As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause widespread disruption around the world, and especially in the United States, large technology companies are working overtime to meet public-sector organizational needs. 

Amazon Web Services Inc., the leader in public cloud, is expanding its efforts to support global governments in fighting COVID-19, as well as helping its partners with cloud-ready solutions at the edge. For instance, the World Health Organization is tracking COVID-19 with AWS data-analytics technologies. AWS also launched the $20 million AWS Diagnostic Initiative to accelerate COVID-19 research. And Salesforce.com Inc. just announced Government Cloud Plus, which runs on AWS GovCloud and delivers security and compliance controls in support of critical public-sector missions.

“As COVID-19 continues to spread, we are acutely aware of the impact this is having on families, businesses, and communities,” said Teresa Carlson, vice president of the worldwide public sector at Amazon Web Services. “This is a global health emergency that will only be resolved by governments, businesses, academia and individuals working together to better understand this virus and ultimately find a cure.”

During today’s free AWS Public Sector Summit Online event, AWS subject matter experts will discuss how organizations can deepen their cloud knowledge, gain new design-and-deploy skills, and implement cloud solutions to advance their missions. During the event, theCUBE analysts will be speaking with AWS public sector executives, AWS key partners and U.S. state officials and educational leaders who use AWS technology to serve the public. (* Disclosure below.)

Supporting an evolving public sector

To meet growing demand for private and public sectors alike, AWS has steadily beefed up its computing efforts to ease software development and migrations to its cloud platform, supported by competitively powerful processors thanks to a recent partnership with chip maker Arm. The Arm-based AWS Graviton2 is considered a “game-changer” by AWS Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy, who claimed the new processor delivers up to 40% better price/performance than the more commonly used x86 instances. 

While also growing its global footprint for data centers, AWS has spent recent years appealing to regional governments, working closely with entire cities and nations to establish infrastructures to support public sector initiatives for urban management and efforts to spur startup hubs across the world. From Bahrain to Australia, NASA to Europol, AWS is seeing returns on its public sector investment.

Yet this progress doesn’t come without its challenges, especially as rival cloud platforms grow their own investments in the public sector. Microsoft Corp. has the Microsoft Cloud for US Government to address the public sector needs of federal, state, local or tribal entities. And earlier this year, both Microsoft and Google LLC landed deals with the Crown Commercial Services branch of the U.K. government, as the CCS looks to diversify its cloud providers so as to not become solely reliant on a given platform. 

Working to provide services to the public sector also comes at a unique cost as technology pervades every aspect of society. While aiding governments worldwide in the fight against COVID-19, AWS must also seek a balance with the myriad of ways in which its technology is being utilized by the public sector. AWS and other tech giants have begun to limit access by law-enforcement agencies to their facial recognition technology to prevent its misuse. 

In an era where the role of the public sector is changing rapidly, plagued by worldwide pandemics and civil unrest, AWS’ Public Sector Summits become more important than ever to provide spaces to discuss, educate, and ultimately determine technology’s involvement during this pivotal time. 

Livestream of the AWS Summit Public Sector Online 2020 event

The AWS Summit Public Sector Online is a livestream event, with additional interviews to be broadcast on theCUBE. You can register for free here to access the live event. Plus, you can watch theCUBE interviews here.

How to watch theCUBE interviews

We offer you various ways to watch the live coverage of the AWS Summit Public Sector Online, including theCUBE’s dedicated website and YouTube channel. You can also get all the coverage from this year’s events on SiliconANGLE.

TheCUBE Insights podcast

SiliconANGLE also has podcasts available of archived interview sessions, available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify, which you can enjoy while on the go.

Guests who will be interviewed on theCUBE during the AWS Summit Public Sector Online event

Guests who will be interviewed on theCUBE during the AWS Summit Public Sector Online event include AWS executives Teresa Carlson, vice president of the worldwide public sector; Sandy Carter, vice president of the worldwide public sector partners and programs; Ken Eisner, director of the worlwide education programs; Jennifer Chronis, general manager, DoD, at AWS; and Shannon Kellogg, VP of AWS public policy, Americas. 

We will also be interviewing industry executives Casey Coleman, senior VP of global government solutions at Salesforce.com Inc.; Matthew Cornelius, executive director of the Alliance for Digital Innovation; and Joshua Spence, chief technology officer of the State of West Virginia Office of Technology.

Other guests joining theCUBE include Dr. Chelle Gentemann, senior scientist at the Farallon Institute Inc.; Dr. Sergio Papa, director of diagnostic imaging at the Centro Diagnostico Italiano; and Wei Li, principal investigator at the Center for Genetic Medicine Research & Center for Cancer and Immunology Research at Children’s National Medical Center.

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for AWS Summit Public Sector Online event. Neither AWS, the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: AWS