Training course on intelligent platform draws 30-nation delegation

Meteorological representatives from more than 30 nations gathered in Shanghai for the second international training course on artificial intelligence-empowered early warning systems on June 1, marking a significant expansion of China's technical role in global humanitarian disaster defense.

The intensive five-day program, spearheaded by the Shanghai Meteorological Service, centered on deploying advanced AI to meet the United Nations' Early Warnings for All initiative, a global mandate to shield every community from severe climate events by the end of 2027.

Rather than relying on generic weather models, the gathering highlighted cutting-edge, localized tech pipelines — spanning precise typhoon forecasting, low-Earth orbit satellite applications, smart agricultural meteorology and multi-hazard alerts.

"The weather and climate are boundless. We need to enhance international exchanges and cooperation to learn from other countries, overcome extreme cases together for a better future," said Oyunjargal Lamjav, director of the weather forecasting department at Mongolia's National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring.

Mariam Tidiga, director general of Burkina Faso's National Meteorological Agency, said at the opening ceremony that the agency highly appreciates the opportunity to come together, share experiences, strengthen capacities and explore innovative solutions to address the growing challenges.

Tidiga said that international cooperation, knowledge sharing and technological advancement are essential to ensure that no community is left behind in the global effort to build resilience and achieve sustainable development.

"We would also like to express our strong interest in strengthening cooperation in agro-meteorological services. The combination of climate information, weather forecasts, agricultural advisory services and innovative crop solutions offers significant opportunities to enhance food security, improve water management and strengthen resilience to climate variability," she added.

The participants reaffirmed their commitment to actively engage in the MAZU Global Intelligence Innovation Application Challenge. They view this initiative as an excellent platform to promote innovation, develop practical solutions adapted to local realities, and strengthen collaboration among meteorological services, research institutions, universities and operational partners.

The MAZU AI Agent for Urban Multi-Hazard Early Warning is already making practical differences in Djibouti and Mongolia.

In Djibouti, a Chinese team from the Zhang Qian Mission has developed a tailored early warning dashboard to work with the agent's on-site service mechanism. The dashboard integrates multi-source meteorological observations, forecasts and disaster risk data to enable rapid risk detection and alerts. In Mongolia, coordinated efforts on both sides have been accelerating.

Liu Haobo, team leader of the Zhang Qian Mission, shared a letter from the Mongolian meteorological authority in May, which read: "Thank you for providing the MAZU AI Agent system and related training to us. Overall, the agent has a clear interface and smooth operation. It is promising as a platform for viewing different meteorological information in one place and supporting city-level weather risk analysis."

Xu Xianghua, deputy director general of the department of international cooperation at the China Meteorological Administration, said, "We always believe that early warning is not merely a matter of meteorological science and technology, but also a fundamental global public good that safeguards the lives of people worldwide and ensures global development."