Category: Public Sector

The Smithsonian Institution announced the availability of more than 2.8 million two- and three-dimensional images and files through the Smithsonian Open Access Initiative. With this initiative, anyone with an internet connection has access to high-resolution media files, the accompanying metadata, and research from the Smithsonian Institution’s 19 museums, nine research centers, and zoo. This Smithsonian dataset is the largest museum collection released to date.

AWS Educate is now a Project Lead the Way (PLTW) transformative partner. As a transformative partner, AWS Educate and PLTW will provide access to cloud computing educational content for K12 students across the United States, including those in low-technology schools. The collaboration means more K12 students can now access AWS Educate cloud computing curriculum through PLTW’s network of more than 12,200 elementary, middle, and high schools.

Cloud-based technologies allow organizations like governments to build a new application on existing services on the internet that offers open and documented APIs to deliver reliable data. These services have an authentication model so that new users verify their identity before accessing, even if it’s offered at no cost. There are three components in this scenario: a service provider, an end user, and an application that needs to access user data. The key technology here is OAuth. OAuth is a standard that enables access delegation.

Maybe you’ve never thought about hackathons before. Or maybe you have a vague idea as to what they are. Or perhaps you are the champion of hundreds of hackathons. Either way, read on to learn why you should consider hackathons in a new way.

Starting today, the AWS Educate Cloud Ambassador Program is now available to college students around the world. Now students can also apply to participate in the program to receive exclusive benefits and opportunities from Amazon Web Services (AWS). The AWS Educate Cloud Ambassador Program recognizes individuals for their innovation and contributions that prepare students for careers in the modern technology workforce.

Last week, the bipartisan Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act (S.153) was signed, which will assist veterans re-entering the workforce and encourage veterans to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). At AWS, we’ve developed a number of programs focused on engaging the military community, helping them gain AWS technical skills, and develop successful careers.

I grew up in a farming community in Kentucky, and understand how critical agriculture is to the development of a thriving and robust economy. So what can technology do to make farming and agriculture more sustainable and climate-resilient? How can we make sure crops are high quality and high yield? How do we make sure that we get them to market when they are fresh? How can we improve the way farmers interact with each other? Our customers are helping to answer these questions.

The cloud can help governments meet evolving citizen demands by enabling agility, cost savings, elasticity, and global reach. In 2008, Shared Services Canada, a federal department tasked with providing IT services to Canadian government, announced a streamlined procurement process to help support government agencies’ adoption of cloud services as part of the Government of Canada’s Cloud Adoption Strategy. To help Canadian government entities and their employees build innovative and citizen-centric services for their digital citizenry in the cloud, AWS created AWS DigiGov.

At Amazon Web Services (AWS), we believe the future of tech is every color, gender, belief, origin, and community. The future of tech is diverse, inclusive and accessible – but we have a long way to go before realizing this future. At AWS re:Invent 2019, We Power Tech hosted activities to teach and learn from attendees about diversity and inclusion at the intersection of technology. Check out more about what We Power Tech was up to at re:Invent 2019.

Health and human services (HHS) agencies are in the midst of dramatic change, with ever-growing transaction volumes and increasing demand for new services and visibility into data. Looking for new ways to manage constituent demands, the agencies are turning to the cloud to run mission-critical applications that administer healthcare and social benefits programs for millions of beneficiaries, resulting improved system agility, security, and costs.