The head of the Bureau of Meteorology has apologised for a bungled update to his bureau’s website after being hauled before the Environment minister to explain changes that stem from its mammoth technology upgrade.
The BoM had initially defended its new site as a more accessible iteration that had not lost any information. But acting CEO Dr Peter Stone on Wednesday said more should have been done to improve it and help users understand the changes.
“We didn’t make the change lightly and we appreciate that it will take time for some to adjust. I sincerely apologise for the challenges the change has caused,” Dr Stone said.
The updated site was criticised by users on launch last week for being less accessible, hiding important data and concealing the severity of major weather events.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said the update was “not good enough” and his energy minister claimed it may have put “lives at risk” in a letter to to federal Environment minister Murray Watt.
Mr Watt hauled Dr Stone in to explain on Tuesday.
“In the meeting, I made clear my expectations that the BOM needed to consider this feedback and, where appropriate, adjust the website’s settings as soon as possible,” Mr Watt said. “This includes urgent consideration of improvements to the website’s functionality and useability.”
Federal energy minister Chris Bowen said, “The Bureau clearly has work to do in that it has lost community confidence in the new website.”
The heavy maligned website surfaced last week after at least a year of beta testing and several more years of development in the BoM’s almost $1 billion ‘Robust’ technology upgrade.
The heavily outsourced seven-year project was plagued with delays and will rely on contractor and consultant partners Accenture and Deloitte for years to come, despite being declared finished by the BoM last June.
Mr Watt said users “deserve to have confidence in these important services” from the BoM.
“My office and I will continue to engage closely with the BOM and ensure public safety is its foremost priority.”
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