In August, the 10^th Australian FEWS-User days took place. With a group of around 40 enthusiastic Delft-FEWS users we were welcomed at SunWater to spend 3 amazing days talking about what binds us all: Forecasting! The people in the room were accompanied with another 30-40 people joining online.

I was lucky I could go to my first ever international Delft-FEWS User Days. It was very exciting to see all new developments going on, in Delft-FEWS, but mostly also in the applications of our Australian partners. It is quite amazing to see how much each organization can squeeze out of the software and how they enrich the software with their own knowledge and clever thinking. This was also nicely demonstrated in the MISS FEWS award, with some very impressive screenshots of the Delft-FEWS applications. This, in my view, defines how software is merely a tool in the whole workflow. As SeqWater rightfully said, in the end it’s the people that use the tools that make the difference, and we should cherish these people. 

Nevertheless, we had some very insightful discussions on the roadmaps and on the new features being implemented in Delft-FEWS to make live of the forecasters a bit easier and to improve the actual forecasts. Off course there was much emphasis on going web-based with the Web-OC and using Delft-FEWS in the cloud. But also advances in data processing and for example radar and NWP nowcasting will likely contribute to the next generation early warning systems in Australia.

What in the end resonated very well with me, and that’s not something I’ve seen often, was the shoutout from the Bureau to all participants to keep sharing information and ideas with each other and Deltares. In the end it is the community that decides where to go and which new features should be developed. This strong sense of being part of a community is something unique and the Australian Delft-FEWS User Community can be very proud on that! You even succeeded in making me, a first timer, feel very welcome and part of the community. Already looking forward to our next joint event with the Delft-FEWS User Community in Singapore.

All presentations are published on the events page.