A Model of Service Delivery for the NOAA Water Initiative

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3

THE DRIVERS FOR INTEGRATING SCIENCE AND SERVICES 3

MODEL FOR SERVICE DELIVERY 4

Foundation // Continuous Engagement 6

Build // Building Trusted Relationships 6

Gather // Connecting Lessons about Use of Information with User Needs 7

Translate // Review and Consider NOAA’s capacity to respond 7

Assess // Review and Prioritize Product and Service Development 7

Address // Respond to User Needs 8

Deliver // Deliver Products to Users 8

Evaluate // Evaluate User Impact 9

CONCLUSION 9

APPENDIX A: DEFINITIONS 10

APPENDIX B: SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK IN ACTION 11

APPENDIX C: ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 18

APPENDIX D: NWI SERVICE DELIVERY/DECISION SUPPORT OBJECTIVE TEAM MEMBERS 19

Recommended Citation. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Water

Initiative. 2020. “A Model of Service Delivery for the NOAA Water Initiative: A Proven Method for

Integrating Decision Support and Service Delivery.” Authored by the NOAA Water Team.

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 2 OF 20

INTRODUCTION

The NOAA Water Initiative (NWI) was launched in December 2016 with one overarching goal: To

transform water information service delivery to better meet and support evolving societal needs.

As the nation experiences increasing variability and change in precipitation patterns, ﬂooding,

drought, and other complex water issues, NOAA’s mission of science, service, and stewardship

becomes of even greater importance. In 2019 alone there were three billion-dollar ﬂooding

events, and since 2015 there have been 15 drought and ﬂood events that together caused more

than $60 billion dollars in damage. In addition, many communities are facing increased

disruptions to their daily lives as a result of recurring ﬂooding along our coasts. NOAA must

coordinate a uniﬁed service delivery approach that leverages partnerships and informs the

development of use-inspired products and services. This service-oriented approach, working

across the existing network of line oﬃces and aﬃliated partners (see Appendix A for deﬁnitions),

is focused on understanding the challenges users face and helping to address society’s needs.

The purpose of this framework is to guide and improve decision support products and services

and their delivery. This document captures the shared language (see Appendix A), components,

and best practices that make NOAA service delivery and decision support successful.

“In the United States and around the

world, water security is increasingly in

jeopardy. Too much water, too little

water, or water of poor quality can

endanger life, property, economies,

and ecosystems.”

NOAA’s Mission

Science: to understand and predict changes in

climate, weather, oceans, and coasts

Service: To share that knowledge and

information with others

Stewardship: To conserve and manage coastal

and marine ecosystems and resources

THE DRIVERS FOR INTEGRATING SCIENCE AND SERVICES

Service delivery lies at the heart of NOAA’s mission and is critical in all that it does. Users look to

NOAA for a range of data, information, tools and services, but sometimes ﬁnd them diﬃcult to

eﬃciently and eﬀectively access and understand. Some users seek additional support to apply

NOAA’s data, information, and tools to their situation. They want answers, guidance, training, and

a helping hand. Through

continuous customer

engagements, NOAA

personnel glean important

information about how data,

products and tools are, or are

not, serving speciﬁc localities

or sectors. (Successful

examples are provided in

Appendix B).

Ibid

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/

https://www.noaa.gov/water/explainers/noaa-water-initiative-vision-and-ﬁve-year-plan

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 3 OF 20

NOAA has been transforming from a scientiﬁc and technologically constrained set of products

and services, to valuing user needs as a critical input for developing useful, actionable

information. Timely and speciﬁc user needs are essential inputs for advancing and deploying new

technologies, models, tools, and resources. This framework will enable NOAA to consistently

understand user needs and prioritize responses to the evolving decisions in society.

The nation beneﬁts from enhanced service delivery through improved decision making; reduced

risk to lives, property, and the economy; and increased resilience and strengthening of

water-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water management, transportation, natural resources,

recreation, and energy. The beneﬁt of enhanced service delivery for NOAA is a more eﬃcient and

eﬀective agency that is better able to fulﬁll its mission by:

● Prioritizing investments in its product lines (e.g., science (observations and data), services

(technical assistance, engagement, training), and stewardship (resource management,

place-based);

● Leveraging the capabilities/roles of NOAA and our partners to help meet the needs of our

users;

● Developing new, and reﬁning existing, products and services that are informed by user

needs; and

● Transmitting and translating information for decision-makers across multiple sectors.

