Unlock innovation and accelerate change with data

Data has become a gravitational force that’s helping government agencies in increasing measure to unlock innovation and accelerate change, Sandy Carter, Amazon Web Services Vice President for Worldwide Public Sector Partners and Programs, told federal leaders during a keynote address at the recent FedTalks virtual summit.

Carter, who works with AWS’s partner community to support the efforts of government agencies globally, urged public sector leaders to devote greater efforts in developing their data strategies to tap the power of analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

“The best [organizations] that I work with around the world today have both a business strategy and a data strategy,” she said. “One of the best practices that we tell companies, agencies, governments and countries around the world is that you’ve got to have a data strategy linked into your business strategy.”

Building a robust data strategy, together with a plan for utilizing the power of the cloud, can help government agencies not only improve their operational efficiencies, but spark greater customer insights. 

“Most companies today are truly looking for that real time business insight. But they’re also looking to accelerate innovation,” she said. “Data in the cloud offers amazing capabilities,” she said. 

Carter touched on a number of key observations and recommendations during her presentation, including:

• How to develop a data strategy — ensuring that data is managed and used like a strategic asset.
• Four steps for “data-led migrations” — the process of moving data to the cloud and then harnessing analytics, machine learning and visualizations to gain better insights.
• Tips on building and managing modern data lakes.

Carter also highlighted how AWS — and its ever-expanding community of partners — have helped agencies like NASA, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and FINRA, among others, to capitalize on cloud-enabled analytics to accelerate innovation.

Learn how AWS can help your agency capitalize on today’s cloud by visiting https://aws.amazon.com/federal/ or contacting us at AWS Public Sector.