ECMWF participates in the WMO Core Metadata Standard Activity. WMO is developing an ISO 19115 profile in order to describe and discover meteorological datasets. ECMWF is member of the Expert team defining the profile and the input from SIMDAT has significantly influenced the standard.

Since the beginning of the project the WMO core profile has evolved taking into account the experience gained by the SIMDAT Meteo activity. It has now reached version 1.0 and the VGISC software has been updated accordingly.

ECMWF is also involved in the definition of standards in the framework of the WIS (WMO Information System): to synchronise/exchange metadata, use of grid technology. VGISC is considered as a reference implementation of the WIS by the WMO community and the achievements of the Meteo activity so far are being used to formalise the WIS technical specifications.