Category: government

Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies collect endless amounts of data that, however abundant, often fails to paint the whole picture. Now, through the use of data lakes, healthcare agencies across the world are connecting disparate datasets, connecting information, and drawing new insights from years of data.

HHS is in the midst of a digital transformation. Organizations are seeking new, innovative ways to deliver high quality, cost-effective services to beneficiaries. To make informed decisions, organizations must manage:

• Digitization of service delivery
• More data from more services and devices
• Changing laws and regulations
• Healthcare delivery transformation
• Pressure to contain costs
• Growing benefits enrollments
• Aging populations
• New technologies

Actionable and timely analytics are key to effective and efficient service delivery. Enter the data lake. Data lakes allow an organization to load and store all of their data, structured and unstructured, in one centralized repository.

Faced with numerous types and massive amounts of data, organizations are finding that in order to deliver insights in a timely manner, they need a data storage and analytics solution that offers more agility and flexibility than traditional approaches. Organizations in every sector are adopting data lakes because they offer more agility and flexibility than traditional approaches to managing data.

Watch the recording of the webinar on how HHS organizations can use data lakes to develop a single view of their beneficiaries. Don’t miss the next webinar in this series on “How HHS agencies are Running Mission-Critical Systems in the Cloud. Register here.

Register today for our “Building a Serverless Data Lake” bootcamp at the AWS Public Sector Summit.

Keep learning about data lakes, big data, and analytics with CSRA and AWS at the AWS Public Sector Summit June 12-14, 2017 in Washington, DC.

LiDAR point cloud data for Washington, DC, is available for anyone to use on Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). This dataset, managed by the District of Columbia’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), with the direction of OCTO’s Geographic Information System (GIS) program, contains tiled point cloud data for the entire District along with associated metadata.

LiDAR is a remote sensing method that emits hundreds of thousands of near-infrared light pulses each second to measure distances to the Earth. These light pulses generate precise, 3D information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics. LiDAR is popularly used to make high-resolution maps and digital elevation models, with applications in geodesy, archaeology, geography, geology, seismology, and forestry.

LiDAR data supports the development of new applications for city planning, building restoration, law enforcement and crime prevention, traffic and parking management, autonomous vehicles, and more.

DC OCTO and AWS have made LiDAR data publicly available as an AWS Public Dataset as part of the Smarter DC initiative. The initiative encourages innovation and development of smart city technologies that improve the quality of life for residents and visitors.

Accessing DC LiDAR Data on AWS

DC’s OCTO’s mission is to improve the quality and lower the cost of services provided by the DC government, through the District’s collective investment and effective application of data and systems. They acquired new LiDAR data in spring 2015 to establish a more thorough and better quality core LiDAR dataset.

“Working with AWS to make DC LiDAR data openly available enables us to provide city data as part of the Smarter DC initiative, to encourage more innovation and development of new smart city applications. The use of LiDAR data in applications will elevate DC’s tech scene and foster more technical growth and solutions to city challenges. It also makes DC Government more efficient in the way it operates, plans, and spends taxpayer funds,” said Archana Vemulapalli, DC Chief Technology Officer.

For example, LiDAR Data supports urban planning projects and management of city assets resulting in more accurate modeling of city features, such as watersheds and flood plains, to more efficiently plan buildings and roadways to improve storm water management and transportation in the city. Also, LiDAR models can help monitor air pollution by detecting particle levels of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, methane, and even light pollution, which can be used to reduce pollutant concentration in certain areas.

The LiDAR data products are suitable for 1 foot (or less) contour generation.  This project consists of deliverables in accordance with USGS v1.2 specifications and meets or exceeds the level of quality for QL1 (8 points per meter).

Examples of how to access the files via the AWS CLI can be seen here. And visit the Open Data DC catalog as a source for additional DC government data.

