March 2018 Top Blog Roundup

Listen now on SoundCloud: AWS Public Sector Podcast – episode 2: March 2018 Top Blog Roundup [9:45]

March was another active month for the public sector blog. Here is a look at the top five posts that resonated most with our readers.

1. Empowering Women in Tech on International Women’s Day

At AWS, we believe the future of tech should include people of every color, gender, belief, origin, and community. The future of tech should also be accessible, flexible, and inclusive. This vision is the foundation of our We Power Tech program, which focuses on building a pool of technologists as diverse as our world. We know we have a long way to go before realizing this future. Read more.

2. What Would You Do with $50,000 in AWS Promotional Credits?

The City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge is now open! The City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge is a global program recognizing how local and regional governments are innovating on behalf of their citizens around the globe. Last year, we opened up the competition to school districts who are using the cloud to enrich learning, help teachers reach more students, and improve school or district operations. This year, we are adding a new category to the Challenge: We Power Tech. Governments, school districts, and partners can now compete in four award categories. Read more.

3. Defense Agencies Can Access AWS Secret Region for IL6 Workloads

In November, with the launch of the AWS Secret Region, we achieved a Provisional Authorization (PA) for Impact Level 6 (IL6) workloads from the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), the IT combat support organization of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The PA was recently updated to add 11 new AWS services. A service catalog for the Region is available through your AWS Account Executive. Read more.

4. More Affordable Pricing for Amazon WorkSpaces for Education

Providing equitable access to learning resources is a challenge across education. AWS helps address this problem with Amazon WorkSpaces, a cloud-based desktop-as-a-service, and Amazon AppStream 2.0, an application streaming service. Both deliver critical course software and materials to students on their favorite devices, wherever they are.

In October, we announced new pricing for Amazon AppStream 2.0, extending reduced monthly Microsoft RDS SAL user fees to customers. Today, we are announcing a similar change for Amazon WorkSpaces. Educational institutions can save up to 14% per month on Amazon WorkSpaces by leveraging license discounts from Microsoft for Qualified Education Users. Read more.

5. Our 2018 AWS Public Sector Summit Series Has Arrived!

Spring is around the corner, and that means AWS Summits have arrived! Our global Summits bring the cloud computing community together to connect, collaborate, and learn about AWS. Catch these events in major cities around the world, where you can join technologists from government, education, and nonprofits who want to discover how AWS can help them innovate quickly and deliver flexible, reliable solutions at scale.

Stay tuned for next month’s blog roundup and upcoming episodes of the AWS Public Sector Podcast.