Fix This

In part three of the Mission Critical Cloud mini-series by Teresa Carlson, vice president of the worldwide public sector at Amazon Web Services (AWS), the team explores how state and local government customers use the cloud to deliver services to citizens. Teresa is joined by Kim Majerus, a leader within the state and local government business at AWS. First up, an interview with Joshua Spence, chief technology officer of the State of West Virginia, and Robert Groat, executive vice president of technology and strategy of Smartronix. Joshua and Robert talk about the leadership and cultural changes that led to their one-weekend implementation of an Amazon Connect solution to better serve West Virginians. To learn more about taking workers remote with more than 30,000 remote desktops with Amazon AppStream 2.0, we chatted with Benny Chacko, deputy general manager at Los Angeles County Internal Services Department.

In part two of the Mission Critical Cloud mini-series by Teresa Carlson, vice president of the worldwide public sector at Amazon Web Services (AWS), the team explores remote education. Teresa is joined by Ann Merrihew, a director within the education business at AWS. This episode begins with an interview featuring Dr. David Baca, chief of schools of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the second largest K12 district in the United States. Next, we talked to Jennifer Schaeffer, vice president of IT and chief information officer of Athabasca University, Canada’s only 100 percent open and online digital university. And we ended the episode with Andrew Gilfillan, vice president of product management at Pearson, a global learning company.

Teresa Carlson, vice president of the worldwide public sector, Amazon Web Services (AWS), guest hosts. Join Teresa for a deep dive discussion with other AWS leaders, including Sandy Carter, vice president of partners and programs; Maggie Carter, global lead for the disaster response team; Blair Anderson, director within AWS public policy; and John Dancy, director of professional services. Teresa and guests explore how technology helps public sector organizations continually deliver on their missions. This is the first episode in a special, five-part series leading up to the first AWS Public Sector Summit Online.

Explore how the AWS Cloud can increase an organization’s sustainability. Pierre Lussier, director of Jour de la Terre, a Canadian nonprofit, shares how Amazon Web Services (AWS) helps them deliver on their mission to make the world a “greener” place. Nat Sahlstrom, director of energy at Amazon, talks about a 2019 study that shows how migrating enterprise workloads to the AWS Cloud can reduce an organization’s IT carbon footprint by upwards of 88 percent.

Open data connects the world in unexpected ways—like tracking bird populations and migrations using weather data and machine learning. Listen to learn why birds are important “measuring sticks” for how our environment is changing, and why we should all care about how and why their numbers are dwindling. We sat down with Jed Sundwall, head of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) open data program to learn more about what open data is and what role it plays in research around the world. We also chatted with three researchers from the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, including John Fitzpatrick, director of the lab, and Adriaan Dokter and Tom Auer, two researchers working on the lab’s BirdCast and eBird projects. They shared how they use weather data to track bird migrations, populations, and more with open data and machine learning.

Buckle up! We’re driving straight into the world of sustainable trucking. Ray Rogers of Amazon Web Services (AWS) chats with Aaron Terrazas, director of economic research at Convoy Inc. (Convoy). He discusses the impact of “empty miles” in terms of its environmental impact, worker impact, and industry impact and how machine learning on AWS is part of the solution. Next up, Ray caught up with Jennifer Wong, head of sustainability at Convoy, to take a deep dive into what zero waste actually means, how sustainability intersects with freight delivery, and how other companies can benefit from Convoy’s sustainable approach to trucking.

Elections are more than voters casting votes. From voter engagement to elections management, innovative use of the cloud like an Alexa Skill or an e-poll book solution can help make the election process more accessible. In this episode, the team chats with Deputy Secretary of State for the State of New Hampshire, David Scanlan. In 2020, New Hampshire celebrated its 100th first-in-the-nation primary. Deputy Secretary Scanlan discusses how New Hampshire’s new Alexa Skill makes information about how to vote more available. Trisha Bandstra, sales director of KNOWiNK, talks about how the organization’s e-poll books solution helps to make elections processes more efficient. Rob Rock, director of elections for Rhode Island, chats about how e-poll books have been introduced across the state.

In this episode, the team explores how the cloud and data interoperability can improve outcomes for people experiencing homelessness. Ray Rogers of Amazon Web Services (AWS) chats with homelessness subject matter expert, Jessie Metcalf, from AWS. Next up, Ray chats with Beth Sandor and Jake Maguire, principals at Community Solutions, about how communities are already reaching “functional zero” for veteran and chronic homeless populations.

From workforce development to preserving ancient artifacts—the cloud changes how we think about the future. Ray Rogers from Amazon Web Services (AWS) talks to Sameer Raina, president of Digital Divide Data (DDD), about the nonprofit’s project to digitize the National Museum of Kenya’s one-of-a-kind, ancient collections. During phase one of the project, DDD upskilled the museum’s existing staff with cloud training. Randi Larson from AWS talks to Tom Soderstrom, IT chief technology officer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). He shares how NASA JPL continues to hire the brightest, most curious minds in technology.

The team continues the conversation on how technology can be leveraged to end human trafficking. Ray Rogers of AWS chats with Rani Hong, CEO of The Freedom Seal, about how corporate transparency and responsibility can help organizations stay true to their mission while also eliminating forced labor from their supply chains. Andrew Wallis, CEO of Unseen, shares how data is at the center of the solution to end modern slavery.