If you would like to show us what you can do with DC LiDAR data or would like to receive updates on the project, please reach out to us here. If you have a research project that could take advantage of DC LiDAR data on AWS, you can apply for AWS Cloud Credits for Research.

Image courtesy of Hobu, Inc. Powered by Entwine, Greyhound and Potree, see more here (http://potree.entwine.io/data/dc.html)

Successful cloud adoption flows from well-designed procurement strategies and cloud-centric contract vehicles. Getting procurement ‘right,’ will lead to a portfolio of cloud technology and services that truly realizes the benefits of cloud computing.

One way to procure the cloud is by issuing an RFP. Public sector organizations can issue a solicitation to an SI or managed service/consulting firm and have them propose a comprehensive solution. This allows you to request comprehensive services, but designate that they must make use of public cloud services.

Below are some tips for writing a cloud-friendly RFP:

Do:

• Focus on the outcomes
• Maintain flexible language
• Focus on functionality needed and overall performance-based requirements
• Encourage recommended alternatives to deliver and/or enhance the services and outcomes you seek
• Take advantage of fluctuating prices rather than a fixed price model
• Specify commercial item terms

Don’t:

• Be overly prescriptive
• Include specific details, which may outdate the contract
• Dictate the specific methods, hardware, and equipment to be used
• Refer to part numbers to achieve desired outcomes

Learn more of the best practices in cloud acquisition and more guidance on writing a cloud-friendly RFP by visiting our “How to Buy” page.

Want to learn more about cloud procurement? Join Smartronix and AWS at the AWS Public Sector Summit June 12-14, 2017 in Washington, DC. Register today!

Hardware multi-factor authentication (MFA) is now available in the AWS GovCloud (US) Region to help bolster data security while giving you control over token keys with access to your data.

AWS Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is a best practice that adds an extra layer of protection on top of your user name and password. With MFA enabled, when a user signs in to the AWS GovCloud (US) Region, they are prompted for their user name and password (the first factor, or “what they know”), as well as for an authentication code from their AWS MFA device (the second factor, or “what they have”). Taken together, these factors provide increased security for AWS GovCloud (US) account settings and resources.

The AWS GovCloud (US)-specific tokens are distributed by SurePassID, a third-party digital security company, and implement the Initiative for Open Authentication Time-based One-Time Password (OATH TOTP) standard. The MFA token keys are stored in the AWS GovCloud (US) Region with a separate AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) environment to create logical isolation from other regions during authentication. SurePassID tokens are available for purchase on Amazon.com.

You can enable MFA for your AWS GovCloud (US) account and for individual IAM users you have created under your account. You can also use MFA to control access to AWS GovCloud (US) service APIs.

AWS does not charge any additional fees for using MFA, so after you have obtained a supported hardware or virtual MFA device you can start to deploy MFA with no additional cost.

To learn more about MFA for the AWS GovCloud (US) Region, see AWS GovCloud (US) Product Details.

The American Community Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) is now available as an AWS Public Dataset. AWS and data.world collaborated to make the data available for analysis in the cloud. Now, anyone can access and analyze PUMS data in the cloud without needing to download and store their own copy.

The ACS is the largest and most up-to-date annual survey performed by the US Census Bureau detailing information about the American people and housing units. It affects $400 billion in annual spending and impacts local officials, community leaders, and businesses who rely on the data to understand the changes taking place in their communities.

By hosting this important data where it can be quickly and easily processed with elastic computing resources, AWS hopes to enable more innovation, more quickly. Learn how to access the data at the ACS PUMS on AWS Public Dataset landing page.

We spoke with Jonathan Ortiz, data scientist and knowledge engineer at data.world, and discussed how people can use and work with the ACS data on AWS to help foster a more informed population.

Q. What are the biggest challenges associated with ACS data usage?

The biggest challenge with ACS data usage is its steep learning curve. The learning curve is a byproduct of a very positive aspect of the ACS: it’s so big. It covers an exhaustive number of attributes about people and housing units by practically any geography you could think of, which is fantastic but robust datasets tend to have steep learning curves.

