Category: Education

In 2014, the Wall Lab at Stanford University sought to answer one of the most pressing questions in neuroscience: What genes influence autism spectrum disorder (ASD)? According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), this neurodevelopmental disorder affects roughly one in 54 children in America and is on the rise—nearly tripling since 1992. In the lab’s study of ASD genetics, they chose the cloud—and a unique experimental approach—to speed the time to science.

We are less than two weeks away from the HAQM Web Services (AWS) Public Sector Summit Online and we are looking forward to “seeing” you there. Have you registered yet? If not, don’t wait. From technical content—foundations or advanced—to mission-critical and spotlight, check out just a few of the featured sessions you will find this year at the AWS Public Sector Summit Online 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that public sector organizations need modern infrastructure, capabilities and controls to overcome the disruption caused by global health outbreaks. Organizations that embraced cloud services proved more responsive. They were able to continue operating remotely and serving their customers and citizens, demonstrating agility, scalability, and speed. In How Governments Can Build Resilience in a New Normal: Emerging Practices from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, a new policy paper from the AWS Institute, we outline how organizations can use the cloud to recover from the disruption that the virus brought, as well as become more resilient for future challenges.

Robotics and machine learning (ML) aren’t just for the technology industry. Robotics are being used in education to advance student learning through one-to-one support, adaptive learning algorithms, and immediate feedback mechanisms within K12 schools. Robots can use ML algorithms to adapt to student learning styles, teaching children to code through interactive, fun games and supporting core curriculum in classrooms with high student to teacher ratios. These four HAQM Web Services (AWS) EdStart Members are using robotics to revolutionize K12 education.

Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 specifies the security requirements for cryptographic modules that protect sensitive information. It is the current United States and Canadian government standard, and is applicable to systems that are required to be compliant with Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) or Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). In this blog, we demonstrate how to enable FIPS mode in HAQM Linux 2 and verify that unauthorized cryptographic functions are not being used in OpenSSL or the OpenSSH server.

The AWS Public Sector Summit Online 2020 is happening June 30 and registration is still open and at no-cost. Teresa Carlson, vice president of worldwide public sector at AWS, will host the event keynote, reflecting on the impressive global efforts of our customers and partners over the past few months and sharing the latest news and announcements. Three customers—from Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, Navy ERP, and OTN—will join her on our virtual stage to tell their stories focused on fast migration, business resiliency, scalability, and innovation.

In May 2020, the AWS Public Sector Blog covered stories on the AWS Public Sector Summit Online 2020, chatbots and call centers, and open source solutions. Check out some of the top stories from the blog below. For more blog highlights from this month, you can also check out The Brief, hosted this month by Mike Colson.

Forest wildfire risk is increasing in the western United States. In the past five decades, large wildfire frequency and the area destroyed have risen by more than four and six times, respectively. The increased risk posed by wildfires has prompted scientists to try to assess wildfire risk to help inform whether to move people to safety before disastrous wildfires occur.

K12 educational organizations are modernizing their institutions by providing secure anywhere, anytime access to learning for students. Whether a district or school is a cloud veteran or forging new ground, the cloud is helping break down barriers to opportunity, like the ability to access applications through any device. By using the cloud, many K12 institutions—including schools, districts, educational service agencies, and state education agencies—are having breakthroughs in educational models and student engagement.

One year ago, the state of Louisiana announced a collaboration with AWS to launch statewide an AWS Educate cloud associate degree program. Built in collaboration with the Office of the Governor John Bel Edwards, Greater New Orleans, Inc., and the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS), the program provides cloud computing opportunities across the 12 LCTCS colleges. After the first year of the program, LCTCS provided an update on how the program continues to grow and scale.