The future of hydrological forecasting
We foresee that in 2025 hydrological forecasters will have to process large amounts of data, assess more models and describe the potential impact of extreme weather and water events. We expect that they will have to communicate their forecasts - including uncertainties - to a broader public.
In 2025, Delft-FEWS will have developed into an ecosystem: Delft-FEWS is at the core and easily connects to external data sources, other software applications and communication tools. The software is state-of-the-art thanks the unique combination of:
- A global community of practice
- Applied research
High-quality open software
1. Global community of practice
In the years leading up to 2025, the global community of practice of Delft-FEWS users has grown. The community has flourished by sharing knowledge and new developments in the hydrological forecasting domain. The Delft-FEWS software allows this knowledge to be put into practice.
The Delft-FEWS portal is at the heart of the community and it is used to exchange new ideas and best practices. Webinars and videos on new features help the Delft-FEWS users to keep up-to-date with the latest developments.
2. Applied research
Knowledge is still at the core of Delft-FEWS. In 2025, there are even stronger links between research and practical applications. The strong community of practice helps to formulate new research topics. The highly modular software can be coupled with research tools, and those tools can be supplied to Delft-FEWS users who want to draw on state-of-the-art developments.
3. High-quality open software
Delft-FEWS is developed in line with high quality standards. The recommendations made in 2019 for improvements in software development and the release process have been implemented. The quality of the code is continuously monitored to safeguard compliance with pre-defined quality criteria. More and more organisations use the cloud as their infrastructure, and the Delft-FEWS architecture is tailored accordingly. Security is of the utmost importance.
Simplification of the software
In 2025, the software is simpler to install, configure and use. It can be better tailored to organisations’ existing work processes. Configuration of the software has become easier with the use of templates. The end user receives intuitive workflow assistance, and there is a clear overview of the status and results of calculations. It is possible to run Delft-FEWS and view the results in a web application. Users can now access the software and data on their smartphone.
Improved data-handling
We expect that new sources of data such as social media, and big data, will be part of the day-to-day process of operational water managers and forecasters. In 2025, Delft-FEWS can import or visualise data from numerous external sources, including social media. The software provides tools for the validation, verification and enhancement of data, and it can handle petabytes of data.
Modular approach
In 2025, the basis of Delft-FEWS is even more modular than before. Smaller components improve maintainability and the connections with third-party software applications. Some of the side applications of Delft-FEWS are now open source in order to improve the development of these side applications with other parties. The more extensive modular structure means Delft-FEWS can be used more easily for research purposes and by consultants who want to develop their own tools around it.
The Future
We can't predict the future. However, we believe we can adapt to change by developing highly modular and open software in which data handling and easy connections are key. The open and modular software approach of Delft-FEWS makes it possible to deliver solutions tailored to the end-user needs. Those solutions can vary from a simple data viewer to an end-to-end forecasting system. This is the Delft-FEWS ecosystem.
You can download the infographic via this link.
