The Caribbean Ocean Observing System (CARICOOS) provides observations and forecasts about wind, wave, tides, currents, ocean color, among other parameters. This information is a very important tool for decision making. In fact, CARICOOS have become the main source of information when planning marine operations, scuba diving tours, boating or your next day at the beach. Over the years, CARICOOS users have increased, however, our goal is to reach more people. Addressing this need, on April, 2018 we launched a phone app for beachgoers.
The app, which was named by the public as “Pa’ la playa”, have been very successful among beach-goers. Pa’ la playa provides wind, wave and weather forecasts for more than 100 beaches in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Due to its huge success, CARICOOS came up with the idea of developing another phone app, but this time for boaters. For this purpose, we developed a needs assessment questionnaire that will help developers design according to the users needs. Certainly, Ms. Berliz Morales has been visiting piers, shops, marinas, boat ramps, among other places in order to interview potential users. She has also been contacting several stakeholders to encourage them to participate by completing the survey online. So far the interviewees have shown great interest in the tool.
We hope to finish the needs assessment in December 2018 in order to proceed with the development of the app. We also expect have it available for download before summer 2019. We are confident that 2019 will be a very productive year, stay tuned!