AWS Public Sector Blog

Imagine: hundreds of nonprofit leaders in a room, sharing ideas and learning how to leverage the full power of cloud technology to advance their missions. We’ve designed our AWS IMAGINE Nonprofit Conference to do just that. On August 13-14, 2019, AWS will hold its annual conference for nonprofit organizations. The IMAGINE Nonprofit Conference is a two-day immersive experience held in Seattle near Amazon’s headquarters. Our conference brings together hundreds of nonprofit leaders from around the globe to strengthen our collective ability to address the world’s most pressing challenges.

The World Bank, in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), and the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education (AGFE), hosted the Skills for The Future Initiative (SFI) at Zayed University in Dubai on June 19th and 20th. The program introduced the next generation of technology leaders in the United Arab Emirates to the skills needed to prepare them for the jobs of the future. The two-day training bootcamp attracted students from 12 institutes who learned about the changing nature of work and received introductory training on cloud technology leveraging AWS Educate resources.

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.

Pearson has announced a new Alexa skill for their Revel product at the “AWS Imagine: A Better World,”A Global Education Conference in Seattle. This free skill gives users convenient access to Revel courses on any Alexa-enabled device. Now, students looking for information on upcoming assignments or those who want to review a concept can just ask Alexa.

Building off of momentum on AWS Educate’s Cloud Degree initiative from last year, including the launch of the 19-school California Cloud offering and the cloud degree launched last year with Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), AWS Educate has been working around the world to bring cloud opportunities to students from the US to the UK.

A Commonwealth of Virginia initiative is now expanding to meet the demand for cybersecurity education across the country. The Virginia Cyber Range will offer its cybersecurity education services to educators, industry, and others, through a new offering named the U.S. Cyber Range of Virginia Tech.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the launch of a Cloud Innovation Centre (CIC) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. Part of an ongoing relationship between AWS and UBC, the CIC will provide students, staff, and faculty access to cloud technology to advance research projects, while employing Amazon’s innovation processes. The CIC is the first of its kind in Canada.

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) and Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) are developing a new course of study in collaboration with AWS Educate focused on “Data Intelligence,” focused on cloud computing, data analytics, machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI).

Different students learn in different ways. While many traditional classrooms continue to rely on a one-size-fits-all approach, Course Hero delivers personalized learning to every student through its innovative, machine learning (ML)-powered online platform. Operating under the slogan “Master your Classes,” Course Hero was founded with the vision of a world where every student graduates confident and prepared. The platform provides students access to study materials, including study guides, class notes, and practice problems. The service also includes on-demand access to subject matter expert tutors, available to help students 24/7.

Leaders at all levels of government are continuing to think big about how they can leverage technology to modernize citizen services and better deliver on mission. Cloud is playing a foundational role in enabling this innovation. Teresa Carlson, Vice President of Worldwide Public Sector at Amazon Web Services (AWS), led a fireside chat with Andrew Hallman, Deputy Director of Digital Innovation at the CIA, at FedTalks 2019. In the conversation, Andrew covered the need for agile adoption of the latest technologies within the CIA to compete more effectively in an increasingly complex threat landscape, the intersection of innovation and security, and CIA’s commitment to strengthening its digital acumen.