6 ways cloud computing powers innovative organisations

As the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, AWS helps customers to focus on their business – rather than the complex and time-consuming process of managing data centers. That makes it easier for businesses to think big, test their ideas and build them at scale.

So how does AWS enable organisations large and small to power innovation?

Formula 1 racing has more than half a billion fans around the world – all with the need for speed.

With 120 sensors on each car generating 1,500 pieces of race information per second, it’s a data-driven sport where much of the thrill comes from exciting details on performance statistics.

F1 has just unveiled a new on-screen graphic called the ‘Battle Forecast’, the latest in a series of Insights powered by AWS. It uses machine learning and data analytics to analyse track history, project driver pace and to predict how many laps before the chasing car is within ‘striking distance’ of the car in front. This gives the audience unique insight into driver battles as they develop during the race.

As the chasing car gets within striking distance, the graphic will also display an ‘overtake difficulty’ rating, helping fans understand the likelihood of the chase concluding in a successful overtake. It all helps build anticipation for some of the most exciting action in an F1 race.

Let the battle commence!

A growing community of developers, startups and social enterprises around the world have built services on AWS designed to make day-to-day life in cities easier. For example, Transport for London has used AWS to create an ‘Open Data EcoSystem’, to share information on London’s transport infrastructure publicly.

This has informed the development of more than 600 mobile apps, including Citymapper, and more recently, an automated service on Facebook Messenger. This ‘Travelbot’ helps you check the status of your Tube, rail or bus route, using the latest TfL data. From the largest crowds on the London Underground to the busiest bus routes and much more, this open data is dedicated to making London a smarter city.

A fast-growing London startup, Faculty is an expert voice in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Faculty works across 13 countries and has completed more than 300 commercial projects in almost every industry sector in the UK, from FTSE-100 companies through to other startups using AI.

It has also worked with the Home Office to stop terrorist propaganda being uploaded online and with the London Fire Brigade, to better understand fire risk and to make homes and buildings safer.

Faculty cares deeply about bringing AI to the economy in a way that is safe and unbiased. To do this, the company has designed a safety toolkit for its data science platform that works on any machine learning algorithm – and it’s built on AWS.

Co-founder Angie Ma believes this is “the only tooling in the world that provides AI safety ‘out-of-the-box’”. We invited Angie along to give a keynote speech at the AWS London Summit 2019 – where she also reached a large new audience of potential customers and partners.

Business is never predictable – much like the British weather.

When the ‘Beast from the East’ blew across Great Britain and Ireland in 2018, the Met Office experienced a sudden surge of data traffic as members of the public looked for the latest news and predictions about the cold front.

Luckily, using AWS services meant that the Met Office could scale its data capacity by more than 1,000% to cope with the spike in traffic.

We all have a well-founded concern for the security of our online information. And nowhere is this more acute than with online banking.

At AWS, cloud security is the highest priority. Monzo Bank – founded in 2015 with over 2.5 million users – was built entirely using the AWS Cloud.

One of Monzo’s lead engineers told us that the level of security offered by AWS “helps me sleep at night”.

These days, Depop is a byword for sartorial elegance among the Instagram generation. The creative community’s mobile marketplace has more than 13m users – but in 2012 it was a social network where readers of PIG magazine could buy items featured in its pages.

AWS enabled Depop to re-envisage the app as a global marketplace without the costly need for a big team. The company scaled quickly to meet demand, accessing AWS services as and when it needed them. And in the process, became an inspiration for online entrepreneurs everywhere.

So the cloud isn’t just for global businesses or public institutions – it’s also the natural home for plucky startups.