Top 10 highlights from the Public Sector Partner Forum at the AWS Summit Washington, DC

I had the pleasure of hosting the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Public Sector Partner Forum on the second day of the AWS Summit Washington, DC. It was a wonderful opportunity to share how AWS is inventing and simplifying for AWS Partners, and innovating on behalf of our customers.

More than 350 AWS Partners joined us for the AWS Partner Forum, but there are thousands more around the world that weren’t able to physically join us. Here are some highlights of the announcements and more from the forum:

1. AWS Partner Transformation Program with a new suite of Targeted Transformation Modules

The AWS Partner Transformation Program (PTP) – a comprehensive workshop that yields a customized 100-day growth plan for AWS Partners – is adding a suite of Targeted Transformation Modules (TTMs) to increase value for AWS Partners. These new TTMs, available now, provide topic-specific workshops that can complement our standard PTP to align with our partners’ unique needs.

2. A new APN Customer Engagement Program customer relationship management integration path

Based on our partners’ feedback on the APN Customer Engagements Program (ACE), we launched a new ACE customer relationship management (CRM) integration path: the AWS Partner CRM Connector. This new path is available to AWS Partners who are ACE eligible, and use Salesforce as their CRM. Once the integration is completed, partners can share opportunities with AWS directly from their CRM. This solution is meant to save AWS Partners time so they can focus on selling with AWS Sellers. Learn more about the AWS Partner CRM Connector.

3. Launch of new AWS GovTech Accelerator for startups

Justice and public safety customers have told us they need technology solutions to help increase community engagement, deter crime, and reduce recidivism. The new AWS GovTech Accelerator for startups is a response to that need. This new accelerator will bring the power of innovation to help AWS customers address these challenges and better serve their communities. Share this information with mission-driven founders you know. Applications are now open and close on Monday, July 10.

4. Snowflake Government & Education Data Cloud on AWS

At the Partner Forum, I shared the launch of the Snowflake Government & Education Data Cloud on AWS. With the Snowflake Government & Education Data Cloud, public sector organizations can have a single, integrated, and cross-cloud data platform that eliminates technical and institutional data silos.

5. World’s largest, longitudinal dataset of metastatic cancer on AWS

During the Partner Forum, Dr. Eric Oermann from New York University Langone Health, and Jesse Tetreault from AWS Partner NVIDIA shared how they developed NYUMets, the world’s largest, longitudinal, real-world dataset of metastatic cancer. In collaboration with NVIDIA, the NYUMets team used MONAI and built tools to detect, automatically measure, and classify cancer tumors. The NYUMets: Brain dataset is available to access at no cost with support from the AWS Open Data Sponsorship Program.

6. Making ground segments simple and scalable via StellarStation™

I had the honor of inviting Dr. Naomi Kurahara, CEO and founder of Infostellar, to speak to our audience at the Partner Forum. Infostellar is a Japan-based space startup and an AWS Partner who launched “StellarStation,” a ground station network platform that provides access to a network of 26 ground stations antennas across the globe. StellarStation does all of this for customers 90% faster than previous approaches. Satellite operators using Infostellar’s API platform can seamlessly deliver data from on-orbit satellites directly into AWS with just a few clicks of a button.

7. AWS Marketplace to accelerate transformation

AWS Marketplace has reached over 330,000 active customers, and many AWS Partners are already leveraging it as an important route to market. Today, the AWS Marketplace is available in 29 Regions and connects customers with more than 3,000 independent software vendors (ISVs) and more than 1,300 registered consulting partners. We are going to continue to invest in the AWS Marketplace and double down on the benefits for partners this year.

8. Democratizing access to generative artificial intelligence (AI)

AWS will drive the next wave of innovation by making generative AI simple, practical, and cost-effective for customers. AWS recently launched the preview of Amazon Bedrock, a new managed service that offers customers the simplest way to build and scale enterprise-ready generative AI applications. AWS will grow a vast partner ecosystem leveraging generative AI on AWS. AWS Partners Accenture, Deloitte, Infosys, Slalom, C3.ai, and Pega are already working with customers to holistically support business reinvention with generative AI.

9. Partners partnering for greater impact

We’re seeing a large uptick in “partners partnering” to accomplish more than a single partner can do on their own. For example, Rubicon and Esri, both AWS Partners, created an application service integration together to help the City of Columbus with efficient waste collection. More and more partners are collaborating through the AWS Distribution Program. AWS Distributors now work with thousands of AWS Partners of all types in over 100 countries. For AWS Partners who need support navigating the undifferentiated heavy lifting of managing an AWS back office, distributors offer partners ease of billing, account management, access to contracts, and geographical reach. For AWS Partners that want to grow their AWS practice, Distributors provide innovative solutions and approaches to complement AWS Partners’ go-to-market strategies.

10. Simple and value-added partner journey

AWS is 100% committed to enhancing simplicity and profitability for AWS Partners. The APN Transformation Initiative is aimed at helping you deliver different levels and types of value to customers—driving greater growth and profitability, through simplicity. As we simplify programs and invest in an end-to-end curated experience, we encourage you to engage with the Partner Paths to unlock benefits and growth opportunities available today. Be inspired by what we can achieve together this year!

We believe that partnerships are the highest level of customer obsession. All of this, and more, is possible because of the ingenuity of our incredible AWS Partners across the globe. AWS will continue to strengthen engagement between AWS and AWS Partners for optimized results for our mutual customers.

Learn more about some of our key programs and resources.