Q. How was ACS data previously made available for use?

There are two ACS data releases: pre-tabulated Summary Files, which are aggregated population estimates by geography; and microdata, which is the non-aggregated, individual record-by-record view of the population. There are countless ways to access the Summary Files, including the Census API and data.world, but there aren’t many options for the microdata, which is what we focused on for this AWS public dataset.

Until now, ACS microdata has been made available via FTP as raw .csv files, and its metadata has been stored in human-readable data dictionaries separate from the data, which required users to constantly refer back and forth between the data and the data dictionary.

Q. Your National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded work transforms the ACS into a graph database – what are the benefits of this approach?

Making the ACS data available as a graph database helps improve usability. Big, raw .csv files can be unwieldy, so putting everything into a secure, queryable database means you don’t have to work with raw files or store anything. Just query what you need!

By using graph data, you can store the metadata along with the data itself. Data.world has removed the data from its silo, so now others can use this as a foundation to link their data to the Census. For example, there are many ACS-powered projects, apps, and analyses using data.world, such as Data For Democracy’s election transparency analysis, which aims to uncover trends and anomalies in US elections.

Q. What do you see as the advantage of making this data available on AWS?

AWS cloud computing serves many, so this makes it easier for those folks to get ACS microdata and use it. It extends the audience of the work we’ve done by orders of magnitude. Developers will now be able to make websites and software applications using the ACS microdata, putting information in front of the American people, which can help foster a more informed public.

Learn how to access the data at the ACS PUMS on AWS Public Dataset landing page.

In GovLoop’s guide, Your Roadmap to IT Modernization, Doug VanDyke, General Manager and Director of the U.S. Federal Sector, Amazon Web Services, shares what modernization means, the benefits of modernization, and some of the most critical challenges facing IT executives in the government today. 

“In order to keep up with the changes in technology, it’s important to build an IT workforce that understands what the new technologies are and help them stay ahead of the technology learning curves,” VanDyke said.

Specifically, VanDyke said that government can effectively modernize by applying agile development, cultural changes, and modern platforms that enhance existing government applications.

Agencies should look for these qualities in their technology platforms:

• Security: Cloud platforms and infrastructure that puts strong safeguards in place to protect government data and citizen privacy with information stored in highly secure data centers.
• Private, isolated resources: Cloud architectures can offer the right amount of isolation (degree of privacy) to protect government applications as well as the ability to choose how much to integrate with existing resources.
• Compliance: Rich controls, auditing, and broad security accreditations are essential to maintain compliance with federal requirements, such as those laid out in FedRAMP.
• Hybrid: Architectures that combine on-premises and cloud capabilities can help government agencies extend their local resources more easily to the cloud.

Ultimately, real modernization and effective transformation in government are dependent not just on the right technologies, but also on awareness in the IT workforce. Agile development, cultural change, and the right platforms can be the best combination of people and technology to help agencies further their modernization efforts.

Download the GovLoop guide here. And learn more about migration and transformation at the AWS Public Sector Summit in Washington, DC June 12-14. Register to attend here.

The AWS Build-A-Business Workshop promotes innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development in Latin America through a series of GriffinWorx workshops. Our first event is in Costa Rica on April 27-28. Register here.

Each Build-A-Business Workshop is a two-day experiential, mentor-driven event supporting the development of innovative new businesses. Working with GriffinWorx, government leadership, AWS experts, universities, and grassroots organizations, our goal is to empower new businesses and collaborate with business solution providers in the region to uncover hidden opportunities and actionable solutions that will ignite innovative thinking and behaviors.

Cloud technology can be a game changer for entrepreneurs and economies. At AWS, we want to give new businesses a boost in their business planning, demand generation, and technology innovation to bring their products or services to market.