This framework describes a consistent approach that will enhance NOAA’s delivery of

water-related services, and could also be applied to other NOAA initiatives that cite the need to

understand and apply user needs to guide product and service development (e.g.,

subseasonal-to-seasonal predictions, climate services, Blue Economy, and Weather-Ready

Nation). Institutionalizing and integrating these processes to align with other weather-, ocean-,

coast-, climate-, and ﬁsheries-related initiatives and activities will better equip NOAA to fulﬁll its

vision of developing and sustaining resilient ecosystems, communities and economies.

MODEL FOR SERVICE DELIVERY

Eﬀective implementation of service delivery requires relationships between information

producers and consumers built on mutual trust and respect. Key to developing and maintaining

these relationships is sustained engagement and collaboration that will facilitate the integration

of services into actionable information. NOAA’s existing network of line oﬃces and aﬃliated

partners is a critical asset to support improved service delivery. Many of these entities already

have the desired level of trust and frequent engagement with their community members. This

new model for service delivery oﬀers a guiding concept to transform interaction among these

groups. It documents best practices for service-oriented approaches, processes, and tools to

improve how NOAA’s products and services are developed and delivered to society.

Framework Vision

U.S. residents understand and use the

breadth of NOAA’s information for

their decisions

Framework Mission

NOAA will continuously build a network of

trusted experts who engage internally and

externally with partners to inform NOAA’s

product and service development to be useful,

usable, and used

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 4 OF 20

The foundational element, central to the eﬀectiveness of this model (Figure 1), is the principle of

continuous user engagement. As evidenced from the literature (Appendix C), NOAA must

embrace the coordinated production of information as a critical part of product and service

development. This requires that NOAA services entities continuously engage with users in order

to fully understand their evolving needs and the accuracy and timeliness of NOAA’s response to

their needs.

Figure 1. To achieve this vision, NOAA’s service providers must (1) continue to build trusted relationships with NOAA’s

internal and external users and partners; (2) understand the decisions of those users, their use of NOAA information,

and be able to gather the user’s information needs; (3) evaluate user needs (that cannot be quickly satisﬁed) through a

lens of both NOAA and its partners’ capacity; (4) review and prioritize NOAA’s products and services to meet the needs;

(5) respond to user needs by developing new, or reﬁning existing, products and services across NOAA; (6) deliver

these products and services to users; and (7) evaluate user impact of NOAA’s tools and services. These elements

represent a process. It is imperative that as each element is conducted, interaction occurs between the trusted NOAA

entity, end users, and various partners. It is also likely that elements will co-evolve and loop forward, across, and

behind in the diagram to verify needs and capabilities, and ensure the provision of the best products and services.

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 5 OF 20

Additionally, successful service delivery includes an awareness of relevant NOAA products and

services that would be responsive to the user needs. Service entities need to be prepared to, and

have the capacity to, transfer the products and services in such a way that the users have the

knowledge and skills to apply them to their needs.

The detailed model documents a clearly-deﬁned, high-impact approach for NOAA oﬃces and

their core partners to capture and be responsive to a suite of user needs. The model includes

components of shared feedback received during constituent engagements, the identiﬁcation and

adjudication of user needs, the integration of needs into agency science, service, and

stewardship requirements, and ultimately relies on Line Oﬃces to respond with credible,

use-inspired products that are then delivered and evaluated by the engagement entities. This

framework will enable NOAA to continue serving as a trusted source for science and information.

Through technical assistance, training, personal engagement, evaluation, and customer service,

NOAA will guide its partners, users, and stakeholders across all sectors in applying and

interpreting NOAA’s vast collection of weather, climate, and water information and tools to build

resiliency.

