Global IP Network

Toward remaining a reliable web site for citizens

In short, the major requirement for the JMA web site was to be "a reliable site for citizens." In particular, in the event of a typhoon, whose path and speed are hard to predict, the web site serves as an important information source in which the latest developments are available ahead of other sources. Posting accurate information should be a prerequisite to a reliable public information source, but what is more fundamental is ensuring accessibility to the site. Therefore, the steady delivery of information was given the first priority. In addition, excessive capital investment had to be avoided because the site operation was supported by tax money. This means that what was as essential as steady operation was constructing a cost-effective system. With no need for additional investment in servers and other hardware, SCD successfully met these two requirements and was valued highly as having helped the JMA web site win public trust.

Even now, JMA pursues further improvement of its web site, with a plan to upgrade the quality of content, including providing images instead of text-only information before. Although JMA used to be reluctant to post heavy content, the proliferation of broadband connections has made it easy to transfer such content. However, growth in the volume of data being transferred will certainly lead to heavier loads on the server. JMA is considering ways to effectively use SCD in these next phases.