Category: Regions

Sustainability is now an integral part of business strategy, even as the sustainability landscape is continuously evolving. At the AWS Public Sector Day 2023 held in London, public sector leaders gathered to learn and share how technology can help organisations achieve more with less in solving sustainability challenges. Two AWS customers shared how they’re rethinking traditional operations and innovating with the cloud to support their sustainability initiatives.

According to a new economic impact study (EIS) from AWS, AWS has invested ZAR 15.6 billion through 2022 to meet customer demand for cloud computing services. Thousands of South African customers have used AWS technologies to transform their businesses and accelerate their innovation, agility, and cost savings since AWS launched the AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region in 2020. According to the EIS, AWS operations will add an estimated ZAR 68 billion more to South Africa’s GDP by 2029. AWS’s investment impacts other parts of the South African economy as well, helping develop the next generation of workforce, digitally transform businesses, and promote sustainability throughout the country.

To support defence and national security customers, AWS is launching the AWS European Defence Accelerator. The AWS European Defence Accelerator’s goal is to support startups with AWS Cloud technologies to provide energy resilience, secure information sharing, sensing and decision making, quantum, and cyber resilience solutions to support a range of customer mission needs. The accelerator is open to startups globally who are interested in doing business with defence and national security organizations across Europe. Learn more and apply now.

The AWS Institute invited Rikesh Shah, outgoing head of open innovation at Transport for London, to discuss how London’s transport authority uses data sharing principles to solve city-wide challenges like air quality and safety. Shah shares his experiences of working as head of open innovation at Transport for London (TfL), which adopted an innovative approach to working with private sector organizations to make journeys simper and faster, reducing both pollution and accident levels.

The AWS Sustainability Conference held in Dublin gathered public sector and commercial organisations to came together to better understand how the AWS Cloud can drive sustainability initiatives. The conference focused on the importance of sustainability in business strategy, and how organisations can leverage the power of technology to achieve their sustainability goals. Leaders at the AWS Sustainability Conference discussed key best practices to optimize for sustainability initiatives.

A new geopolitical and energy market reality has accelerated momentum for the green transition. But there is one geography for which energy is a perennial challenge: islands. Islands have always sought to create a sustainable environment for their populations and have had to use ingenuity, collaboration, and civic will to make it happen—and often by using innovative technology. In this way, islands can be viewed as living laboratories of what could be scaled up for mainland communities. As the world responds to the energy crisis, islands can show a path for overcoming energy challenges.

Shkolo is an education technology company (EdTech) based in Bulgaria that was founded to reduce school bureaucracy and provide an efficient communication channel between teachers and parents. To power their digital services and help schools transform in the cloud during an integral time for online education, Shkolo turned to AWS.

As I’ve built the UK&I public sector partner team, we have observed less and less customers wanting to solely use their internal resources for their digital transformation. They need guidance, support, services, and solutions from their partners. This creates an immense opportunity for AWS Partners to support public sector customers’ missions while building successful, profitable businesses. How can AWS Partners achieve this multiplier, while helping public sector customers achieve their mission-critical transformation? In my experience working with partners, six key areas of opportunity have emerged that AWS Partners can focus on.

AWS today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Thailand’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation (MHESI) to boost innovation using cloud technology. Through this collaboration, AWS will support MHESI to identify pilot workloads for the ministry to start migrating to the AWS Cloud. MHESI will also use AWS training programs to upskill employees on AWS Cloud skills across over 200 education institutions and over 20 MHESI-managed research and education agencies across Thailand by early 2026.

AWS re/Start is a no-cost, cohort-based, workforce development training program that first launched in the MENA region in June 2021. The program helps individuals build cloud computing skills and connects participants with employment opportunities with local employers. Over one year on from the graduation of the first AWS re/Start cohorts, AWS re/Start congratulates the many program participants, across nine countries in the region, that have launched their careers in the cloud.