THE FRAMEWORK FOR INTEGRATING DECISION SUPPORT AND

SERVICE DELIVERY WITH PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Foundation // Continuous Engagement

Continuous engagement is the central element for successful service delivery. Engagement is a

process that is developed and nurtured through ongoing interactions and results in trusted

relationships. Critical to the success of engagement is communication that fosters mutual

learning and facilitates joint dedication to achieving agreed upon needs and goals. Like any

relationship, engagement takes time. It does not occur as the result of one call or meeting. Trust

is built with iterative, frequent, and consistent interactions in local settings, that embody

dedication and commitment to the user and their priorities. Over time, trust and relationships are

built between individuals and organizations. Personal involvement in all interactions with the

users and partners is critical because they are the personiﬁcation of the Agency’s interest and

commitment. Further, the ﬁrst hand involvement of the trusted NOAA entity in all steps (with

users, colleagues within NOAA, and with partners, throughout all stages of service delivery)

builds trust and streamlines processes, as they have the best understanding of the complex

needs of the users. The trusted NOAA entity has spent years understanding the scope and

context of needs via continuous two-way communication, and can thus assist with the translation

and development (and co-development, where appropriate) of products and services, and best

facilitate delivery and use.

Build // Building Trusted Relationships

NOAA’s relationships with new and existing partners (e.g., other governmental agencies,

academia, the private sector, non-proﬁts, and the public) must be built through frequent two-way

communication and continuous respectful engagement. Central to this is fostering listening,

dialogue, and understanding with users to help address our shared mission. As a result, NOAA

and our partners will better understand and use the broad suite of water information and tools

already available, as well as the continuously evolving needs of users. Under the best

circumstances, practitioners and providers jointly assess the utility of services and identify useful

next iterations.

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 6 OF 20

As NOAA considers the next generation of data and information production, delivery, and

research and development, it is incumbent upon the organization to understand, use, and expand

upon the existing array of NOAA partners. These entities are its ﬁrst and most valuable resource.

Utilizing these partnerships and integrating the experiences they bring to water resources

challenges, will allow a more informed process in evolving and developing products and services

that better serve the American public.

Gather // Connecting Lessons about Use of Information with User Needs

Continuous investment in engagement, within NOAA and with external users and partners, allows

us to fully understand the use of NOAA’s information and the scope of information needs.

Engagements, as outlined above, are conducted for the purposes of building trust and

understanding the use of NOAA’s information in the context of what needs still exist. In order to

clearly capture and articulate user needs, NOAA relies on continuous engagement with the end

user. It is crucial that the trusted NOAA representative also work directly with NOAA’s subject

matter experts and science teams to ensure the needs are correctly understood. Additionally,

NOAA’s subject matter experts and science teams must understand that user needs are not

limited to speciﬁc information. Needs also include the ability to understand when and how users

will best receive, and thus use, the information. Gathering needs and understanding how NOAA’s

products and services are used is a key step in using trusted relationships to build products and

services that will be used. To do this, NOAA must (1) leverage the existing eﬀorts, knowledge, and

expertise from across the agency and from its partners; and (2) transfer user experience and

needs in a systematic and useful way across NOAA. Users can grow weary of their needs being

assessed without follow through on NOAA’s part in developing solutions. When this occurs,

NOAA risks losing the trust of its constituents.

Translate // Review and Consider NOAA’s capacity to respond

As relationships are built and user needs are identiﬁed, NOAA subject matter experts will

translate the needs identiﬁed above into technical aspects NOAA will use to make decisions for

mission improvement or enhancement. In order for NOAA to produce products that will be used,

analysis teams will study, prioritize, and translate the needs as articulated from the user into the

development, or reﬁnement, of products and services. NOAA examines not only the mission

relevance, but the capacity to be responsive and adapt to the user needs expressed. In this step,

NOAA and teams would review, iteratively with the customer, their capacity, and the capacity of

NOAA’s partners, to respond. This may be accomplished through a formal process, or through

less formal structures directly accountable to the user. Regardless of the mechanism, processes

must be focused on transparency, responsiveness, and accountability. Understanding the

capacity ensures entities who may be tasked with service development receive actionable

information to determine existing product value as well as future considerations for maintenance

and sustainment.

Assess // Review and Prioritize Product and Service Development

Once user needs are translated and deﬁned, they must be aligned with NOAA’s mandates and

mission. Once the needs are determined to be within NOAA’s mission, they may be further

assessed based upon criteria such as applicability and alignment with NOAA priorities. The

criteria also must account for the urgency of user needs.