Here are five essential actions startups can take to use AWS technology as a driver of innovation:

1. Take advantage of AWS Activate: AWS Activate is a program designed to provide startups with the resources to get started on AWS. All startups can apply for the Self-Starter Package. We also have custom Portfolio and Portfolio Plus packages for startups in select accelerators, incubators, Seed/VC Funds, and startup-enabling organizations. In addition, each startup participating in the AWS Build-A-Business Workshop will receive $1,000 in AWS promotional credits.
2. Work with the Government: Technology ecosystems require collaboration to grow and thrive. Startups should identify methods for crosscutting collaboration with governmental and non-governmental organizations. Most countries have small business advantage or incubation programs, which can include a collection of local mentors, business loans, or facilities to use as you get your business off the ground.
3. Be Curious: Learn what would ultimately make your customers successful. Dive into the details from your customers’ perspectives. What matters most to them? How can you make their experience better? As you are building your business, start with an end goal and map out the steps to get there. This can reduce surprises.
4. Think Globally: With tools like AWS LightSail, you can have technology that is offered to the largest of enterprises for the cost of a cup of coffee. AWS pricing gives customers of all sizes the opportunity to access innovative cloud services.
5. Create your “Board of Directors:” Increasing the quality and quantity of entrepreneurs requires increasing the quality and quantity of local mentors and coaches dedicated to empowering the next generation of innovators. From the start, engage with mentors you trust locally who can open doors for you. Ask them to give you constructive feedback as you get started. Local mentors and coaches can help build strong teams, design viable business models, secure customers, and generate revenue rapidly. The result is the growth of scalable and investment-ready businesses.

“At AWS we believe that investing in entrepreneurs creates a more well educated and successful workforce,” said Jeff Kratz, General Manager of Worldwide Public Sector for Latin America, Canada and the Caribbean at Amazon Web Services. “Technology innovation can drive economic development around the globe, and we are committed to supporting the entrepreneur across Latin America.”

By reducing the barriers for innovation to flourish, we are encouraging Latin America’s entrepreneurial ecosystem growth and the empowerment of innovative businesses. Take your current business or idea to the next level and register today for the AWS Build-A-Business Workshop.

Cinco consejos para construir su negocio con AWS

El taller AWS Build-A-Business Workshop promueve la innovación, el emprendimiento y el desarrollo económico en América Latina a través de una serie de talleres de GriffinWorx. Nuestro primer evento se lleva a cabo en Costa Rica, del 27 al 28 de abril. Regístrese aquí.

Cada taller de AWS Build-A-Business es un evento experimental de dos días, orientado por mentores, que apoya el desarrollo de nuevos negocios innovadores. Trabajando con GriffinWorx, liderazgo gubernamental, expertos de AWS, universidades y organizaciones de base, nuestro objetivo es capacitar a nuevos negocios y colaborar con proveedores de soluciones de negocios en la región para descubrir oportunidades ocultas y soluciones accionables que enciendan pensamientos y actuaciones innovadoras.

La tecnología en la nube puede suponer un cambio importante para los empresarios y las economías. En AWS queremos impulsar a las nuevas empresas en su planificación empresarial, generación de demanda e innovación tecnológica a la hora de llevar sus productos o servicios al mercado.

Estas son cinco acciones esenciales que las startups pueden llevar a cabo para usar la tecnología AWS como un motor de innovación:

