Author: AWS Public Sector Blog Team

The shift in technology and move to the cloud is not like any other in our lifetime, and the speed of innovation is happening much faster than anyone anticipated. Cloud is the new normal. Every industry and all levels of government—including the U. S. federal government—are utilizing the cloud for their most complex, innovative, and mission-critical projects.

With sensor technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning capabilities, smart cities are coming online. Cities can use technology to quickly and effectively identify areas needing government attention. Sensors can measure things from noise pollution to the fullness of public trashcans. As these technologies become more common, policymakers around the world are proving that the path to a smart, connected city begins with its residents.

This week, we hosted Enabling the Warfighter: Bringing Cloud to the Tactical Edge, a webcast focused on how cloud computing is more than just storing the Pentagon’s vast quantities of data; it’s providing warfighters with the capabilities necessary to dominate the modern battlefield.

AWS announced that Amazon Internet Services Private Limited (AISPL), an Indian subsidiary of the Amazon Group, which undertakes the resale and marketing of AWS Cloud services in India, has achieved full Cloud Service Provider (CSP) empanelment, and successfully completed the STQC (Standardization Testing and Quality Certification) audit from the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for cloud services delivered from the AWS Asia Pacific (Mumbai) Region.

Brushed-up coding skills. A first encounter with computer science. A lesson in persistence. This year’s installment of Hour of Code was another success for Computer Science Education Week and Code.org – and for the future of women and underrepresented minorities in technology.

How does a world-class technology university navigate the migration from an on-premises data center to a future-proofed IT infrastructure in the cloud? California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) is one of the top engineering schools in the nation, but the university was struggling with legacy technology that put data at risk.

Combatting modern forms of exploitation demands modern tools. AWS works with several national and international organizations who are committed to protecting human rights. Many nonprofit organizations rely on AWS to help prevent and expose human rights abuses through machine learning, facial and voice recognition, and more, as well as to reduce their overall IT costs so they can focus on mission-critical work.

Fifty-one Las Vegas area students attended re:Invent to learn about cloud computing and how they can get involved with technology beginning with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) educational path – and ultimately leading to a cloud computing career.

The recent release of the Cloud Management Report 2017 comes as public cloud usage eclipses the $200 billion mark. As consumption grows, more organizations are realizing the need for cooperation across business units to maximize the cloud’s value. This sets up the potential for widespread transformation. It can also introduce some complexity.

Southwest MiTech is an IT support consortium in Michigan under the Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency (KRESA) that provides top-to-bottom technology services for KRESA and the districts they serve. Early last year, KRESA was facing tight budgets and increasingly rigorous security and compliance requirements, yet they still were under pressure to scale their infrastructure and provide a disaster recovery (DR) environment.