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 7 OF 20

Within the framework of NOAA’s strategic priorities and goals, subject matter experts, and/or

project teams with knowledge of underlying or consensus user needs, will prioritize solutions.

This involvement can better direct development to the entity best positioned to respond, while

ensuring outcomes are addressed in an eﬀective manner. Investing in resources (either

monetarily or through staﬀ time) must be justiﬁed in implementing the request. Proposed

solutions will be balanced against potential risks along with opportunities to combine or

coordinate eﬀorts to optimize NOAA’s outcomes. The results will be documented for reference,

particularly, those needs that are not prioritized. Open, transparent communication with our

constituents as to NOAA’s ability to meet the need identiﬁed is critical in maintaining trust. This

informs and fosters transparent engagement activities and capitalizes on relationships to keep

NOAA cognizant of the context for user needs.

Address // Respond to User Needs

Being responsive to the user’s requests and needs is one of the most critical elements in

eﬀective service delivery. After the need has been identiﬁed and NOAA has decided that it is well

positioned (mission and resources) to meet the need, the work of developing the product or

services can begin. In identifying and developing the most eﬀective and eﬃcient product or

service to address the need, there is regular engagement with the users and partners.

Sometimes the need calls for building a new product or service, sometimes it is adjusting or

enhancing an existing one, sometimes it is initiating a process such as joint fact ﬁnding and, or

sometimes it is building the capacity of the users to apply the product via technical assistance,

training, or other learning mechanisms. There are times it will require multiple complementary

products and services such as a new decision support tool paired with training to ensure end

users can best apply. The important piece is that there is a commitment to both develop and

deliver a product and or service that addresses the need.

During the process of developing the product or service, communication with the end users is

critical. Once they have expressed their needs and NOAA has agreed to develop a product or

service, the end users need routine engagement to understand the length of time it will take, how

often they will be consulted with, and who is their contact. The more connected the intended

users feel during the development time, the more likely they will be to use the end product or

service. Interactions between experts and users can drive innovation. The development process

should be iterative providing feedback to the developers along the way and understanding to the

end users. The NOAA development process needs to ensure the products and services are

responsive, relevant, and actionable to the evolving users needs and considers the potential

impact of product/service changes on our partners.

Deliver // Deliver Products to Users

NOAA data, information, and tools are developed to enhance users' understanding and decision

making. Unless that data, information, and tools are delivered in such a way that the potential end

users are aware of, can access, understand how they can be best used to address their issues,

and have the knowledge and skills to appropriately apply them, the data, information, and tools

risk not being used. The on-going engagement element in the proposed model is key in the

delivery element. Targeted outreach and communication can help users know that a speciﬁc

product or service is available and user-friendly websites assist in an end users ability to access

the data, information, and tools.

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 8 OF 20

Increasingly high touch (in person or virtual) delivery mechanisms are sometimes needed for end

users to be able to understand and have the skills to apply the data, information, and tools to

their decisions. Long term or power users of NOAA water products and services are able to

assimilate and apply new products and services more easily and can serve as peer mentors. High

touch delivery mechanisms include technical assistance, learning tools (such as case studies, job

aids, quick references, tutorials, and community of practices), as well as workshops and training.

These mechanisms are most eﬀective if development of them are grounded in the learning

sciences. Continuous engagement with the end users will ensure the delivery mechanisms are

strategic, relevant, responsive, and timely. The value of the data, information, and tools are not

realized until they are being applied by the end users to decisions.

Evaluate // Evaluate User Impact

Evaluating NOAA’s eﬀorts on service delivery is a continuous process. Front-end evaluation, or

needs assessments, are key in gathering needs and distinguishing between the needs and wants

of the end users. Formative evaluation happens as the products and services are being

developed and includes the back and forth between developers and the end users. It is through

the formative evaluation that NOAA ensures that the end users needs are being met

appropriately. Summative evaluations are completed after the products and services have been

delivered to document the results. Evaluations can assess the results or examine the process. A

return on investment study can be then done to monetize the results.

