Category: Customer Solutions

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare organizations around the world are focusing on improving and speeding up testing and diagnostics. Digital health companies Smart Reporting in Germany and Thirona in the Netherlands have been working to create a CT-based imaging solution to support COVID-19 diagnosis, enabled by the cloud and the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Diagnostic Development Initiative. The AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative provides support to organizations for innovation in rapid and accurate patient testing for 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and other diagnostic solutions to mitigate future outbreaks.

Working with a network of 100 biodiversity information centers and 1,000 conservation scientists, NatureServe identifies and understands the most important places to prevent species extinction and ecosystem loss. They provide land use decision-makers in federal and state agencies, industry, academics, and nonprofits with information to meet both regulatory and biodiversity conservation needs. NatureServe and its network collect and maintain data on the conservation status and location of threatened and endangered species, developed over decades of field data collection. But these data have been underutilized in environmental review decision-making processes due to challenges surrounding awareness, access, and reliable or seamless integration with other systems. To address these challenges, they developed an online spatially explicit tool on AWS.

Ecree, an AWS EdStart Member, was founded by educators who believed the way we teach students to write is broken. The volume of work a teacher is being asked to do means students don’t always get the necessary attention and feedback required to develop their writing skills. Ecree’s founding team set out to support teachers and students by creating the world’s first rules-based tool that assesses student writing in the same way a highly trained professor does, on-demand. The solution uses cloud technologies including machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and voice technology to help improve student writing.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies including machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) can transform the way government agencies operate and enable them to provide improved citizen services. AWS Partner Network Partners have been working with AWS to accelerate solutions development using AI and related technologies for our public sector customers. To further assist partners in the acceleration of AI and ML, AWS is launching a new partner initiative: the AI and ML Rapid Adoption Assistance Initiative.

Pearson delivers anywhere, anytime digital course material and learning opportunities for students globally using AWS. As a global company, Pearson turned to the cloud to deliver content globally, build agile, accessible solutions, and to power its digital transformation. With Revel and Pearson eText, Pearson provides flexible, digital learning solutions for students and instructors, including digitized textbooks with interactive, multimedia content, and assessment features. Building on AWS has helped Pearson to iterate quickly, innovate on behalf of students and educators, scale on demand, and reach learners globally.

Cancer Commons is a nonprofit network of patients, physicians, and scientists dedicated to helping patients identify and access the best personalized treatment options. Erika Vial Monteverdi, executive director of Cancer Commons, describes how the AWS compute infrastructure, combined with services like Amazon Comprehend Medical, enable physicians and patients to leverage the collective knowledge of the world’s top institutions. 

For community organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions seeking to support a distributed workforce, citizenry, or student body with cloud capabilities, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has developed an online virtual booth to highlight remote work, learning, and call center use cases for the public sector. Learn how to connect your remote employees, constituents, or students on AWS by playing the AWS Cloud Champion: Virtual Workplace Interactive Challenge.

Novel challenges require novel solutions. To address the COVID-19 pandemic, public sector organizations are holding virtual hackathons to solve problems that arise from the virus and its effects on society. Hackathons #WirVsVirus in Germany, Hack the Crisis in Sweden, and #EUvsVirus brought together thousands of stakeholders to brainstorm and create innovative solutions using technology and cloud computing to address the ongoing challenges of the pandemic. Attendees at these virtual events worked to find solutions for problems like faster diagnosis of COVID-19 and connecting food with those in need. From technical mentorship to AWS Promotional Credit and providing access to technologies like AI, AWS supported these hackathons, their participants, and their solutions.

The COVID-19 pandemic magnified the health and financial strain in communities across the country. Before the pandemic hit, Wildfire, a state association for Community Action Agencies, was working with Prefix, an AWS Partner Network Technology Partner, to develop a cloud-based solution for utility and rental assistance. When the City of Phoenix requested they support the distribution of $20 million CARES Act funds, they shifted their resources and existing infrastructure and, in a matter of weeks, stood up a repeatable public-facing solution.

In June, Australian startup and AWS EdStart Member Dystech, launched the world’s first screening app for dyslexia and motor dysgraphia. Dyslexia and dysgraphia impact between 10-20 percent of individuals worldwide. With this release, Dystech has the opportunity to change lives and accelerate testing for millions of individuals around globe. Dystech uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to create an app that transforms how education and healthcare organizations screen for this disorder.