Tag: sustainability

Since wildfires can double in size and intensity every three to five minutes, early detection and reduced response times are essential. Cloud technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), can help with this. Learn a high-level architecture to create a solution with AWS that uses AI to identify and classify wildfire smoke imagery and then rapidly alert and inform first responders about the location and condition of a fire incident.

AWS announced the 2023 cohort of the Halcyon Climate Resilience in Latin America and the Caribbean Fellowship. AWS is sponsoring this fellowship with Halcyon, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit supporting impact-driven startups, to accelerate solutions that address the compounding effects of climate change. The focus of this fellowship is to help 10 innovative startups address the intersection of climate change and social determinants of health to provide more equitable health and life outcomes.

Sustainability is now an integral part of business strategy, even as the sustainability landscape is continuously evolving. At the AWS Public Sector Day 2023 held in London, public sector leaders gathered to learn and share how technology can help organisations achieve more with less in solving sustainability challenges. Two AWS customers shared how they’re rethinking traditional operations and innovating with the cloud to support their sustainability initiatives.

According to a new economic impact study (EIS) from AWS, AWS has invested ZAR 15.6 billion through 2022 to meet customer demand for cloud computing services. Thousands of South African customers have used AWS technologies to transform their businesses and accelerate their innovation, agility, and cost savings since AWS launched the AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region in 2020. According to the EIS, AWS operations will add an estimated ZAR 68 billion more to South Africa’s GDP by 2029. AWS’s investment impacts other parts of the South African economy as well, helping develop the next generation of workforce, digitally transform businesses, and promote sustainability throughout the country.

Climate change is a significant factor in many health-related issues, from the increase of pest-related illness, to food scarcity, access to clean air and water, and beyond. Recognizing the power the cloud has to amplify technologies that mitigate many of these issues, AWS is sponsoring a new fellowship with Halcyon, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit supporting impact-driven startups. Designed for entrepreneurs seeking to build climate resilience across Latin America and the Caribbean, the Halcyon Climate Resilience Intensive Fellowship aims to combat the compounding effects of climate change on poverty, food insecurity, health disparities, and displacement.

At AWS, we work with K12 schools, higher education institutions, and education technology (EdTech) and learning companies to support teaching and learning, research innovation, and to build lasting institutions that positively impact their communities. We asked our higher education customers what’s top of mind for them in 2023, capturing insights from AWS education subject matter experts and global education experts. Learn the main priorities that they shared with us, and what their future roadmap is for teaching, learning, and research.

In 2022, Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched the Amazon Sustainability Data Initiative (ASDI) Global Hackathon, part of a new collaboration with the International Research Centre in Artificial Intelligence, under the auspices of UNESCO. Participants were asked to use their creativity, intelligence, and technical skills to build sustainability solutions using data from ASDI on any AWS Cloud services to build solutions that support one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the United Nations (UN). We connected with Jeff McWhirter, the first place winner, to learn more about his winning project, the Repository for Archiving and MAnaging Diverse Data (RAMADDA).

The AWS Sustainability Conference held in Dublin gathered public sector and commercial organisations to came together to better understand how the AWS Cloud can drive sustainability initiatives. The conference focused on the importance of sustainability in business strategy, and how organisations can leverage the power of technology to achieve their sustainability goals. Leaders at the AWS Sustainability Conference discussed key best practices to optimize for sustainability initiatives.

As part of the Amazon Sustainability Data Initiative (ASDI), AWS invited Seán Lynch, the founder of OpenLitterMap, to share how AWS technologies and open data are helping to solve global challenges like biodiversity loss and plastic pollution with citizen science. Solutions like OpenLitterMap help unlock the potential that a global abundance of technology has for the collection and dissemination of pertinent data that is an instrumental part of positive social change.

A new geopolitical and energy market reality has accelerated momentum for the green transition. But there is one geography for which energy is a perennial challenge: islands. Islands have always sought to create a sustainable environment for their populations and have had to use ingenuity, collaboration, and civic will to make it happen—and often by using innovative technology. In this way, islands can be viewed as living laboratories of what could be scaled up for mainland communities. As the world responds to the energy crisis, islands can show a path for overcoming energy challenges.