AWS Public Sector Blog

While moving to the cloud saves cost when compared to on-premises IT models, it is important to inspect possible mistakes that could lead to unplanned cloud costs. Based on customer cost optimization consultations with AWS, some organizations have seen up to 33% reduction in cloud spending waste. Here we provide some tips and resources to recognize cloud cost optimization. What are some other common oversights customers make that can drive up their cloud spend? Avoid the following missteps.

Universities around the world are using voice technology to bridge the gap between students and institutions and addressing key challenges for universities today including student retention and satisfaction. At the BETT Show 2020 in London in January—focused on future tech trends, innovation, and wellbeing—Alex Denley, Director of Innovation and Transformation at London South Bank University (LSBU), discussed how voice technology can help, including the Alexa skill Ellie.

To nurture future diverse leaders in technology during Black History Month, AWS worked across the United States to educate the next generation of students on cloud computing, cloud career opportunities, and how to excel in the technology industry. AWS Educate and the Americas-based AWS solutions architecture team worked together at Bowie State University during a two-day, student-centered event near Amazon HQ2. Almost 150 students from the technology and security, computer science, and management of information systems departments came to learn about the AWS builder culture, AWS Educate resources, and early-career technical roles through Tech U.

For climate change adaptation and resilience, it is important to assess the risks associated with the impacts of climate change and then understand and take action to mitigate those risks. Since 1980, the U.S. has experienced 258 weather and climate disasters where the overall damage costs reached or exceeded $1 billion. As floods become more frequent and costly and natural hazards and climate change impact physical building assets, business continuity, and asset values, big data and analytical technology can be used to create high-tech risk assessments and economic loss estimations.

This month, the Fix This podcast focused on how technology is used to preserve ancient artifacts, develop the pipeline of scientists that fuel our trips to space, and end homelessness. Listen to episodes seven and eight, featuring interviews with Digital Divide Data (DDD), NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (NASA JPL), Community Solutions, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) expert on homelessness, Jessie Metcalf.

Mahmoud Khaled, a PhD student at TUM and a research assistant at LMU, researches how to improve safety-critical systems that require large amounts of compute power. Using AWS, Khaled’s research project, pFaces, accelerates parallelized algorithms and controls computational complexity to speed the time to science. His project findings introduce a new way to design and deploy verified control software for safety-critical systems, such as autonomous vehicles.

The Smithsonian Institution announced the availability of more than 2.8 million two- and three-dimensional images and files through the Smithsonian Open Access Initiative. With this initiative, anyone with an internet connection has access to high-resolution media files, the accompanying metadata, and research from the Smithsonian Institution’s 19 museums, nine research centers, and zoo. This Smithsonian dataset is the largest museum collection released to date.

AWS Educate is now a Project Lead the Way (PLTW) transformative partner. As a transformative partner, AWS Educate and PLTW will provide access to cloud computing educational content for K12 students across the United States, including those in low-technology schools. The collaboration means more K12 students can now access AWS Educate cloud computing curriculum through PLTW’s network of more than 12,200 elementary, middle, and high schools.

Cloud-based technologies allow organizations like governments to build a new application on existing services on the internet that offers open and documented APIs to deliver reliable data. These services have an authentication model so that new users verify their identity before accessing, even if it’s offered at no cost. There are three components in this scenario: a service provider, an end user, and an application that needs to access user data. The key technology here is OAuth. OAuth is a standard that enables access delegation.

Maybe you’ve never thought about hackathons before. Or maybe you have a vague idea as to what they are. Or perhaps you are the champion of hundreds of hackathons. Either way, read on to learn why you should consider hackathons in a new way.