Category: State or Local Government

Cloud security at AWS is the highest priority. AWS customers benefit from a data center and network architecture built to meet the requirements of the most security-sensitive organizations. We listen closely to our customers to offer both a secure cloud computing environment and innovative security services that satisfy the security and compliance needs of the most risk-sensitive organizations.

AWS hosted first responders from fire chiefs to law enforcement to identify solutions to address gaps in communication technology and ensure emergency information is dispersed consistently and quickly. The Tech to Protect Challenge, a hackathon hosted by Redflash Group, connected public safety agencies and first responders with technologists and coders that help them work backwards to solve common challenges. The program helps emergency responders save lives through improved communications and awareness by advancing and expanding technology access.

The technological revolution allows cities to deliver citizen services more effectively. But sticking with the status quo and not modernizing IT systems can expose cities to cybercrimes including ransomware. A number of U.S. cities have been the targets of recent high-profile ransomware attacks such as Atlanta and Baltimore, with recovery costs running to hundreds of millions of dollars. At the 2019 CityLab Summit in Washington, D.C., the AWS Institute convened a roundtable with mayors, CIOs, and cybersecurity leaders from across the United States to share their experiences and lessons learned.

From a new podcast to challenge winners, read on for the government, education, and nonprofit highlights from the annual Amazon Web Services (AWS) Worldwide Public Sector Breakfast at re:Invent.

Parsons Corporation, an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN) Advanced Consulting Partner, announced 10 semi-finalists in the first Parsons Smart Cities Challenge. The competition, titled Transforming Intersections, will award the winning city with a year of support and services to help increase mobility around cities and reduce the amount of time citizens spend at red lights.

The sixth annual City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge opened new categories to highlight innovative customers that are driving actionable change for the benefit of constituents. The competition includes categories for constituent services, solving persistent problems, sustainability and equity, powered by AWS, dream big, and public datasets. The competition received more than 100 nominee use cases that highlighted how AWS customers are using the cloud to innovate and improve the lives of constituents.

Emergencies and national disasters can strike at any moment. And with the change in how people communicate – from the internet to cell phones and more – emergency response systems need to be modernized to meet the immediate urgent needs of constituents. Amazon Web Services (AWS) supports many disaster recovery architectures, from those built for smaller workloads to enterprise solutions that enable rapid failover at scale. AWS provides a set of cloud-based disaster recovery services that enable fast recovery of your IT infrastructure and data.

As communities around the world grow, traffic congestion problems increase. Cities and states in addition to regional authorities face decisions around how to modernize, maintain, and budget for upgrades to their transportation network to improve the quality of life and safety of their residents. With private and public sector collaboration, officials can measure and analyze city transportation and congestion to make data-driven decisions that improve the quality of life for their residents.

As students prepare to go back to school, over 1,000 students, educators, university presidents, college administrators, superintendents, and business leaders from 43 different countries met in Seattle, Washington, to discuss the opportunities in the world of education, and how AWS can be used to create innovative solutions. The conference revolved around three core themes: building the workforce of tomorrow, innovation and transformation, and the role of machine learning in education. Read on for the major highlights from the event.

The Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS) is the state’s primary social service provider. Through 24 local social services agencies, the department assists people in economic need, provides preventive services, and protects vulnerable children and adults in each of Maryland’s 23 counties and the City of Baltimore.