There are many methods to collect information about how users are applying the products and

services delivered. The ﬁrst questions are typically around if they are using, then how they are

using and then importantly, if the use of the products and services are assisting them in reaching

their goals more eﬀectively and eﬃciently. The scope and scale of the products and services can

help determine which products and services receive summative evaluations. The science of

evaluation is best accomplished through proven social science methods (survey, focus group,

interviews, observations) done by expert evaluators particularly for summative and ROI studies.

NOAA social scientists, partners, and others specializing in evaluation must work together to

leverage resources and capabilities that will ensure products and services accomplish the

desired outcomes.

CONCLUSION

The purpose of this framework is to strengthen NOAA’s service delivery enterprise so that users

can clearly understand and use the breadth of NOAA’s information for their decisions. This

framework describes the service delivery concept and the activities required to inform

use-inspired products and services. NOAA’s strength is commitment to service. As an agency,

NOAA must fully engage society, utilizing its extended network and partners to leverage

knowledge, expertise and resources. The overall value of enhanced service delivery for NOAA is

a more eﬃcient and eﬀective agency that is better able to fulﬁll its vision of healthy ecosystems,

communities, and economies that are resilient in the face of change. The NWI Service Delivery

and Decision Support Teams (see Appendix D) are committed to developing the implementation

and next steps needed to realize the vision of a new service delivery model for NOAA.

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 9 OF 20

APPENDIX A: DEFINITIONS

Deﬁnitions for commonly-used terms from the NWI Vision and Five-Year Plan were developed

through research and synthesis of existing deﬁnitions derived from multiple Line Oﬃces.

Audience. Targeted group for whom NOAA develops and serves information, products and

services.

User(s). A person(s), group, or organization who accesses and applies information, products, or

services.

User Group. A set of people who have common interests, goals, or concerns about NOAA

products and services.

Partners. Organizations and individuals with whom NOAA shares a mission and/or has regular,

substantive interaction in order to eﬀectively achieve both of our missions. This deﬁnition

includes the following terms which may refer to speciﬁc LO usage: Core, Close, Key, Primary,

Federal, Traditional Line Oﬃce; Weather, Water, and Climate Enterprise, etc.

Product. A tangible piece of information (printable, visible) that enables a user to learn or take

action.

Service Delivery. The continuous process of engaging with users in order to provide relevant and

timely information via appropriate mechanisms.

Stakeholder. Anyone with an interest in the process or outcome, or who is aﬀected by water

resources.

Technical Assistance. Targeted coaching for users to help them access, understand, and use

NOAA products and services for their own decisions.

Training. Instructionally designed activity aimed at imparting information and building participants

skills to attain a speciﬁed level of knowledge or skill.

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 10 OF 20

APPENDIX B: SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK IN ACTION

The following are three successful NOAA examples of implementing this framework.

DIGITAL COAST // NOAA developed the Digital Coast to serve those who manage our nation’s

coastal resources. This digital resource provides not only data, but also the tools, training, and

information coastal communities need if they are to use these data in the decision-making

process. This centralized repository is cost eﬀective and easy to use. While the Digital Coast was

developed and is currently maintained by the NOAA Oﬃce for Coastal Management, hundreds of

organizations and federal, state, and local agencies contribute content. This resource is a ﬁrst

stop for the nation’s coastal management community.

The Digital Coast, however, is more than just a website. The Digital Coast provides the

framework, through the Digital Coast Partnership, that allows groups that might not otherwise

work together to join forces to address coastal issues. The Digital Coast Partnership, which is

composed of membership organizations who represent Digital Coast users, is essential for the

success of this eﬀort, since partner input ensures the relevance of the Digital Coast in the face of

the constantly changing needs of the coastal management community.

CONNECTION TO KEY ELEMENT(S):

● Foundation // Continuous Engagement - NOAA’s Oﬃce for Coastal Management has

dedicated points-of-contacts who routinely speak to and coordinate with the partnership

organizations. In addition, quarterly calls are held along with annual face-to-face

meetings. This highly successful partnership approach is based on clear expectations and

roles for all partners and NOAA.

● Build // Building Trusted Relationships - The Digital Coast Partnership was formed in

2007 to help guide the scope and content of what Digital Coast has evolved to be.

