Fix This

With over 500,000 children to serve, the US Children’s Bureau needed a solution that could quickly connect child welfare professionals to the right data and resources. ICF has managed the Child Welfare Information Gateway for 30 years. It is the nation’s largest library dedicated solely to child welfare and contains nearly 110,000 titles and receives over 3 million sessions annually. The Child Welfare Information Gateway is now powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). To understand how the AWS Cloud is redefining how the US Children’s Bureau and ICF can meet social workers’ needs, the Fix This team chatted with Kary James, senior managing director of child welfare and education at ICF and Matthew McGuire, child welfare program specialist at the US Children's Bureau.

Lithium-ion batteries power vehicles, appliances, and plenty of items we rely on every day. In order to build a sustainable future, TWAICE, a software technology company, uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) to gain valuable insights about how to improve the lithium-ion battery lifecycle. To better understand the role these batteries play in creating a more sustainable world, and how AWS is supporting their mission, the Fix This team chatted with Dr. Stephan Rohr, founder and co-chief executive officer of TWAICE.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched the AWS Think Big for Small Business Program to support small or minority-owned AWS Partners in their cloud journeys. To learn about the program, the Fix This team sat down with Sandy Carter, vice president of worldwide public sector partners and programs at AWS, and Tia Dubuisson, co-founder and president of Belle Fleur Technologies. Sandy explains how minority-founded organizations can benefit from tailored resources to help them grow their technical expertise and develop go-to-market strategies necessary to build a small business, and how the AWS Think Big for Small Business Program supports these gaps. Tia shares insights on her experience with the program and how she successfully launched Belle Fleur Technologies.

There are more than 6,000 public safety answering points (PSAPs) across the US—many of which rely on aging infrastructure to respond to emergency calls. Cloud-powered solutions from NGA 911 can help provide PSAPs with the insights, reliability, and redundancy needed to continue to serve citizens. To understand how NGA 911 uses Amazon Web Services to help modernize emergency response services, the Fix This team chatted with Ed Vea, chief technology officer of NGA 911.

This week, the Fix This team chatted with Hello Sunday Morning (HSM), an Australian nonprofit organization. HSM uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help change people’s relationship with alcohol consumption by providing access to professional health support and a community of like-minded individuals looking to change their alcohol consumption habits. To better understand how the AWS Cloud helps scale the app by ten-fold, the team spoke to Andy Moore, chief executive officer of HSM. Andy discussed the mobile app, Daybreak, which offers 24/7 support to those in need.

May is Mental Health Awareness month. To explore the topic, the Fix This team sat down with Brooks Kenny, executive director of WomenAgainstAlzheimer’s and director of the Be Brain Powerful Campaign at UsAgainstAlzheimer’s. Brooks talks about the recently launched BrainGuide, made in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Biogen who provided in-kind and financial support. From an assessment to resources, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s aims to reduce the stigma associated with Alzheimer’s disease and deliver information that sparks conversation about brain health.

The Fix This team sat down with Dr. Bala Hota, vice president and chief analytics officer at Rush University Medical Center, to learn about the analytics hub the university created in collaboration with the City of Chicago’s Department of Public Health. The hub aggregates and analyzes multi-hospital data, which allows clinicians to monitor bed availability across the city and make data-driven decisions. The analytics hub is powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS).

This Earth Day, the Fix This team explores how Amazon Web Services (AWS) can help organizations create sustainable solutions and advance their sustainability goals. To learn more about sustainability of the cloud and in the cloud, the team chatted with Ken Haig, senior manager for public policy in the Asia Pacific region at AWS. Next, the team turned to Ana Pinheiro Privette, lead for the Amazon Sustainability Data Initiative (ASDI), to learn why data is key to creating scalable, sustainable solutions. Wrapping up the episode, Adam Lewis, managing director at Digital Earth Africa joined the discussion. Adam discusses how Digital Earth Africa works with ASDI to make Earth observation data accessible across Africa to help innovators on the ground.

Wrapping up the 2021 Mission Critical Cloud series, the Fix This team explored how Amazon Web Services (AWS) can help organizations support the physical wellbeing of communities. Jeff Kratz, director of AWS Worldwide Public Sector in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada, kicked off the episode to discuss how the region has transformed with the cloud—including working and learning remotely during the pandemic. Next, the team heard from Brian Hettler, senior manager of mapping and program support for the Amazon Conservation Team, and Matt Hallas, technical lead of sustainable development practice for Maxar Technologies. The two explained how satellite imagery is used to protect isolated, Indigenous tribes in South America. Last, we checked in with Bobby Cagle, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. Bobby shared how deploying Amazon Connect provided business continuity during physical distancing requirements so the department could deliver on its mission of protecting the wellbeing of over 36,000 children a year.

In part two of the Mission Critical Cloud series, the Fix This team is joined by Dave Levy, vice president of US government sales at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Dave shares how AWS remains customer obsessed by building diverse and inclusive teams. Dave also dives into how the cloud can power solutions that create opportunities for the public to learn, grow, and gain access to knowledge and resources. Next, the team chatted with Aedan McDonald, founder and program manager of Justice Through Code, and Kevin Harper, Justice Through Code graduate and teaching assistant. Justice Through Code is a no-charge, semester-long program teaching coding skills to formerly incarcerated populations. The program was developed by the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School and the Center for Justice at Columbia University. Aedan and Kevin discuss the importance of bridging the technical divide and upskilling underserved communities. Wrapping up the episode, Dr. Tarika Barrett joins the conversation. Tarika is the current chief operating officer and incoming chief executive officer of the international nonprofit Girls Who Code. Tarika emphasizes the significance of building and retaining diverse teams and empowering girls and women to pursue careers in technology. To hear more from Tarika and Girls Who Code, register for the virtual AWS Public Sector Summit Online on April 15.