1. Aproveche AWS Activate: AWS Activate es un programa diseñado para proporcionar a las startups los recursos necesarios para comenzar a utilizar AWS. Todas las startups pueden solicitar el paquete Self-Starter. También tenemos paquetes personalizados de Portfolio y Portfolio Plus para startups en determinados aceleradores, incubadoras, organizaciones de Capital Inicial/Capital Riesgo y organizaciones para la puesta en marcha de startups. Además, cada startup que participe en el Taller AWS Build-A-Business recibirá $ 1,000 en créditos promocionales de AWS.
2. Trabajo con el Gobierno: Los ecosistemas tecnológicos requieren colaboración para crecer y prosperar. Las startups deben identificar métodos para la colaboración con organizaciones gubernamentales y no gubernamentales. La mayoría de los países cuentan con programas de incubación o de ventaja para pequeñas empresas, que pueden incluir una colección de mentores locales, préstamos comerciales o instalaciones que se utilizarán mientras su negocio despega.
3. Sea curioso: Aprenda lo que en última instancia hará que sus clientes obtengan éxito. Profundice en los detalles desde las perspectivas de sus clientes. ¿Qué es lo que más les importa? ¿Cómo puede mejorar su experiencia? Mientras usted construye su negocio, comience con un objetivo final y planifique los pasos necesarios para llegar allí. Esto puede reducir las sorpresas.
4. Piense globalmente: Con herramientas como AWS LightSail, puede obtener la tecnología que se ofrece a las mayores corporaciones por el costo de una taza de café. Los precios de AWS permiten a los clientes de todos los tamaños la oportunidad de acceder a los innovadores servicios en la nube.
5. Cree su “Junta de Directores:” Aumentar la calidad y la cantidad de emprendedores requiere aumentar la calidad y la cantidad de mentores y entrenadores locales dedicados a capacitar a la próxima generación de innovadores. Desde el principio, comprométase con los mentores de confianza locales que pueden abrirles puertas. Pídales que le proporcionen crítica constructiva a medida que comienza. Los mentores y entrenadores locales pueden ayudar a crear equipos fuertes, diseñar modelos comerciales viables, asegurar clientes y generar ingresos rápidamente. El resultado es el crecimiento de negocios escalables y preparados para la inversión.

“En AWS creemos que invertir en los emprendedores crea una población activa más educada y capaz”, dijo Jeff Kratz, Director del Sector Publico Global para Latinoamérica, Canadá y el Caribe de Amazon Web Services. “La innovación tecnológica puede impulsar el desarrollo económico en todo el mundo y nosotros estamos comprometidos en apoyar a los empresarios en toda América Latina.”

Al reducir las barreras para que la innovación pueda florecer, estamos alentando el crecimiento de los ecosistemas empresariales de América Latina y el empoderamiento de negocios innovadores. Lleve su negocio o idea actual al siguiente nivel y regístrese hoy para el Taller AWS Build-A-Business.

Are you a technology partner implementing a program or service on behalf of a government or school district? Winners will receive up to $50,000 in AWS promotional credits to help achieve their mission with the cloud. Click here to apply today (the nomination takes around five minutes)! The City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge closes on Friday, May 12th.

Here is one winner’s story:

VINE began from a tragedy in Louisville, Kentucky in 1993. Mary Byron was tragically murdered by her boyfriend turned rapist when he was released without notification to Mary or her family. County officials worked diligently to design a system that would let crime victims know the location and incarceration status of their offenders.

Mike Davis, the current CEO of Appriss, and Yung Nguyen founded Appriss in 1994. The two worked with Jefferson County, Kentucky, government officials to develop the nation’s first automated victim information and notification system (VINE) after Mary Byron’s murder. VINE® (Victim Information and Notification Everyday) is a free service that lets victims call a toll-free number, visit www.vinelink.com, or use the VINE mobile app to anonymously check on an offender’s custody status. Victims can also register to receive automated notifications about changes in offender status in their choice of format: phone, email, or text. VINE is currently used in 48 states and is the nation’s leading automated victim notification solution. VINE also offers protective order and court notifications, in select states.

With plans to launch a greatly enhanced version of VINE in 2017, Appriss Safety, a division of Appriss, Inc., applied to the 2016 City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge in the Partners in Innovation category in hopes of winning AWS promotional credits to mitigate some of the costs, since they had plans to use many AWS services, including compute, storage and content delivery, database, networking, analytics, management tools, and application services.