Dedicated, long-term, continuous engagement; shared expectations; clear roles;

transparency; joint strategic planning; and shared credit and shared opportunity has built

trust among all partner organizations. Even with staﬀ turnover, the relationship has

continued because of the relationships built.

● Gather // Connecting Lessons about Use of Information with User Needs - Partnership

members routinely discuss information needs and priorities. This direct feedback leads to

product and service delivery improvements for the Digital Coast.

● Translate // Review and Consider NOAA’s Capacity to Respond - NOAA’s Oﬃce for

Coastal Management assesses the organization’s capacity to address identiﬁed needs.

Critical to success is sharing what can be done, but equally importantly, what cannot be

done and why.

● Review // Review and Prioritize Product and Service Development - User needs and

capacity to respond are reviewed to determine products and services to enhance,

develop, or in some cases, abandon. Transparency back to the partnership organizations

is a key component of this element.

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 11 OF 20

● Respond // Respond to User Needs - Using routine meetings and other forms of

engagement and outreach to demonstrate products and services and provide answers to

expressed needs shows responsiveness and is critical.

● Deliver // Deliver Products to Users - The Digital Coast provides products and services in

accessible, and many times multiple, formats for the target audiences. Each product also

includes, as appropriate, training, tutorials, and metadata that enable the user to apply the

product and services with conﬁdence.

● Evaluate // Evaluate Impact - Continuous feedback and evaluation lead to improved

products and services. The Digital Coast Partnership represents well over 100,000

potential users; one of their primary roles is to evaluate products during development and

after release.

The Digital Coast Enabling Platform is built on the interaction between the Digital Coast Partners

and users and the website. This connection is critical to the platform’s success.

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 12 OF 20

NATIONAL INTEGRATED DROUGHT INFORMATION SYSTEM (NIDIS) // The National Integrated

Drought Information System (NIDIS) Act was authorized by Congress in 2006 (Public Law

109-430) and reauthorized in 2014 and 2019 with an interagency mandate to develop and

provide a national drought early warning information system, by coordinating and integrating

drought research, and building upon existing federal, tribal, state, and local partnerships. NIDIS is

led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NIDIS’s mission is to

improve the nation’s capacity to proactively manage drought-related risks, by providing those

aﬀected with the best available information and resources to assess the potential for drought and

to better prepare for, mitigate, and respond to the eﬀects of drought. Service delivery and

stakeholder engagement are key components of NIDIS implementation.

CONNECTION TO KEY ELEMENT(S):

● Foundation // Continuous Engagement - Partnerships are a foundational element of

NIDIS, with numerous mechanisms for engagement. For example, NIDIS has regional

Drought Early Warning System (DEWS) coordinators that are continuously speaking and

coordinating with a wide range of regional partners.

● Build // Building Trusted Relationships - NIDIS builds and sustains relationships to

implement an integrated drought monitoring and forecasting system at federal, tribal,

state, and local levels. At the national level, NIDIS has an Executive Council with a broad

representation of federal and non-federal partners. At the regional level, the DEWS serve

as the primary platform for building and sustaining relationships.

● Gather // Connecting Lessons about Use of Information with User Needs - NIDIS has

supported several assessments related to the use of drought information, which has

informed future research investments.

● Translate // Review and Consider NOAA’s capacity to respond - NIDIS fosters and

supports a research environment focusing on risk assessment, forecasting, and

management.

● Review // Review and Prioritize Product and Service Development - Regional needs for

drought early warning information is routinely collected in each regional DEWS through

workshops and sustained dialogue with partners. These needs, and actions required to

meet those needs, are further reviewed and prioritized by the regional network and

articulated in regional DEWS Strategic Action Plans.

● Respond // Respond to User Needs - Deliver // Deliver Products to Users - NIDIS

provides a framework for public awareness and education about droughts, which

includes the U.S. Drought Portal located at drought.gov.

● Evaluate // Evaluate Impact - The NIDIS implementation plan details the evolution and

lessons learned in moving towards a national drought early warning information system,

and highlights the thoughtful feedback and participation of NIDIS’s partners.

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 13 OF 20

Drought.gov is the U.S. Drought Portal and serves as the public face of NIDIS by providing timely

information on drought to the country. An updated drought.gov portal will be launched in 2020

following extensive user feedback outreach.

