About WMO
WMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with 193 Member States and Territories. It is the UN system’s authoritative voice on the state and behaviour of the Earth's atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources.Activities by WMO
Working Group on Digital Transformation for Hydrology and Water Resources
GlobalIn response to water-related challenges, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), through its Standing Committee on Hydrological Services (SC-HYD), has established the Working Group on Digital Transformation for Hydrology and Water Resources (WG DT-HWR). Formed in collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the group is tasked with advancing the integration of innovative technologies across the full hydrological value chain. An AI flood forecasting approach is being piloted with a private sector partner to understand how AI models can support flood forecasting efforts for WMO Member countries and territories and to compare AI-based model for flood forecasting with existing physically based hydrological models.
Activity Type Policy/Regulatory GuidanceResearch/Reports/AssessmentsNetworks/Mentorship/ExchangeTrainings/workshopsWMO RA VI-led event on Artificial Intelligence to support EW4All
Global Not ApplicableThe WMO RA VI-led event on Artificial Intelligence to support EW4All on May 27, 2023, focused on integrating AI and machine learning in meteorology to improve early warnings and tackle climate change. It featured notable speakers from ECMWF, EUMETSAT, and tech giants, discussed WMO's AI initiatives, insights from the European Meteorological Infrastructure, and relevant case studies. The agenda included machine learning's application and impact on observation and weather forecasting, highlighting a collaborative approach in the meteorological community to leverage new technologies.
Activity Type Research/Reports/AssessmentsNetworks/Mentorship/ExchangeAI/ML Competitions (“Challenges”)
GlobalA flagship collaborative platform where thousands of students and professionals design and test AI models for real-world use cases, including communication networks and Geospatial AI. The challenges aim to strengthen technical capacities and contribute to ITU’s standards development.
Activity Type Trainings/workshopsTechnical assistanceResearch/Reports/AssessmentsThird UN Virtual Worlds Day
Global GuatemalaThe event convened ambassadors, ministers, city leaders, UN entities, industry pioneers, and innovators for two days of high-level dialogue and an Ambassador Roundtable on the future of AI-driven cities and communities. Discussions explored how the convergence of artificial intelligence, immersive virtual environments, spatial intelligence, and other frontier technologies is reshaping urban governance and enabling new approaches to delivering public services, including emerging concepts such as the AI-enabled citiverse. The programme also examined how these developments can help translate the Global Digital Compact into trusted, inclusive, and people-centred outcomes for cities and communities worldwide. The event concluded with two major milestones: (1) The launch of the Executive Briefing on “AI, Spatial Intelligence and the AI-Enabled Citiverse”, developed with the contributions from 20 UN entities. (2) The endorsement of the Call to Action for Humanity: Shaping the Future of Cities in the Age of AI and Citiverse, reflecting a shared commitment to advancing trusted, inclusive, and people-centred digital futures.
Activity Type AI Tools/SolutionsPolicy/Regulatory GuidanceAwareness/AdvocacyInfrastructure/Systems Development