AWS Public Sector Blog

Category: Customer Solutions

Rush Medical analytics hub

Rush University Medical Center creates COVID-19 analytics hub on AWS

Rush University Medical Center embraced cloud transformation for internal operations and organizational needs as well as in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rush analytics team worked with the city of Chicago department of public health to create a working reference implementation of a cloud-based public health analytics hub. This hub aggregates, combines, and analyzes multi-hospital data related to patient admissions, discharges and transfers, electronic lab reporting, hospital capacity, and clinical care documents of COVID-19 patients receiving care in and across Chicago hospitals.

hand with chalk drawing family and house on chalkboard

Using the cloud to get rental assistance quickly to those in need

Even before the pandemic, many people were rent burdened, with a quarter of renters paying more than half their income on rent. US Congress approved two bills containing $45 billion for emergency rental assistance programs (ERAP) that states and local governments can use to support people in need. Distributing these funds quickly and efficiently requires local agencies to rapidly design and deploy new engagement models, programs, and workflows that are easy to use, that can quickly scale up to meet demand, and are flexible enough to adjust to changes in federal and local requirements. Learn how these AWS customers and partners are leveraging the cloud to quickly launch and distribute benefit assistance programs like emergency rental assistance.

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BrainGuide uses cloud technology to empower people with knowledge and resources for brain health

Alzheimer’s, a progressive brain disease that gradually deteriorates memories and thinking skills, is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, according to nonprofit UsAgainstAlzheimer’s (UsA2). To help address the immense need for brain health information and insights, UsA2 recently launched BrainGuide working with AWS and Biogen. BrainGuide is a first-of-its-kind platform that empowers people with knowledge and resources to take the best next steps in managing their own or a loved one’s brain health.

How the cloud is helping remove barriers to addressing climate change

What if we were to democratize access to data and compute so that anyone, anywhere in the world could contribute to climate science? The Amazon Sustainability Data Initiative (ASDI) seeks to accelerate sustainability research and innovation by minimizing the cost and time required to acquire and analyze large sustainability datasets. ASDI supports innovators and researchers with the data, tools, and technical expertise they need to advance sustainability initiatives. ASDI is committed to making climate-relevant data easier to access and analyze. ASDI’s growing data catalog comprises petabytes of open data.

aerial street map Singapore

NUS Urban Analytics Lab scales research globally with AWS

The Urban Analytics Lab at the National University of Singapore (NUS) spearheads research in geospatial data analysis and 3D city modelling. The lab’s work underpins the development of smart cities and provides scientists, architects, urban planners, and real estate developers with data insights. These insights help parties make informed decisions about projects ranging from energy modelling to urban farming. To meet rising global demand for its data analytics and planning tools, Urban Analytics Lab turned to Amazon Web Services (AWS).

telehealth iconology

Using the cloud to better understand and address social determinants of health

According to FAIR Health and the American Medical Association, telehealth use saw a nearly 3000% growth from pre-pandemic to during the pandemic. These services make virtual, real-time interactions between patient and provider possible. However, the great promise of telehealth has highlighted existing roadblocks that some face when trying to access healthcare in this country. The National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved (NHIT) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization on a mission to provide equitable access to health technologies and to make sure that these technologies address the needs of underserved communities and communities of color. Since its founding in 2008, NHIT has worked to advance health equity and economic viability on issues such as broadband access, electronic health records, precision medicine, consumer health applications and disaster resiliency.

man with face mask getting vaccine from nurse with mask and face shield

Accelerating COVID-19 vaccine rollout with Zocdoc on AWS

With more than 1,400 different systems that healthcare providers use to run their scheduling, and millions of Chicago residents seeking a vaccine, a unified, citywide rollout for COVID-19 vaccinations is a challenge. Like many municipalities, early in the pandemic, the city of Chicago preferred to offer its residents a centralized find-and-book appointment system for COVID-19 testing, but other priorities and operational challenges prevented this. However, for vaccines, the team leading the city’s COVID-19 vaccination response was determined to deliver a more seamless experience for residents. The city used the Zocdoc Vaccine Scheduler built on AWS.

Young woman holding a notebook in front of a board in a classroom

Education transforming like never before

In 2020, education transformed like never before. Educational institutions needed to be able to provide students, teachers, and staff with immediate access to education and AWS helped customers and partners modernize their systems and applications and reach learners remotely, quickly, and at scale. In 2021, innovation continues in the world of teaching, learning, and research—as well as the use of technology to automate processes and drive better student outcomes.

Michael Snyder of Stanford University

AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative helps nonprofits harness the cloud to research and combat COVID-19

We’ve helped multiple nonprofit research organizations advance their COVID-19 research through our AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative, first launched in March 2020. The next round of funding opens today. As we launch the next phase, we are excited to broaden the AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative’s scope and distribute the remaining $12 million this year. We will accept applications through the end of the year, with priority consideration given to applications received before July 31. Check out a few examples of the nonprofit research projects supported by the AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative.

navy ships at sea aerial view

Naval Research & Development Establishment (NR&DE) provides the US Navy access to AWS Secret Region

In June 2019, Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC PAC) awarded AWS the first Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) in the US DoD for DoD Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide IL-6 cloud services. This BPA allows for Navy customers to bring the benefits of commercial cloud to Secret workloads. In 2020, NIWC PAC made available the first AWS Secret Region IL-6 environment available for both internal customers residing on the NIWC PAC Secret Wide Area Network (SWAN) and external DoD and U.S. Department of the Navy customers. To support external customers, NIWC PAC deployed SkyDesk, a Citrix Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution that allows any SIPRNet terminal to connect and access the NR&DE IL-6 Cloud.