Tag: Amazon Lex

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.

State governments are currently experiencing a spike in the number of applications for social benefit programs. These programs serve millions of people every year to support healthcare and to help keep them out of poverty. To address the surge, agencies are looking at cloud-based services including artificial intelligence (AI), conversational bots, and call centers to improve the customer experience as well as workforce productivity, provide more visibility for agency leadership into program performance, and help reduce fraud, waste, and abuse.

In the United States, unemployment insurance claims are rising, with the current insured unemployment rate at 15.7%—the highest since the end of World War II. Many states are struggling with the volume of applications, causing legacy back-office systems to crash. Workforce West Va. identified three actions they could take to improve constituent services; many of these actions were enabled by the cloud.

Streetlives, a nonprofit organization based in New York City, uses technology to host a community-built web app for people who are homeless, communities considered vulnerable, and social service providers in New York City (NYC). Streetlives is a community-built mobile website that enables people who are homeless or in poverty to easily find, rate, and recommend social services across New York City. Adam Bard, Founder of Streetlives, explains how AWS Promotional Credits helps the organization deliver up-to-date, validated social service information to the communities of New York City.

State government labor and workforce development agencies are wrestling with an unprecedented surge in demand for services. In one week, 6.6 million Americans filed for initial unemployment insurance (UI) claims, nearly double the previous week. Many states are straining to meet this increase for demand in services. The cloud can help labor and agencies quickly scale and shift to meet constituent needs.

University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust’s Breast Care Unit approached Redmoor Health to discuss innovative ways to improve patient engagement. Turning to social media, the Health Innovation Campus at Lancaster University, Redmoor Health, and the National Health Service (NHS), began using Facebook to reach the at-risk demographic (women 49+ years old). Through this collaboration, they saw the number of patients attending vital breast screening appointments increase by 13% – among the best in the country.

Last week at AWS re:Invent, students from a local Las Vegas high school and students who traveled in from the United Kingdom (UK) participated in an AWS Field Trip to get inspired and excited to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers through a day of fun, hands-on engagements with technology.

The winners of the annual AWS City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge were announced today at re:Invent 2019. The annual competition recognizes applicants going above and beyond to innovate for and with their constituents, using the cloud to improve lives. Congratulations to the 18 winners!

During Homecoming 2019, the California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) Hub of Digital Transformation showcased the Bulldog Bot – a robotic take on the school mascot – built with Amazon Web Services (AWS) RoboMaker and AWS artificial intelligence (AI) services. The interactive Bulldog Bot engaged fans across campus by telling jokes, playing karaoke, and answering Fresno State homecoming trivia questions.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the Disruptive Innovators Network (DIN) hosted the first competitive social housing hackathon this past May in London. Four UK housing associations – including Great Places, Places for People and Metropolitan Thames Valley – were teamed with members of the AWS Partner Network (APN), and had 36 hours to analyse one of four housing problems and hack a solution.