Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and related technologies have the power to transform government, providing new tools to improve daily operations, deliver more effective citizen services and tackle the most challenging problems facing the nation.
In 2019, the Trump administration launched the American AI Initiative directing federal agencies to prioritize and allocate funding toward AI programs, and in February, the administration released its FY 2021 Budget, committing to invest more than $2 billion in non-defense AI and quantum research by 2022, to maintain the US government as a global leader in field of AI.
With AI’s potential to dominate the transportation, healthcare, education and security industries, companies like Amazon Web Services (AWS) are making it easier and more cost-effective for agencies to implement AI-based solutions.
AWS and its AWS Partner Network (APN) launched a new partner initiative called the AI and ML Rapid Adoption Assistance Initiative. The initiative gives industry partners access to AWS AI and ML experts who will help them develop their technology solutions and business strategy. It is an additional benefit available for members of the AWS Public Sector Partner (PSP) Program.
AWS subject matter experts will help their partners reduce ramp-up time for their AI and ML applications, accelerate their solutions development, grow their portfolio, and simplify their cloud procurement strategy.
The goal is for AWS to provide its partners with an automated way to reach out to AWS experts for assistance in delivering AI-based solutions to government agencies.
Procurement Pain-Points
This initiative provides agencies with easy access to a large and growing network of companies developing innovative AI solutions. It also simplifies the procurement of AI solutions, which has been a recurring challenge.
While excited about adopting AI, agencies often run into obstacles around costs and compliance and struggle to find the right tools, data and technologies. For example, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, agencies realized that AI could play a vital role in delivering citizen services and in performing virus detection and contact tracing. But they often found it difficult to get these programs up and running.
In a 2019 report, the World Economic Forum identified procurement as one of the five primary challenges that government agencies face with AI. Government’s lengthy and slow procurement process often makes it difficult for smaller, innovative companies to break into the market.
To avoid such challenges, agencies should partner with a trusted vendor, such as AWS and its partners.
By guiding its partners through the envision, enablement, and building phases, AWS commits to prioritizing responsible AI practices, helping them deliver advanced technology solutions to agencies, and establishing trusted AI procurement practices, so that agencies that adopt AI tools can focus on AI’s benefits and not its risks.
Learn more about the AI and ML Rapid Adoption Assistance Initiative here.
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