Category: State or Local Government

The AWS Public Sector Summit Online is happening October 20, 2020—registration is now open and at no cost. Max Peterson, vice president of international sales of worldwide public sector at AWS, is hosting the opening keynote, featuring inspiring stories from leaders who are serving their missions with AWS. In the keynote, Max will also share insights into emerging trends in the public sector and discuss topics around digital transformation, business continuity, resilience, security, and privacy—as well as training and workforce development. Meet the inspiring leaders featured in the keynote and learn a bit about their stories.

Azavea believes in the power of geospatial technology to improve communities and the planet. Azavea has been exploring the power of this technology to help their clients to answer complex questions in a wide range of domains from urban ecosystems, infrastructure planning, and economic development to water, energy, and climate change. As part of the Amazon Sustainability Data Initiative (ASDI), we invited Jessica Cahail, product manager at Azavea, to share how her organization is using AWS and open data to develop tools that help users address environmental challenges and deliver knowledge to support decision making.

Governments at all levels rapidly addressed the rising challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Canadian governments  met citizens’ needs quickly by building secure, compliant solutions on AWS to deliver critical information and services. Working with partners and AWS, Canadian governments and agencies released multiple solutions for providing a modern, digital-first experience for all to interact with the government and receive the information and services they need.

Efforts to prevent and combat homelessness are limited by the lack of comprehensive data about people experiencing homelessness. This makes it difficult for states to identify trends and emerging needs to respond and make data-driven decisions about the effective deployment of resources. The cloud can help bridge information silos. Read on for examples of how states use the cloud to bridge data silos and better serve the homeless.

Now more than ever, citizens expect effective communications from government agencies in response to COVID-19. These state and local leaders are committed to serving their citizens with the latest news as fast as possible, but not all strategies reach citizens in real time. However, it takes time for the government to implement widely available communication services to provide timely, accurate information. One solution is to concentrate the delivery of information in a single communication channel: SMS text messages.

We’re in the midst of the information age and the Internet of Things (IoT) is at the center. What is IoT? It describes the billions of devices around the world that are connected to the internet, devices that can capture and analyze data and then perform an action based on that analysis. Whether it is an emerging IoT device, an innovative solution pivot, or a tried-and-true IoT application, a few things remain constant: we can look to leading examples from smart cities and healthcare to understand current and future uses and securely deploying and managing devices is an absolute must.

This month, many students are heading back to school. And in the US, citizens are starting to head to the polls for a presidential election year. Catch up on what we covered in September on the AWS Fix This podcast.

Tuesday, September 22, 2020 is National Voter Registration Day, a nonpartisan civic holiday in the United States celebrating democracy with a mission to create broad awareness of registration opportunities for voters. Learn how nonprofit civic organizations use the cloud to meet their mission in a secure, scalable, and cost-effective way on National Voter Registration Day and throughout the election cycle.

Demand for housing continues to increase, with demand outweighing supply. Nonprofits, including social housing organizations, work towards the mission of providing access to safe and affordable housing, rental assistance, and social services to low-income individuals and families in need. These organizations also play a critical role in supporting the elderly and vulnerable. And with homelessness projected to increase by 40-45 percent this year in the United States, these services are more in demand than ever. The cloud can help nonprofits that serve those in need while also driving innovation, saving costs, and speeding delivery of services. Learn how these AWS customers and partners are modernizing the way that mission-driven organizations provide housing assistance.

You’ve made the decision to migrate to the cloud and are ready to initiate the adoption process, but where do you begin? What foundational elements are necessary to ensure your cloud adoption is successful and sustainable? These are important questions to consider as state and local governments are increasingly turning to the cloud amid tighter IT budgets and shrinking revenues. However, cloud adoption is more than simply shifting from one technology to another. It involves transforming an entire business into a more agile, responsive, and innovative organization. There are many physical, environmental, and human elements that need to be considered and aligned to pave the way for real innovation. Take these steps to start building the foundation needed for successful and transformational cloud adoption.