AWS hails new APAC Weather Index for Amazon Forecast

Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Forecast product has added its Weather Index functionality to the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, allowing demand forecasts to utilise weather conditions. 

Accessible at no additional cost, users can incorporate 14-day weather forecasts for specific locations in APAC into the predictive capabilities of Amazon Forecast. 

According to AWS, the idea behind the added functionality is to estimate consumer demand patterns, product merchandising decisions, staffing requirements and energy consumption needs. 

The feature works by combining multiple weather metrics from historical weather events and current forecasts at a specific location to increase the accuracy of a user’s demand forecast model. 

This adds to Amazon Forecast’s overarching offering of utilising machine learning to generate demand forecasts, with the cloud giant claiming that prior machine learning experience is not required. 

AWS also claims it is the same underlying technology that is used at Amazon.com. 

The introduction of weather forecasts for APAC adds to functionality previously made available in the US, Canada, South American and Europe, which was initially launched in December 2020. 

Earlier this month, AWS’ worldwide market share was found to have inched back up to 33 per cent, according to industry analyst firm Synergy Research.