Amazon Web Services Opens Second Global City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge
Award spotlights local and regional government cloud innovators that have set a new bar in using the AWS Cloud to reduce costs, solve tough challenges, and offer new services to citizens
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 25, 2015-- Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ:AMZN), today announced the call for entries for the second City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge, a global program to recognize local and regional governments and developers that are innovating for the benefit of citizens using the AWS Cloud. AWS and a panel of worldwide experts will award a total of $250,000 in AWS credits to eight grand prize winners from three award categories: Best Practices, Partners in Innovation, and Dream Big, a new category that will recognize the best ideas for a cloud innovation, and award credits for its implementation. To learn more about the City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge, visit http://aws.amazon.com/stateandlocal/cityonacloud/.
Entries must be received no later than August 21, 2015, and will be judged based on one or more criteria that may include the impact of the solution, likelihood of long-term success, implementation of AWS services, and the potential to help other local governments solve similar challenges. City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge finalists will be announced in September 2015, and the winners will be announced on October 7, 2015, at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas.
All around the world, local and regional governments are using the AWS Cloud to innovate and meet their mission, said Teresa Carlson, Vice President Worldwide Public Sector, AWS. The winners of last year's City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge included local governments forecasting crime using machine learning, enhancing air traveler experience with Internet of Things data, and making data more accessible to developers and researchers - all made possible by the AWS Cloud. We're looking forward to this year's City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge and seeing how local governments are using the cloud in transformative ways.
Through our use of the AWS Cloud, we were able to offer enhanced and more transparent services to our residents, while gaining the agility, cost savings, and scalability offered by the cloud, said Mike Wynne, GIS Business Analyst, City and County of San Francisco. We were thrilled to be selected as a 2014 City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge winner. We started with this website and continue to use the cloud for more and more of our workloads.
With the cloud, we make widely available real-time information about New York City subways, busses, and Citi Bike. The public uses our iRideNYC Web App on any device, anytime, anywhere, said Cordell Schachter, Chief Technology Officer, New York City Department of Transportation and 2014 City on a Cloud winner. Our robust cloud-based geographic information system enables rapid app deployments. Our newest Web App, Vision Zero View, visualizes safety information about our 6,000 miles of road to help us eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries.
With the AWS Cloud, the City of Asheville, NC was able to build a true, cloud-based disaster recovery system that can keep city operations up and running in the event of power outages, earthquakes, and major weather events, said Jonathan Feldman, Chief Information Officer, Asheville, North Carolina. Being selected as a 2014 City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge winner helped us accelerate our cloud adoption. We continue to use the cloud for rapid product innovation; a great example is our recent SimpliCity application, which saves citizens time and reduces frustration when looking for city information.
All City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge entries must include AWS cloud computing services - either implemented or proposed, depending on the category. Entries will be reviewed and considered by a panel of some or all of the following AWS representatives and international experts:
Scott Case, Co-founder and CEO, Main Street Genome
Ed DeSeve, Former Special Advisor to the President for Recovery Implementation
Bert Jarreau, Chief Innovation Officer, National Association of Counties
Bill McCluggage, former CIO, the Irish Government
Dr. Glenn Ricart, Founder and CTO of US Ignite and member of Internet Hall of Fame
Cordell Schachter, CTO, New York City Department of Transportation*
Suresh Thalluri, CTO, Str LLC*
Dr. Mark Thompson, Strategy Director, Methods Group, and Senior Lecturer in Information Systems, Cambridge Judge Business School, UK
Mike Wynne, GIS Business Analyst, City and County of San Francisco*
Jonathan Feldman, CIO, North Carolina*
Jim Pizzuto, Professor, Dept. of Geological Sciences, University of Delaware
*2014 City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge Winner
We're seeing a radical shift in the way governments operate driven by the unparalleled rate of change of technology, social media, smart phones and the introduction of disruptive technologies like cloud computing, said Bill McCluggage, former Chief Information Officer of the Irish Government. The City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge brings together innovative minds from governments and developers across the globe to share best practices, new solutions and ideas that can improve any city and society, no matter the size.
To see how local and regional AWS customers around the world are using the AWS Cloud, visit the interactive City on a Cloud Innovation Map at http://aws.amazon.com/stateandlocal/cityonacloud/map/.
For a complete description of the official rules, visit http://aws.amazon.com/stateandlocal/cityonacloud/rules/.
About Amazon Web Services
Launched in 2006, Amazon Web Services offers a robust, fully featured technology infrastructure platform in the cloud comprise
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Amazon Web Services Opens Second Global City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge 
