Fix This

In the quest to better understand and address climate change, machine learning (ML) can help researchers investigate massive Earth observation data sets, build predictive models, and better understand how the world around us is impacted by increasing temperatures. Clouds play an intricate role in Earth’s climate, and they are changing due to human behavior. To better understand these changes and their effects, the team chatted with Dr. Philip Stier, professor and head of atmospheric, oceanic, and planetary physics in the department of physics at the University of Oxford, and Dr. Duncan Watson-Parris, a postdoctoral researcher on Dr. Stier’s team. The duo shared how they use ML to track patterns in our clouds and scale their research using Amazon Web Services (AWS). Next, the team checked in with Dr. David John Gagne, an ML scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. David John discusses how ML can help researchers study extreme weather patterns to help decision makers predict and prepare for natural disasters.

Is your organization ready for anything? In this episode of Fix This, the team dives deep with Edgar Haren, Amazon Web Services (AWS) product marketing manager, and Shonte’ Eldridge, executive government advisor at AWS, to uncover the importance of business resiliency. From universities to local governments, our latest eBook, A Guide to Building Organizational Resilience, explains how public sector organizations can use the cloud to navigate emergencies and disruptions to maintain business continuity. Next, we checked in with Dan Beeston, ICT manager of Juniper. Dan shares his experiences helping Juniper, an Australian aged care nonprofit, digitally transform and prepare for the unpredictable future.

In honor of National Voter Registration Day, the team sat down with two nonprofit leaders to hear how they are using cloud technology to educate and encourage civic engagement. First, we checked in with chief education officer of iCivics, Dr. Emma Humphries. Emma explained how iCivics began and how they have used the AWS Cloud to create a platform dedicated to teaching K12 students what it means to be actively involved in our nation’s democratic process. Next, the team heard from #iVoted founder, Emily White. She shared how she turned her own music career into a mechanism to drive voter turnout with a data-driven, musical approach, all across the US.

Education institutions around the world are in a period of rapid digital transformation. Some students are returning to the classroom, some are learning remotely, and some now rely on a blend of in-person and remote options. To learn how the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud is helping to power this shift, the team chatted with two professors from the University of Notre Dame, Sharif Nijim and Chris Frederick. Sharif and Chris shared their lessons learned from teaching in a blended and an entirely remote environment, and how they use the cloud to meet students’ needs. Next up, the team talked to Dr. Amanda Broderick, vice chancellor and president of the University of East London, to learn how the university is offering synchronous blended learning to improve student and professor interactions, no matter where students may be physically.

Livestreaming powered by the cloud is a valuable tool to help us understand nature and protect it. The team sat down with Charlie Annenberg, founder of Explore.org, to discover all of the ways livestreaming natural scenes from around the globe—elephants in Africa, bears in Alaska, and more—can foster a deeper appreciation and knowledge of nature. Next up, we talked with Peter Girgis, chief technology officer of Bigmate about their livestreaming solution built for the Australian Capital Territory Emergency Services Agency, which helps the local government monitor bushfires in real-time. This livestreaming solution helps the government react quickly to bushfires and make data-driven decisions.

Cloud computing is changing the future of work. Dive into today’s episode to learn how Mount Sinai Health System in New York built a multilingual chatbot using Amazon Web Services (AWS) that has streamlined the patient experience and changed the way their staff works. The team sat down with Benjamin Maisano, chief technology officer and head of application engineering for consumer digital at Mount Sinai Health System to learn more. Next up, we chatted with Cas Holloway, head of public enterprise at Unqork, to explore how their public sector customers can benefit from incorporating modern tech solutions into their standard workflows.

The Amazon Web Services (AWS) Disaster Response team launched the AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative (DDI) to support organizations in diagnostic research in rapid and accurate patient testing for COVID-19. AWS DDI provides technical support and AWS Promotional Credit for organizations. Hear directly from Maggie Carter, head of the AWS Disaster Response team on the importance of funding diagnostic research. Next, listen to our conversation with Dr. Duncan Ferguson, a resident in the University of British Columbia radiology department, who works at Vancouver General Hospital in Canada. Dr. Ferguson shares how his team uses machine learning to speed the time to diagnosis. Last, we chatted with Dr. Marco Ali from Centro Diagnostico Italiano in Italy about the importance of global collaboration within the scientific community.

The team dives into how cloud-based solutions are helping students from grade school to higher education stay on track. First up, the team sat down with Patrick Craven, the director of The Center for Cyber Safety and Education, to learn about their global program to educate young children on internet etiquette and personal safety rules. Then, the team chatted with Dennis Gilbert, enterprise architect in the Office of Information Technology at Portland State University, to discuss their new machine learning-based tool that helps students find faster, efficient routes to graduation.

In the final episode of the Mission Critical Cloud series by Teresa Carlson, vice president of the worldwide public sector at Amazon Web Services (AWS), the team focuses on healthcare. The first interview features Dr. Christopher Longhurst, the chief information officer and associate chief medical officer at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Health. Dr. Longhurst talks about UCSD’s research using artificial intelligence to analyze lung images for signs of pneumonia—a common symptom related to COVID-19. Next, the team spoke to Adriana Dunn, senior brand marketing manager of Semantic Scholar from the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2), about the CORD-19 project. Last, the team interviewed Dr. Ethan Booker, emergency physician and medical director of the MedStar Telehealth Innovation Center and MedStar eVisit, about how the cloud has helped the organization to scale up its telehealth solution and deliver integrated digital and in-person medical services for patients.

Part four of the Mission Critical Cloud series explores how federal government customers use the cloud to reduce costs, think big, and find new ways to deliver on their missions. Teresa Carlson, vice president of the worldwide public sector at Amazon Web Services (AWS) is joined by Dave Levy, vice president of the US government business at AWS, to guest host the episode. First up, the team chatted with Deron Burba, chief information officer at Smithsonian Institution and Effie Kapsalis, a senior digital program officer at Smithsonian Institution about the Smithsonian Open Access Initiative. Next, the team discussed how the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has adopted the cloud at scale to reduce costs and experiment more with Joe Foster, cloud computing program manager at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.