AWS, a cloud services platform offered by Amazon, seeks to play a key role in that journey. It has something to do with it, since it is classified by technology experts as one of the most complete solutions and with the greatest adoption in the world for cloud computing. The arrival of the Government of Javier Milei opened business possibilities at a higher level, as it seeks to reform the State based on digital technologies.
Liam Maxwell: AWS is a cloud service provider. We focus on helping customers accelerate their modernization programs with cloud technology. In essence, this technology allows people to eliminate the burden of making large capital investments to build Information Technology (IT) systems. It takes care of the non-differentiating heavy lifting in IT so that companies, startups, governments and organizations can focus on interesting and creative areas, such as innovation and business development. The cloud transforms resources such as computing, databases and storage, and even advanced services such as artificial intelligence, into tools accessible for consumption.
Q: What is considered sensitive information for a country or government?
L.M.: When I was the UK Government’s Chief Technology Officer in 2011, we laid the foundations for classifying sensitive government information. Not all governments do it the same, but most think in terms of data classification. When you run a government, you manage public services, such as pensions, taxes, health or property records. These systems require an adequate level of security to ensure that citizens trust that their information is well protected. In addition, a government also has military, police and intelligence operations. These activities are classified at higher security levels. Usually there are three main ones:
- Top Secret: Intelligence information and ongoing military/police operations.
- Secret: Sensitive operations such as counterterrorism and organized crime.
- Official: Day-to-day information from civil services, with a level of security similar to that of a reliable bank or insurance company. Approximately 95% of traffic and government data is at the “Official” level, while the rest falls into the higher ones.
Q: Why is the migration of this information to the cloud so important?
L.M.: If citizens do not trust that the government takes care of their information, they will not use digital media to interact with it. This results in more expensive processes, such as phone calls or in-person visits. In 2010, the British government received around 500 million calls a year. A quarter of them were due to people not finding the necessary information on the government website. By improving the digital platform, we eliminated 125 million calls, each costing around £12. We also discovered that another 130 million calls were about the status of paperwork, such as driver’s licenses or passports. By implementing proactive digital services, we eliminated another large volume of calls, saving millions of pounds. The cloud provides security and high quality, allows governments to maintain data sovereignty and guarantees citizen trust. This facilitates successful digital transformations, such as those seen in countries such as the United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, Singapore, Canada and more recently, Brazil.
Argentina, at the center of the “tech” scene
Q: Could you give me an example of how the cloud allows for rapid innovation, for example, in Argentina?
L.M.: The cloud allows people to stop worrying about basic infrastructure and focus on business priorities and achievements. This means that you can not only build a more effective economy and government, but also lay the foundation for initiatives like Tech City (Argentina) and the growth of the financial sector. In advanced economies, the ability to leverage the cloud drives activity like an ever-accelerating engine. That is why we see a great opportunity to develop this type of ecosystems. We are in a technological zone where investment in technology and business is encouraged. The skills and abilities that people acquire in this area show us the enormous potential of Argentina.
Q.: What does AWS do in Argentina?
L.M.: As a company, we have a strong base of large clients in the private sector, but my main focus is on the Government. We also work with local governments, a market that has experienced great growth in Argentina. We are also looking to expand our presence to take advantage of ongoing reforms. We see significant opportunity in places where change is being driven and helping to accelerate those processes is a priority for us.
Q: What provincial governments do you work with, for example?
L.M.: A clear example of this is Tierra del Fuego, which joined AWS in a “Smart Island” model to address common challenges, such as climate, social development, talent and tourism. Today, 19 of the 24 Argentine provinces use our services, and demands vary according to local needs. Córdoba began its transition to the cloud in 2019 and today offers more than 100 services there. In Jujuy, they implemented the first electronic document management system (GDE). The City of Buenos Aires also knew how to take advantage of the potential of data and implemented generative AI to get closer to citizens and improve services. The future of our presence in Argentina will be driven by artificial intelligence. The ability to store, protect and manage data securely and reliably, with the consent of citizens, is essential for us.
Q: What are the sectors in Argentina that could benefit the most from implementing artificial intelligence?
L.M.: Artificial intelligence will expand in all businesses. The important thing now is to identify the starting points and a very clear one is the customer services sector. A good example is BOTI, which allows citizens to obtain information faster and more efficiently. If we think about the growth of artificial intelligence across the economy, we see applications in enterprise technology, such as in banks, financial services, and utilities. Here, in this country, more effective and efficient services can be achieved. In manufacturing, AI brings flexibility and efficiency in supply chain management. Even in sectors such as food processing, this technology is already transforming operations, although sometimes we do not notice it. The big change comes with the relationship between price and performance. Those who can deliver AI solutions with better performance and lower costs will be the ones who enable their customers to move faster.
Q: From your perspective, what will be the next big thing in government technology in the next five or six years?
L.M.: Many would think of a big change driven by AI, but I think the biggest shift will be the mass migration to the cloud. Governments have not adopted the cloud as quickly as businesses. This is due to governance concerns and constant changes in governments. However, the cost of maintaining data locally is becoming unsustainable. Migrating to the cloud allows you to innovate, reduce costs and operate more efficiently. The most innovative and efficient governments, which will eventually charge less taxes, will be those that adopt the cloud. We are already seeing this change in the most advanced and there is a great opportunity for Argentina to lead in this space.
Q: I understand that after the start of the war in Ukraine, you were responsible for protecting sensitive information. Could you share your experience?
L.M.: Before the war started, we already had a good relationship with the Ukrainian government, in particular, with the Minister of Digital Transformation. They had developed a government app called DIA, which really worked well. When the war started, our priority was to save the country’s data. We used devices called Snowballs, massive suitcase-sized hard drives with a capacity of 90 terabytes, to extract the data and move it to the cloud outside of Ukraine. We migrate the main bank, universities and other essential services to the cloud. This allowed the Ukrainian government to maintain operational continuity, no matter what was happening on the ground. Additionally, we helped in civil areas such as education, ensuring that students could continue their studies from anywhere in the world. We even work on demining the territory, using AI to identify safe areas and free up land for agriculture.
Source: Ambito