“We were encouraged to apply for the City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge as we needed to update VINE’s aging technology infrastructure. With the help of the AWS credits, we are now using AWS services to bring the new version of VINE to market,” said Krisy Bucher, Marketing Manager. “City on a Cloud provided us with AWS promotional credits, good exposure for our company, and a networking opportunity to meet with other industry leaders at the AWS Public Sector Summit.”

The City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge provided Appriss Safety with $25,000 in AWS promotional credits to help bring the VINE service to the cloud. The new version, releasing this spring, adds new features for victims of crime and a new application response system hosted on AWS GovCloud (US), an isolated AWS region designed to host sensitive data and regulated workloads in the cloud. Appriss continues its mission of saving lives and fighting crime by providing access to the nation’s most comprehensive and up-to-date arrest data network.

Apply to the City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge today.

Whether you are new to the cloud or an experienced user, you can always learn something new at the AWS Public Sector Summit. This year’s event, geared towards government, education, and nonprofits, is taking place June 12-14 in Washington, DC.

Save your spot today and get ready to spend three action-packed days with the innovators who are changing the world with cloud computing. You’ll go home with new strategies and techniques to accomplish new projects, maximize budgets, and achieve your mission that you didn’t think possible.

Monday, June 12: Pre-Day

New this year, we will have a pre-day with technical bootcamps. Seating is limited, so reserve your spot today. We will also be hosting technical and business pre-day workshops. Check them out here.

Tuesday, June 13 – Wednesday, June 14: General Sessions

Attend 100+ breakout sessions on topics such as DevOps, big data, Internet of Things, security and compliance, adoption models, scientific computing, open data, and more. We will have two keynotes featuring AWS leaders and global CIOs. And don’t miss our networking opportunities with partners and peers.

Watch this video to learn more and register today.

From Kenya to Colombia, Afghanistan to Indonesia, media and technology is being used in innovative ways to counter age-old drivers of conflict, ranging from election violence and inter-ethnic tension, to resource shortages and gender violence. The spread of technology is producing a transformation in conflict management and peacebuilding.

Peacetech is a new industry that brings together engineers and activists, MBAs and conflict experts, social scientists and data scientists to design, develop, and adapt new solutions to counter conflict and strive for peace. Technology can be used as a tool to mobilize people for peacebuilding and to create spaces for discussions. Peacetech can accelerate the development of solutions, distribute them faster, and engage more people in generating ideas and collaborative problem-solving.

For example, virtual reality (VR) has been used to generate empathy by creating brief but powerful immersive experiences, allowing the user to internalize a message. Analytics has been used in the field to assess cognitive, emotional, and behavioral dimensions related to conflict, providing new information and data visualization for decision makers. And social platforms, such as Skype, have been used to connect people worldwide with tutors to teach new languages, while providing empowering work opportunities to refugees.

C5 and PeaceTech Lab, along with support from AWS, are collaborating on the PeaceTech Accelerator, the first major international peacetech program powered by cloud innovation and dedicated to scaling startups around the world. The mission of the PeaceTech Accelerator is to produce innovative technology that manages, mitigates, predicts, or prevents conflicts.

“Today, people can send pictures, money, and information around the world with the click of a button,” said Sheldon Himelfarb, CEO, PeaceTech Lab. “Even in places experiencing some of the worst violence on earth, I see cell phones charging and air time selling. It’s up to each and every one of us to decide whether we use these tools to prolong conflict or build peace. The Accelerator is the embodiment of our commitment to support entrepreneurs who are dedicated to using their talents and technology for good.”

The PeaceTech Accelerator provides the mentorship and training needed to scale both for-profit and not-for-profit peacetech initiatives rapidly, securely, and cost-effectively to produce technology that can be used as platforms for peace.

Mentor sessions with AWS Solutions Architects at the PeaceTech Lab.

Learn more about the PeaceTech Lab and how to apply for the PeaceTech Accelerator here.