AWS Public Sector Blog

Tag: federal

external photo of the US Department of Commerce with American flag

Cloud procurement best practices for US federal government agencies

At AWS, we want to help organizations modernize IT infrastructure and create scalable mechanisms to manage growing datasets, take advantage of emerging technologies like machine learning, improve citizen services, and innovate for the long-term. Buying cloud computing services requires different skills than buying traditional IT, particularly given cloud’s ability to adjust technology resources dynamically and how this may impact contract solicitations and, more broadly, acquisition strategies. Are you ready to move to the cloud but need some guidance on where to start? Here are some best practices for government customers and procurement teams looking to build a culture of innovation and begin their cloud acquisition journey.

Amazon WorkSpaces CAC PIV smartcard authentication

Amazon WorkSpaces supports CAC/PIV smartcard authentication

With a recent feature release, Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers can now use CAC/PIV cards when using Amazon WorkSpaces to access government systems. Amazon WorkSpaces is a desktop as a service solution that helps users access all of their desktop applications from anywhere. This feature supports pre-session and in-session authentication.

AI for good

Solving some of the world’s most difficult problems with AWS and AI for Good

This year, AWS is a gold sponsor of AI for Good, the action-oriented technology-education platform hosted by the United Nations (UN). The organization is delivering a webinar series to provide best practices around how to adopt AI and ML technologies. With less than 10 years remaining to achieve the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, organizations all over the world are using AWS services to deliver various AI and ML-enabled solutions—from delivering disaster-relief services at the edge to reconnecting telecommunications after a hurricane. We are also helping organizations adopt AI and ML technologies more readily in the areas of computer vision, automatic speech recognition, and natural language process to solve ongoing global challenges.

US Census 2020 mailer

Be counted: April 1 is Census Day

April 1 is Census Day 2020: the day everyone in the United States is counted. Household respondents to the U.S. Census are asked to count every individual living in their household as of Census Day. From representation in Congress to funding for local schools, roads, and emergency services, important decisions are made by the government based on census data, impacting those services for the next decade.

FedRAMP workbook automation

Automating creation of a FedRAMP Integrated Inventory Workbook

Did you know AWS can help deliver an automated solution for creating the FedRAMP Integrated Inventory Workbook? This workbook needs to be updated and submitted to the FedRAMP Project Management Office (PMO) monthly for continuous monitoring. Automating this workbook saves manual work hours. Any customer going through the FedRAMP authorization process can leverage this workbook. Understand how to gather an inventory of AWS resources from AWS Config data to create the FedRAMP Integrated Inventory Workbook.

bones of a triceratops from the Smithsonian Open Access Initiative

Smithsonian releases 2.8 million images through Smithsonian Open Access Initiative

The Smithsonian Institution announced the availability of more than 2.8 million two- and three-dimensional images and files through the Smithsonian Open Access Initiative. With this initiative, anyone with an internet connection has access to high-resolution media files, the accompanying metadata, and research from the Smithsonian Institution’s 19 museums, nine research centers, and zoo. This Smithsonian dataset is the largest museum collection released to date.

Navy ship at sea; photo by Michael Afonso on unsplash

Readying the warfighter: U.S. Navy ERP migrates to AWS

The U.S. Navy and SAP National Security Services (SAP NS2) migrated their largest SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) system – 72,000 users spread across six U.S. Navy commands – to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud. The milestone — which came 10 months ahead of schedule — will put the movement and documentation of some $70 billion worth of parts and goods into one accessible space, so the information can be shared, analyzed, and protected more uniformly.

building from low angle

Federal departments and agencies share how the cloud helps advance their missions

From healthcare to veteran services to aerospace research, federal agencies have leveraged the cloud to advance their missions. With benefits from the cloud, such as cost savings, data redundancy, and opportunities to adopt emerging technology, federal customers can better serve and protect their constituents. Three federal agencies recently shared how they improved efficiency through information technology (IT) modernization to ultimately better serve citizens.

AWS Federal Pop Up Loft logo

Visit the AWS Federal Pop-Up Loft through September 18

In its first week, more than 400 attendees came through the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Federal Pop-Up Loft in Arlington, Virginia to attend training sessions, utilize co-working space, ask questions at the expert bar, and more. The loft, a community space for federal employees and partners, is open through September 18. Register for technical sessions, stop by any day from 8:30am-4:30pm to ask one of our experts a question, co-work, or network with peers and colleagues.