"…On 17 March 1951, a nearly one-year-old WMO took over all the responsibilities of the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), including the IMO Commission for Synoptic Weather Information (CSWI), which had been established in 1923. WMO immediately renamed the CSWI as the WMO Commission for Synoptic Meteorology (CSM), but with extended responsibilities, and then again renamed it as CBS during Sixth Congress in 1971.

...the challenge for CBS is to guarantee the development of the basic systems infrastructure in support of all programmes".

Statement by M. Jarraud, Secretary-General, at opening of the Extraordinary Session of the Commission for Basic Systems (Seoul, 9 Nov 2006)

The main activities of the Commission for Basic Systems (CBS) are related to the development, implementation and operation of integrated systems for observing, data processing, data communication and data management, and to the provision of public weather services, in response to requirements of all WMO Programmes and opportunities provided by technological developments. CBS is the lead Technical Commission for the overall World Weather Watch Programme (WWW), the WMO Space Programme and the Public Weather Services Programme.

CBS’s work is accomplished through a Management Group and four Open Programme Area Groups (OPAG) on Integrated Observing System, on Information System and Services, on Data-Processing and Forecasting System and on Public Weather Services. Each OPAG relies on several Expert Teams and an Implementation Coordination Team to develop and coordinate programme outputs and to guide global implementation. Rapporteurs and Coordinators have been established for specific subjects, especially WMO cross-cutting programmes.

The Commission meets every two years in an ordinary or extraordinary session.