TomorrowNOW, RichardFellner, Nowcast, Mnikeli Ndabambi, SAWS and Jan Bester, CEO, Africa Weather3.35pm-5.15pm - Innovation exhibition and networking6

Page 5

Day 2 – 18th MayTheme: data and technology 9.00am-11.00am - Presentations: where are the data gaps?Speakers: Georgina Campbell Flatter, TomorrowNOW, Oscar Lino, Kenya Red Cross Society, NikopodiMphahlele, Business Unity South Africa, Jeremy Naidoo, South Africa Water Authority, Lucy Mtilatila,Malawi’s Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services and Philip Frost, TomorrowNOW11.15am-11.30am - Innovation session: Saving lives and property with reliable earlywarnings and early actionSpeaker: Clemencia Ongaki, Regional Sales Manager - East and Southern Africa, Vaisala 11.30am-11.45am - Innovation session: Using Machine Learning to Improve Radar DataSpeaker: Brian Bellew, Global Business Development Manager, Baron Weather1.00pm-1.50pm - Roundtable sessions Tables A-B: Regulatory issuesTables C-D: TechnologyTables E-F: Standardisation Tables G-H: Data delivery/disseminationModerators: Georgina Campbell Flatter, TomorrowNOW, Richard Fellner, Nowcast, Michal NajmanMeteopress, Brian Bellew, Baron Weather, Roelof Bruintjes, ARC, Tom Smith, DTN, Tom Copping, Varysian 2.00pm-2.15pm - Innovation session: Advantages of solid-state C-band and S-band radars Speaker: Michal Najman , CEO, Meteopress 2.15pm-2.30pm - Innovation session: Use cases for lightning dataSpeaker: Richard Fellner, CEO of Nowcast 2.45pm-3.40pm - Panel discussion: data and technology Panellists: Georgina Campbell Flatter, Executive Director, TomorrowNOW, Roelof Bruintjes, ARC, MichalNajman, CEO Meteopress, Tom Smith, General Manager Weather Systems, DTN3.40pm-5.15pm - Innovation exhibition and networking7

Page 6

Day 3 – May 19Theme: Funding and finance 9.00am-9.50am - Presentation: The Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF)Speaker: Serena Odianose. SOFF Secretariat and Michael Staudinger, World MeteorologicalOrganisation 10.00am-10.15am - Innovation session: An Integrated Early Warning System for Flooding andLandslidesSpeaker: Roelof Bruintjes, Advanced Radar Corporation 10.15-10.30am - Innovation session: Supporting NMHS’s with their multi-hazard, impact-basedforecasting and warning services Speaker: Ari Davidov, Director of International Government Sales, Tomorrow.io 10.50am-11.50am - Roundtable sessions Tables A-D: SOFF Table E: Funding Tables F-G: Sustainability Tables H: Revenue generationModerators: Clemencia Ongaki, Vaisala, Richard Fellner, Nowcast, Tom Copping, Varysian, Michal Najman,Meteopress, Georgina Campbell Flatter, TomorrowNOW, Roelof Bruintjes, ARC, Brian Bellew, Baron Weather,Michael Staudinger, WMO 1.00pm-1.15pm - Innovation session: Low power and low infrastructure radar installationsSpeaker: Michal Najman, Meteopress 1.15pm-1.30pm - Innovation session: How to set up GBON (SOFF) compliant Surface ObservationsNetworks in a sustainable mannerSpeaker: Foeke Kuik, Director of Global Services, Campbell Scientific 1.35pm-2.30pm - Panel discussion: Funding and financesPanellists: Serena Odianose, SOFF Secretariat, WMO, Michael Staudinger, Consultant, WMO, MichalNajman, CEO, Meteopress, Georgina Campbell Flatter, TomorrowNOW, Brian Bellew, Baron Weather, 2.45-3.40pm - Closing discussion: sustainability and inclusion Speakers: Amos Macarau, WMO and Tom Copping, Varysian 3.45pm-5.15pm - Innovation exhibition and networking 8

