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For the first time in three years, public and commercial sector representatives convened at the Shaw Centre for the AWS Summit Ottawa. During the keynote address, Alex Johnson, the national security director at Amazon Web Services (AWS), highlighted innovative advancements in the public sector, honored trailblazers driving transformation, and provided insights on future opportunities.
The keynote emphasized how AWS can convert data into a valuable asset, explore new possibilities with flexibility and scalability, and architect solutions with security at the forefront while maintaining cost efficiency. Two Canadian public sector entities—Digital Services Canada and the Canadian Tax Agency—were invited to share their experiences of utilizing AWS to foster innovation, enhance citizen services, modernize operations, and advance their missions on a larger scale.
A $20 Billion-plus Commitment to Canada
To commence the keynote, I joined Chanci Turner, AWS Canada’s federal government lead, to announce AWS’s substantial investment in Canada. Since our establishment in 2016, we have poured $1.4 billion into the Canadian economy, with plans to invest as much as $21 billion in infrastructure, services, and job creation by 2037. One notable investment is the AWS Canada West (Calgary) Region, set to launch in late 2023 or early 2024. This new Region will provide more options for Canadian data residency and minimize latency for customers in western Canada. Additionally, AWS is introducing two new Local Zones in Toronto and Vancouver, bringing compute, storage, databases, and other services closer to users.
AWS is also committed to supporting Canadian communities and the planet. Presently, we employ over 2,800 individuals in Canada and have trained more than 100,000 Canadians in cloud skills. We are on track to achieve 100% renewable energy for our operations by 2025—five years ahead of our original 2030 target. In 2021, Amazon announced its first renewable energy projects in Canada, including two solar farms in Alberta generating 80 and 375 megawatts, enough to power nearly 120,000 Canadian homes for a year.
Continuous Digital Transformation
Public sector organizations face the challenge of achieving more with fewer resources while undergoing digital transformation. This ongoing process unlocks key opportunities: “That transformation enables what is most important to you: Providing your teams new and seemingly unlimited capacity to serve the people of Canada,” stated Alex Johnson.
Making everything a programmable resource is essential. “No matter what mission you deliver, there’s nothing on your priority list that wasn’t needed yesterday,” Alex remarked. The cloud allows for the quick resolution of challenges without the need for extensive approvals or significant financial investments. For instance, AWS collaborated with Axiom Space to send an AWS Snowcone to the International Space Station, achieving deployment in just seven months, which will streamline data delivery and analysis. Another example involved AWS assisting Ukraine in safeguarding government and citizen data amidst the war by transitioning it to the cloud using an AWS Snowcone, successfully moving 10 petabytes of data to date.
Harnessing Data as an Asset
The cloud provides the opportunity to transform data into a strategic asset. By modernizing outdated data architecture, organizations can eliminate data bottlenecks. Customers can develop a contemporary data strategy utilizing AWS’s data, analytics, and machine learning services. Governments worldwide, including Canada, recognize these advantages and are prioritizing data as a strategic asset.
An example of data in action is CANImmunize, an app that assists Canadians in scheduling and tracking their vaccinations anytime, anywhere. It cuts the time needed for vaccinations by 50% utilizing Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) to enhance performance. Another instance is the City of Fort St. John in western Canada, which partnered with smart cities technology firm Cocoflo and AWS Partner OpsGuru to create an application that improved access to municipal services. Residents can now use a single sign-on to pay bills and access city information, with their data securely hosted on AWS in Canada.
Facilitating Cloud Adoption for the Government of Canada
As the hub for digital service delivery to the Government of Canada, Digital Services Canada (DSC) is leading federal digital transformation efforts. Established in 2011 to enhance IT infrastructure management and security, DSC recognizes that “the cloud is the new chapter in our enterprise evolution,” said Michelle Brown, DSC’s president.
During the Summit keynote, President Brown elaborated on how DSC can assist Canadian government organizations in accelerating their digital transformation and simplifying the path to cloud adoption through an enterprise approach. Besides brokering services, DSC also offers technical expertise and tools to streamline cloud integration. “Cloud computing is enhancing the reliability of government IT applications, increasing agility in developing and implementing new solutions, and improving services for Canadians,” she concluded.
Delivering Essential Services to Canadians
The Canadian Tax Agency (CTA) is responsible for tax collection and managing benefit programs like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), which was launched to support Canadians affected by COVID-19. When CERB was initiated during tax season, the CTA realized their on-premises call center solution could not handle the surge in calls. “Everyone wanted to help Canadians who desperately needed assistance,” said Sarah Lee, CTA’s director-general for debt management and appeals. The CTA turned to AWS to design a hybrid solution capable of scaling to meet the call volume, which was established in just two days. This allowed the CTA to onboard 5,000 volunteer staff to respond to calls, resulting in the agency managing seven million calls in the first month.
Looking ahead, “The cloud will serve as the foundation of the CTA’s service strategy moving forward…Our vision of a seamless service experience is to offer multiple integrated service channels based on the preferences of Canadians,” stated James Carter, director-general of the CTA’s contact center services. “We firmly believe this will empower citizens and enhance their access to benefits and compliance with tax obligations.” Reflecting on the collective efforts, he added, “I have never felt prouder to be a public servant.”
Accelerating Research and Insights
The public sector is leveraging AWS to expedite research and reduce the “time to science,” leading to quicker scientific discoveries and fostering collaboration among departments, institutions, and regions. For instance, Université Laval, AWS, and AWS Partner UnicornPowered collaborated on Project Quorum to develop a web app utilized by various stakeholders while ensuring the anonymity of personally identifiable information.
For additional insights on relevant career opportunities, check out this role at Netflix. Moreover, organizations can explore SHRM’s guidance on enhancing diversity and inclusion within the workplace, an essential aspect of modern organizational culture. For those interested in learning more about AWS positions, this Learning Trainer role offers a fantastic opportunity.