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 14 OF 20

WATER RESOURCES DASHBOARD // To ensure a safe and secure supply of clean water and to

protect the health and safety of residents, water resource managers and urban planners need to

monitor and respond to the potential for ﬂooding and drought in their regions. Federal weather

and climate data and tools keep decision-makers informed, but sometimes ﬁnding information

poses a challenge to water managers. In response to requests from decision and policy makers

from the water resource management and city planning communities, NOAA’s Climate Program

Oﬃce (CPO), National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), EPA, and several water and

planning-oriented NGOs have been working together since 2014 to develop the Water Resources

Dashboard (Dashboard). The Dashboard provides an integrated information resource for a wide

variety of weather, climate and water information that NOAA and other federal agencies provide

for the water sector (https://toolkit.climate.gov/topics/water/water-resources-dashboard).

CONNECTION TO KEY ELEMENT(S):

● Foundation // Continuous Engagement – All regions and economic sectors in the US

depend on adequate and reliable water supplies. Too much or too little water can

endanger the health and welfare of citizens and businesses. Driven by feedback from

user communities and federal agencies, NOAA and partners have developed the Water

Resources Dashboard: a one-stop location for water-relevant data sets. The eﬀort began

in 2014. The planning group for this eﬀort met (and continues to meet) periodically, both in

person and virtually, to continue to enhance NOAA’s ability to provide climate/weather

data to water resource managers who make decisions at various time scales from minutes

to centuries, or basically, from today’s intense storm impact on water quality to designing

water infrastructure that should last into the next century. The original dashboard was

completed two years later. Through continuous engagement, the dashboard has been

enhanced (as described below) with educational and outreach activities, and currently

through interactions with a subset of users.

● Build // Building Trusted Relationships – With the help of several non-governmental

organizations—including the American Planning Association, American Water Works

Association, Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, Water Environment Federation,

Water Environment Research Foundation and the Water Research Foundation -- NOAA

worked to combine resources on ﬂooding, drought, and other extreme precipitation

events into one location to better serve the needs of stakeholders. This process took two

years in which these organizations queried their key constituents on how they used

climate/weather information, how they would like to use these data, and other

suggestions for improved use of these resources to help water resource managers and

urban planners build resilience to extreme precipitation events. The group then met with

NOAA scientists to discuss the available and newly released data. Based on these

discussions, a team, consisting of water/planning NGOs, NOAA scientists and web

developers developed the Water Resources Dashboard, which was released in 2016.

● Gather // Connecting Lessons about Use of Information with User Needs – Members of

the planning team meet periodically to discuss updates to the Dashboard, communication

strategies, and future steps to improve the reach and use of the tool.

● Translate // Review and Consider NOAA’s Capacity to Respond – There have been

continuous updates to the Dashboard. However, after the initial release of the Dashboard,

the committee discussed how to increase the use of climate data by water utilities.

Prominent in this discussion was a dearth of education and outreach materials. The team

worked over the next few years on a series of webinars that are now used to “teach”

about the individual data sources that appear on the Dashboard. Each webinar is ½ hour

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 15 OF 20

in length with a scientist involved in developing the data source explaining in lay terms

the data set including potential uses and limitations. This is followed by a 5-10 minute

response by a water resource manager who describes how they use the data in their

decision-making processes. The ﬁnal part of the webinar contains questions and answers

from the speakers and the audience. Each webinar was recorded and currently resides as

a thumbnail on the Dashboard beneath the description of the data; these recordings are

also available on Youtube and have been accessed numerous times after the initial airing

of the videos.

● Review // Review and Prioritize Product and Service Development – Once the webinars

were added to the Dashboard, the planning team met and discussed other improvements.

NOAA staﬀ interviewed these members separately and found that overwhelmingly, they

felt that the Dashboard could be enhanced to better address the needs of small –

medium size water utilities.