Page 7

SpeakersAmos Makarau Stefan Von GruinigenRegional Director forAfricaWMOConsultant,PublicPolicy/PPEThe World BankStefan von Grünigen is a Consultant on Public Policy and PublicPrivate Engagement (PPE) at the World Bank and holds seniorpositions in two Swiss SMEs. Before joining the World Bank in 2019 he worked as SeniorConsultant and Managing Partner at econcept, a privatelyowned company based in Switzerland, providing research andconsulting services for public entities.In his role at the World Bank, he is primarily concerned withtopics related to the cooperation between sectors, PPE andpublic policy in the field of meteorology and agriculture. He is also part of the team leading the component on DigitalAdvisory Services of the Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) in West Africa.Michal NajmanCEOMeteopressMeteopress offers top-line quality C-band radars thatare significantly more affordable than anythingcomparable on the market. Established in 1992, it wasan early Central Europe innovator in the weatherindustry.Meteopress specialises in radar development, severeweather warning systems, and AI/neural networkweather software.Michael StaudingerSerena Odianose ConsultantWMO and WorldBankSOFF SecretariatWMOSerena Odianose joined the World MeteorologicalOrganisation almost 3 years ago and has been part ofthe team which designed the SystematicObservations Financing Facility (SOFF) from thebeginning. She's now part of the SOFF Secretariat,where she currently leads the consultations with civilsociety and the private sector, coordinates thedevelopment of the governance arrangements,manages external communication and supports theoperations. Before joining WMO, Serena worked in the privatesector as a climate finance consultant forAcclimatise/Willis Towers Watson. She is a certifiedGIZ Climate Finance Trainer. Michael Staudinger is a consultant to WMO and the WorldBank. He previously worked for 11 years as CEO of ZAMG, theAustrian National Meteorological Agency. The focus of his work is international cooperation inmeteorological institutions and cooperation with the privatesector. In this function he served as President of ECOMET, theassociation of meteorological services with commercialactivities and as President of the Regional association Europe ofWMO. His research activities include the topics of snow chemistry,glaciology, dispersion of pollutants and avalanche riskmanagement.

Page 8

Ben CosstickBen joined the EWR Radar Systems team in 2021 and iscurrently supporting the global sales and businessdevelopment activities. He is responsible for much of thecompany’s day to day sales operation and oversees theimplementation and management of events and tradeshows around the world. A technical engineer by training and a global sales directorby profession, Ben has 20+ years of international saleschannel management, business development and projectmanagement experience for technically complex systemsand solutions. Ben has adapted seamlessly to the fast paced EWRenvironment and is looking forward to continuing thecompany's global growth plans.Oscar LinoClimate Scientist and ClimateVulnerability and ChangeExpert Kenya Red Cross SocietyOscar Lino is a climate scientist and climate vulnerability andchange expert at the research hub for Kenya Red CrossSociety – the International Centre for Humanitarian Affairs(ICHA). He has 5 years' experience in scientific and social research,and building capacities for adaptation and improved climateservices in Eastern Africa and beyond. He is adept in co-developing and co-delivering innovativeapproaches for climate services, creating linkages anddialogue between users, intermediaries, meteorologicalservices and climate scientists that has enabled thedevelopment and implementation of Forecast-basedFinancing (FbF) systems for vulnerable persons to climatedisasters. Brian BellewGlobal Business DevelopmentBaron WeatherRichard FellnerCEOnowcastBrian Bellew is a meteorologist with an extensivebackground in radar technology, big data, numericalweather prediction, weather display and analysissoftware, and weather presentation/production.International BusinessDevelopment,EWR Radar SystemsRoelof BruintjesChief Scientist and Co-Founder of ARC, and NCARScientistRoelof has more than 30 years of experience using weatherradars in research, operational and applications programs. He also has over 25 years of experience in organising,managing and executing large international (>30 countrieson five continents) research and applications programsfunded by government, international development banksand private industry.As CEO of nowcast, a German-based organisation focused onlightning research, lightning detection, warning technologiesand associated risk profiles, Richard successfully cooperateswith many NMHS, organisations (including the WMO),universities and private sector industries across allcontinents. He started his career as a development engineer withSiemens, over the years holding several managementpositions in product line management, sales & marketingwithin the organisation. He later took on the position of Managing Director and Headof Sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Coriant,before joining nowcast in 2018.

