AWS Public Sector Blog
Highlights from the 2024 AWS Public Sector Symposium Canberra
Today’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) Worldwide Public Sector Symposium Canberra keynote explored generative artificial intelligence (AI) innovation in Australia and New Zealand. Iain Rouse, AWS director and country leader for Australia and New Zealand, kicked off the keynote with opening remarks. Dave Levy, vice president of Worldwide Public Sector at Amazon Web Services (AWS), followed Rouse on stage and delivered the keynote speech. The hour-long keynote session included presentations from two customers who are using generative AI services on AWS to transform their organizations.
Continue reading to learn more about the Canberra Symposium keynote session.
Guest speakers
Country opener
Rouse began his opener by highlighting the significant investment AWS is making in the region. Since 2012, AWS has invested more than AU$9.1 billion in Australia, and plans to invest an additional AU$13.2 billion by 2027. In New Zealand, AWS is investing NZ$7.5 billion over the next 12-15 years. He stressed the AWS commitment to upskilling workers, building a diverse talent pool, and equipping the next generation with digital skills and capabilities. Since 2017, AWS has trained more than 400,000 Australians on cloud and IT skills.
Rouse shared how he believes that the public sector has reached a tipping point in cloud adoption. With cloud as the new operational foundation, governments can fully embrace innovation to revolutionize constituent services and operational effectiveness. As an example, Rouse pointed to how the Local Government of Association of Queensland and Carpentaria Shire Council are leveraging AI for flood detection and monitoring of roads and public safety in the remote Australian Outback.
Fighting epilepsy
The first customer speaker on stage was Donna Hutchison, the Australian Epilepsy Project’s (AEP) executive lead from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience. AEP is pioneering a transformative platform to benefit the two-and-a-half million Australians who will have a seizure in their lifetime. Epilepsy costs the Australian economy an estimated AU$12 billion annually.
Hosted on AWS, AEP is building the world’s largest multimodal dataset for epilepsy, including data such as MRI scans, genetic tests, cognitive assessments, and patient medical records. Using AWS technology, including generative AI, AEP is leading a data-driven revolution in neurological care that improves outcomes and reduces healthcare costs.
Reimagining legal services
The second customer speaker during the keynote session was Sam Jones, executive director corporate services for the Victoria Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP). He shared how OPP is using Amazon Bedrock to create a generative AI-powered legal assistant called Amicus X.
Jones walked the audience through an example use case of how OPP’s tool can ingest police briefs, summarize the information, help OPP expedite decisions on cases, and alert solicitors to inconsistencies in the evidence or areas where there is insufficient evidence to prosecute offences. The power of Amicus X is its ability to quickly summarise briefs and all the evidence they contain, enabling solicitors to focus on higher value case analysis.
Featured announcements
Worldwide generative AI initiative to support public sector organizations
Levy, whose keynote focused on generative AI and its transformative potential, highlighted the AWS Worldwide Public Sector Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Impact Initiative. Launched in June, the initiative is a two-year, $50 million commitment to help public sector organizations accelerate generative AI innovation. As part of this initiative, AWS is committing up to $50 million in AWS Promotional Credits, training, and technical expertise across generative AI projects that use AWS services and infrastructure. The Impact Initiative is open to new or existing AWS Worldwide Public Sector customers and partners from enterprises worldwide who are building generative AI solutions to help solve society’s most pressing challenges. Learn more about the Impact Initiative and get started.
Sustainability and renewable energy
Levy shared how a recent study that was commissioned by AWS and conducted by Accenture estimates that AWS infrastructure is up to 4.1 times more efficient than on premises. Additionally, when workloads are optimized on AWS, the associated carbon footprint can be reduced by up to 99 percent. He transitioned from those findings to highlight a renewable energy milestone. In 2019, Amazon set a goal to match all of the electricity used across it global operation with 100 percent renewable energy by 2030. In July, Amazon announced that it met the goal in 2023—seven years early. The milestone includes seven AWS renewable energy projects in Australia.
Global training milestone
Levy wrapped up his keynote speech by covering training and education. In December 2020, AWS pledged to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to provide free cloud computing training to 29 million people worldwide by 2025. AWS surpassed the goal in July—more than a year ahead of schedule—and has helped more than 31 million learners from 200 countries and territories build their cloud skills through free training initiatives.