Category: Government

On March 31, the AWS Summit Brussels returned to the Egg in Brussels, Belgium, where Max Peterson, vice president of AWS worldwide public sector, and Isabella Groeger-Cechowicz, vice president of AWS worldwide public sector of EMEA sales, took the stage for the event’s keynote. They discussed how AWS is supporting customers with a dedication to data privacy and protection, sustainability, and social impact. Three customer speakers joined them onstage to share stories about how they use the cloud to drive impact for their missions. Read on for what you might have missed at the AWS Summit Brussels.

On April 1, the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) released the 1950 Census data to the general public. Census data is released 72 years after a census is conducted, and it has been 10 years since the last census data for the 1940 Census was publicly released. With the support of cloud technologies, this release marks a number of important firsts. AWS is honored to support the release of the 1950 Census and help make this data available to the public.

In my time working for the UK government’s Digital Marketplace as the service manager, I saw first-hand the benefits of open source in government. Combined with transparent processes, using open source solutions helped streamline digital project execution, build trust with constituents and the global community, and save time and money. Now, as the senior manager of government services (GovServices) at AWS, and as a teacher for the AWS Institute Executive Education Program, I want to share best practices for government leaders looking to use open source solutions.

To drive innovation and optimise operations in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud, UK public sector organizations need to transfer data quickly and safely, in accordance with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)’s guidance on how to configure, deploy, and use cloud services securely. The NCSC provides security guidance for protecting government systems, planning for cyber incidents, and more. In this post, we cover how you can configure AWS services—like AWS DataSync, AWS Storage Gateway, and AWS Transfer Family—to align your data transfer solution with the NCSC’s cloud security principles, as understanding these configurations is important to protect data and meet requirements for local force accreditation.

AWS plans to launch new AWS Local Zones across Latin America to contribute to the region’s economic diversification. The new locations include Bogotá, Colombia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Lima, Peru; Queretaro, Mexico; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Santiago, Chile. AWS is helping to develop more resilient economies that promote long-term economic growth. The low-latency offered by Local Zones can make new use cases possible for public sector organizations.

The AWS Summit Brussels is back. On Thursday, March 31, 2022, the no cost, in-person learning conference will bring together cloud enthusiasts from the public and private sectors at The Egg in Brussels, Belgium. Join to deepen your cloud knowledge and learn about the power of cloud innovation to transform organizations and businesses around the world.

On March 16, I had the honor of kicking off the Build(Her) Conference in Washington, DC, a co-hosted Halcyon and AWS event, along with Kate Goodall, Halcyon co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO). First launched in 2020, the Build(Her) Conference brings together women leaders and entrepreneurs from both the public and private sectors to share ideas, network, and hear from speakers on topics like government innovation, fundraising and growing companies, resilience, and more.

To better understand the rapidly evolving workforce landscape and help our customers address barriers to digital skilling, AWS commissioned the strategy and economics consulting firm AlphaBeta to examine the skills needs of organizations across Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea. In this blog post, we outline key insights from the report, “Building Digital Skills for the Changing Workforce,” and provide examples for how governments, employers, training providers, and the technology industry can come together to meet this challenge.

In 2021, AWS launched the Clean Energy Accelerator to help startups working in clean energy accelerate their impact. This accelerator resulted in funding and growth opportunities for the participating startups. Building off this success, AWS is now launching a new accelerator focused on the rapid growth of clean tech innovations: the AWS Sustainable Cities Accelerator. The new accelerator will focus on mobility and transportation with a goal helping companies learn how to innovate and accelerate their mission growth by leveraging advanced cloud-based technologies.

AWS signed a new Cloud Framework Agreement (CFA) with the Malaysian government, together with local IT provider and AWS Partner Radmik Solutions Sdn Bhd, to help accelerate cloud adoption in the public sector and help agencies save costs, boost digital skills, and drive innovation. AWS is the first international cloud service provider to have concluded and signed a CFA with the Malaysian government, as part of our long-term commitment to support Malaysia’s digital transformation.