Page 9

Georgina Campbell FlatterExecutive DirectorTomorrowNOWGeorgina leads TomorrowNow.org - a catalytic non profitcommitted to helping vulnerable communities adapt to theclimate changes that are happening now. She's bringing the latest global weather/space intelligenceto the community-level, and works across the public,private, NGO sectors to bring the future of earlywarning/action to those most in need.Prior to TomorrowNow.org, Georgina spent a decade atMIT where she led several global initiatives designed tobridge innovation, technology and impact. She was a Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan and also served asExecutive Director of the MIT Legatum Center forDevelopment and Entrepreneurship, Director of MIT’sRegional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP)and MIT's XPRIZE Lab, and has consulted on several highimpact climate/innovation projects for the World Bank, USDepartment of Energy, The XPRIZE Foundation andHarvard. Mnikeli NdabambiExecutive ManagerSouth Africa Weather ServiceInga JacobsRegional Representative,Southern AfricaInternational WaterManagement InstituteDr Inga Jacobs-Mata is Regional Representative, IWMISouthern Africa Inga is the Regional Representative for theInternational Water Management Institute’s Southern Africaregional office. She leads a dynamic multi- disciplinary teamof researchers and support staff working throughout SADC toadvance water’s role in systems transformation. Inga is a political scientist and has a PhD in InternationalRelations from St-Andrews University, Scotland. Shespecialises in water governance with 15 years of experiencein transboundary water governance (particularly cooperativegovernance in Africa), science communication, and researchimpact and uptake. Her current areas of focus include the politics of climatechange; operationalising the water-energy-food nexus and itsgovernance frameworks, water stewardship, community-based approaches/supported self-supply, hybrid water law and environmental migration. Director - ClimateResilient Agriculture,TomorrowNOWPhilip FrostPhilip has been involved in the Geospatial applicationsdomain for the last 20-years and has led the developmentof programs such as the Umlindi Drought MonitoringSystem as well as the Advanced Fire Information System(AFIS) as Research Group leader at the Council forScientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa. He authored and co-authored 20+ international peer-reviewed papers and has built up a strong knowledge baseon the practical application of geospatial technologies. He joined TomorrowNow this year to lead GatesFoundation project 'OSIRIS', focusing on democratizingresilient seed breeding through innovative weathertechnologies.Mnikeli started his career as a meteorological technician andlater as a meteorologist specialist in short and medium rangeforecasting. He has worked for South African Weather Servicefor 37 years and currently holds the Executive Infrastructureand Information Systems position, looking after theobservation network, IT and air quality.He’s Involved in various national and international bodiesincluding the WMO, and has previously served as Co-Chair ofthe PWS programme, participated in the development ofGlobal Framework For Climate Services and later facilitateddevelopment of National Framework For Climate Services atcountry level.He is currently Chair of RA1 Committee on Services, one ofthe WMO Service Commission Regional committees.

