Alibaba Cloud Computing today signed a strategic agreement with a unit of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) to provide comprehensive cloud computing services to the PRC’s weather bureau in a deal that also calls for the establishment of data platforms providing weather information to private businesses.
Under the agreement, Alibaba Cloud Computing, the data management and cloud computing arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, will furnish the CMA’s Public Meteorological Service Center with the server capacity to store and process more than 60 years of historical weather data as well as current data from the Center’s observation stations and satellites.
In addition to helping the CMA better manage and crunch massive amounts of information, the agreement calls for the creation of a data platform, dubbed “China Meteorological Professional Services,” that will allow a variety of companies to tap into CMA meteorological data and commercial data from Alibaba Group.
By making this information available to the private sector, Alibaba and the CMA hope to spur innovation and the creation of new corporate and consumer applications. “Meteorological big data not only allows people to know the weather but more importantly, it helps businesses avoid economic losses due to the weather,” said Panjin Jun, deputy director of the CMA Public Weather Service Center, in a press release.
During last year’s 11.11 shopping festival, Alibaba’s Tmall.com website worked with the CMA to relay real-time weather information to logistics companies in order to speed delivery of millions of parcels containing goods ordered during the online sale.
Furthering this cooperation, CMA and Cainiao, a logistics company affiliated with Alibaba Group, announced today they have agreed to develop China’s first logistics data platform. This platform is intended give courier and delivery companies ongoing access to information on weather and road conditions as well as inclement weather alerts, allowing for more flexible and efficient delivery services.
In addition to the logistics industry, historical and forecast weather data could also benefit the insurance industry, allowing insurers to offer new types of products while better evaluating risks and exposures of customers, said Alibaba Cloud Computing officials in a press release. Weather data could also be used by online merchants selling on Alibaba’s Taobao Marketplace to make better decisions about what seasonal products to order and offer.
In the future, CMA weather data could also be integrated into Autonavi, a Chinese online maps provider that Alibaba Group agreed to buy in April. Drivers using Autonavi’s online maps could be forewarned of driving and road conditions as well as general weather conditions in their area. Using location-based technology, Autonavi could also broadcast targeted local weather alerts to consumers using mobile devices.
“The combination of weather data and cloud computing will bring inestimable value to China’s society and economy,” said Wang Wenbin, president of Alibaba Cloud Computing. “Alibaba Group will combine its various businesses in order to make a big push in meteorological data applications in China.”