● Respond // Respond to User Needs – The NOAA Water Initiative was able to provide

funding for a study to better understand the needs of smaller water utilities. Currently,

CPO and NESDIS are leading a study with the water and planning foundations (and with

additional ﬁnancial and in-kind support from the Water Resources Foundation and US

Water Alliance) to better understand gaps and opportunities with working with this

population. As part of NWI’s decision-support services, supported by NOAA’s Oﬃce of

Coastal Management and executed by CPO and NESDIS, regional meetings are being

planned to access and understand the information needs of small- to medium-scale water

utilities, to improve existing tools, and to build additional resources to meet water sector

needs at diﬀerent scales. Additional tools will be developed and a ﬁnal report, complete

with suggestions for next steps will be delivered in December 2020.

● Deliver // Deliver Products to Users – Currently, links to over twenty datasets relevant to

water managers reside on the Dashboard accompanied in most cases with at least one

webinar tutorial of the uses and applications of the discrete data. When available, case

studies are also listed to increase utilities’ understanding of the use and application of the

data sets.

● Evaluate // Evaluate Impact - Feedback and evaluation led by NGOs with direct ties to

users continues to help improve the content and application of data that resides on the

Dashboard. The current study of small-medium water utilities includes evaluation of users

understandings, needs, and desires that will lead to continued enhancements to the

Dashboard as well as other NOAA data and tools.

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 16 OF 20

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 17 OF 20

APPENDIX C: ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Theory Behind It, Guides, and resources on engagement and user-driven product and service

development:

- The shape of engagement, by Scott Gould (HBS)

- What customers want (customer theory, outcome theory), by Anthony Ulwick

- Adler, Peter and Juliana Birkhoﬀ. (2002) Building Trust: When knowledge from “here”

meets knowledge from “away”. National Policy Consensus Center: Washington DC.

- Forester, John. (2006). Making Participation Work When Interests Conﬂict: Moving from

facilitating dialogue and moderating debate to mediating negotiations. Journal of the

American Planning Association. 72:4. 447-456.

- Gray, B. (1989). Collaborating: Finding common ground for multiparty problems. San

Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

- Innes, J.E., Booher, D.E. (2010). Planning With Complexity: An introduction to collaborative

rationality for public policy. New York: Routledge.

- Karl, H., Susskind, L., & Wallace, K. (2007). A Dialogue, Not a Diatribe: Eﬀective integration

of science and policy through joint fact ﬁnding. Environment, 49(1), 20-34.

- Creighton, James L. 2005. The Public Participation Handbook: Making Better Decisions

through Citizen Involvement. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco, CA.

- 2020 Special Edition of the Journal for Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability on

Making Knowledge Actionable for Environmental Sustainability from the Aspen Global

Change Institute

- Accelerate-- The science of lean software in DevOps (agile modiﬁcations, updates quickly,

ﬁxing pieces)

- Andrea J. Ray and Robert S. Webb (2016) Understanding the user context: decision

calendars as frameworks for linking climate to policy, planning, and decision-making,

NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 18 OF 20

APPENDIX D: NWI SERVICE DELIVERY/DECISION SUPPORT OBJECTIVE

TEAM MEMBERS

Ellen Mecray, NESDIS*

Miki Schmidt, NOS*

Katherine Hawley, NESDIS*

David Helms, NESDIS

Doug Kluck, NESDIS

Thanh Vo Dinh, NESDIS*

Colette Cairns, NMFS

Nate Mantua, NMFS

Cayla Dean, NOS

Ginger Hinchcliﬀ, NOS*

Donna Johnson, NOS

Audra Luscher, NOS

Brenna Sweetman, NOS*

Kate Abshire, NWS*

Karen Bareford, OAR*

Jocelyn Burston, NWS

Margaret Hurwitz, NWS

Mary Mullusky, NWS

Jen Sprague, NWS

Michelle Stokes, NWS/ReCo

Nancy Beller-Simms, OAR*

Veva Deheza, OAR

Kola Garber, OAR

Meredith Muth, OAR

Claudia Nierenburg, OAR*

Elizabeth Rohring, OAR

Chris Lauer, Chief Economist's Oﬃce

*Service Delivery Writing Team Member

Members of this team represent all of NOAA’s line oﬃces, and years of experience in the ﬁeld of engagement and the

development of user-driven science, products, and services.

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 19 OF 20

SERVICE DELIVERY FRAMEWORK│LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2020 PAGE 20 OF 20