Page 10

Nkopodi MphahleleEnergy and Environment PolicyCoordinator, Business UnitySouth Africa (BUSA)Nkopodi has a BSc in community water services andsanitation and a BSc honours in environmentalmanagement and is currently studying towards a master’s in sustainable urban planning and development.Initially, he worked for a chemical consulting firm as ajunior chemical operator, providing chemical solutions to awide range of clients. After completing his BSc honours inenvironmental management he joined BUSA as an energyand environment policy intern dealing with issues rangingfrom climate change to water, waste and electricity. As an environmental and energy policy coordinator, heconducts research, policy analysis, policy development andengages with stakeholders on a variety of issues.Clemencia OngakiRegional Sales Manager - Eastand Southern Africa, VaisalaClemencia has more than 20 years of experience in therenewable power sector. Combining that with weather andenvironmental expertise at Vaisala, she is instrumental inhelping customers solve their critical climate and weatherobservation related challenges with Vaisala solutions. As our world faces both a changing climate and severaladditional global challenges, Vaisala’s science-basedinnovations are becoming ever more relevant in helping tosolve climate change and other global challenges of our time. With cutting-edge technologies for weather, environment,and industrial processes, its customers keep up operationsand make data-based decisions.Jan BesterCEO Africa WeatherLucy MtilatilaActing DirectorMalawi’s Department ofClimate Change andMeteorological Services Jan Bester is the CEO of AfricaWeather (AW), and hasgained valuable experience in the service, technology andinformation technology industries over more than fifteenyears. With a comprehensive and demonstrated skill set instrategy, management, business development and salesand negotiation, he takes pride in his uncompromisingapproach to ethics and integrity. Jan started his career at South African Breweries (SAB) in2005 in sales, climbing the ladder to management withintwo years. Following successful stints in both sales and distributionmanagement at SAB, he obtained his Master’s inBusiness Administration (MBA) from SU Business Schoolin 2012.It was during this time he found his passion for the high-tech industry and joined Reutech Radar Systems (RRS),where he worked in including defence, mining andcommercial. Given his keen interest in meteorology, the impact ofweather on all aspects of life, Software as a Service (SAAS)and the African continent, Jan plans to further growbusiness in Africa, taking advantage of emergingopportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration.Lucy Mtilatila is Director of Climate Change andMeteorological Services- Malawi and has an MSc inMeteorology and BSc in Environmental Science andTechnology. She has been working in Meteorology Sector foralmost 20 years.

Page 11

Ari Davidov leads Tomorrow.io global governmentrelations with a focus on modernisation programs forNMHS's. Prior to joining he served as Director for InternationalBusiness Development at Advanced EnvironmentalMonitoring (AEM Group) and Earth Networks (EN a.k.a.WeatherBug). In this role, he led international sales of early warningSystems to NMHS and disaster management agencies aspart of climate change adaptation. He also managed go-to-market activity aimed at state owned enterprises inenergy and aerospace verticals.Tom SmithGeneral Manager, WeatherSystemsDTNTom is General Manager of the Weather Systems division atDTN and is based in Madrid, Spain. He joined DTN in 2010 and has transitioned through variousroles in finance, operations & strategy, with a deepexperience across the HydroMet value chain from surfaceobservation systems for government to SaaS solutions forindustry. Results focused and highly driven, the experience ofworking in various countries and industries has given Tom adeep understanding of what it takes to succeed when doingbusiness internationally. In 2021 Tom was elected to the HMEI council for OPEX andbudget oversight.Jeremy NaidooHydrologist,Department Of Water AndSanitation, South AfricaAri DavidovDirector of Global ServicesCampbell Scientific Jeremy is a Hydrologist from the Department of Water andSanitation in the Republic of South Africa (DWS-RSA). He is registered as a Professional Scientist with the SouthAfrican Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP)under the category “Water Resources”. He has 8-10 years of experience in Hydrological Services,having worked in flood management and forecasting, floodstudies and hydrometry divisions of the DWS-RSA. He's a project coordinator on the implementation of anoptimised National Surface Water Resource MonitoringNetwork for South Africa and is a hydrological observerduring the World Meteorological Congress through itspermanent representative.Foeke originally trained as a physicist and has a PhD inastronomy. From 1992 he worked in the Royal NetherlandsMeteorological Institute (KNMI) as a scientist in theAtmospheric Chemistry Research group for 3 years, andlater as senior scientist in the KNMI InstrumentationDivision, where he was responsible for all observationsand observation systems of KNMI. In 2002 he took the position of Managing Director ofAlmos Systems, which designed, built and installedmeteorological observation systems, AWOS systemsand (D)ATIS/(D)VOLMET systems worldwide. He later started a new position as BusinessDevelopment Manager at Kipp & Zonen (solar radiationmeasurements) and within two years had become CEO. It was at this time he also accepted a position in theHMEI Council.Since 2016 Foeke has worked at Campbell Scientific andis currently Business Development Director for theEMEA region. International RelationsTomorrow.ioFoeke Kuik

Event Week Pack

Page 1

Page 2