Amazon Web Services (AWS) has partnered with 3M to provide cloud management and services as 3M strengthens its enterprise IT infrastructure, AWS announced on Monday. 

“AWS…will deliver the agility, speed, and scalability 3M needs to launch new business processes and service models. We look forward to expanding our use of AWS’s portfolio of services, including analytics and machine learning, to gain greater insights and become an even more agile company in the cloud,” said John Turner, Vice President, IT Systems and Chief Information Officer at 3M. 

3M will integrate AWS’ leading infrastructure services to modernize and drive efficiencies across the company’s global market. With AWS services, 3M will enhance its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, including accounting, supply chain management, manufacturing, product lifecycle management and e-commerce, along with business-critical enterprise IT applications. 

3M will additionally utilize AWS’ technology to leverage portfolio of services, including machine learning, analytics, storage, security, and databases to optimize and automate operational, manufacturing, and business processes, as well as product solutions. As the company transitions, 3M expects to drive efficiencies and gain agility in meeting 3M business and customer needs.

“For more than 100 years, 3M has had a relentless focus on innovation, making scientific discoveries that advance, enhance and improve every company, home, and life. AWS’s breadth and depth of services will help 3M continue to launch new business processes, bring increased customer focus, and keep its position as one of the world’s most successful diversified companies,” said Mike Clayville, Vice President, Worldwide Commercial Sales at AWS. 

AWS has also been selected by Second Spectrum to provide cloud services that improve artificial intelligence, machine learning and media services, the company announced in Feb. 2020. 

AWS will help Second Spectrum deliver new kinds of live game-watching experiences to fans. Second Spectrum will use AWS’s services to provide enhanced analytics, visualizations and easily searchable video clips during games and matches.  

“In expanding the relationship between AWS and Second Spectrum, bringing together a top provider of sports analytics with AWS’s unmatched portfolio of services, we are adding new layers of depth to the spectator experience and helping teams uncover new ways to understand, evaluate, and elevate their performance,” said Clayville. 

About Amazon Web Services

AWS offers over 175 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), media, and application development, deployment, and management from 69 Availability Zones (AZs) within 22 geographic regions, with announced plans for 16 more Availability Zones and five more AWS Regions in Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Africa, and Spain. 

Energy Secretary Dan Broulliette said the Department of Energy’s request for a 20 percent increase in budget seeks to support the infrastructure around the National Nuclear Security Administration’s complex, particularly the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Defense News reported Sunday.

“We look at the lithium processing facility, we at look the need for tritium down the road, and we look at the timetables in which we need them — it’s very important that we start now,” he told reporters Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. “And the president made the decision that he wanted to move up these projects and start them now. So that’s been our direction. That’s been our mission.”

Broulliette acknowledged that the additional funds will come from the Department of Defense and noted that DOE will work with Congress to achieve the $19.8B budget request.

He cited DOE’s involvement in the analysis of Iranian nuclear intelligence and concerns over cyber activity in Europe. He also responded to a question regarding an agreement with Russia and other countries over arms control.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has introduced a bill that would set up an independent federal agency to protect personal data and advance data privacy.

The proposed Data Protection Agency would enforce data protection rules and privacy statutes, address complaints and launch investigations related to data protection concerns, Gillibrand wrote in an article posted Thursday on Medium website.

The agency proposed under the Data Protection Act would develop and offer resources such as privacy enhancing technologies to help minimize the collection of personal information as well as protect against “pay-for-privacy” provisions in service contracts.

Gillibrand noted that the agency would also advise Congress on encryption, Deepfakes and other emerging technology and privacy issues and represent the country at international forums on data privacy.

The Department of Energy will grant $50M for further investigation of fusion energy.

The Office of Science will award $20M to pursue studies regarding the everyday use of fusion energy, the DoE said Thursday. These studies will be based on using spherical tokamaks and will be conducted at both domestic and international facilities.

“In addition to having potential performance advantages, spherical tokamaks can serve as excellent research instruments to probe key physics problems prior to burning plasma operation in ITER,” said Paul Dabbar, undersecretary for science at the DoE.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy will work with the Office of Science’s Fusion Energy Sciences initiative to award the remaining $30M to the Galvanizing Advances in Market-aligned fusion for the Overabundance of Watts, or GAMOW, program that aims to develop enabling technologies for fusion energy.

“The successful development of fusion energy systems has the potential to create an abundant, safe, carbon-free power source for a wide range of uses,” said Lane Genatowski, director at ARPA-E.

GAMOW’s research and development goals include creating cost-effective measures for additive manufacturing, novel fusion materials and advanced production as well as make streamlined cycle driver technology and fusion power plant components.

The program will provide funding for projects that improve, simplify, or reduce development costs for fusion energy platforms. ARPA-E and FES will grant $15M each in funds over the GAMOW program’s three-year run.

The General Services Administration has partnered with the Department of Labor to implement robotic process automation across the department through the former’s Centers of Excellence program.

GSA said Thursday that DOL’s RPA initiatives will fall under the agency’s new Artificial Intelligence CoE and support efforts to deploy RPA on a shared-service basis across the department.

GSA’s Technology Transformation Services office, which handles the CoE program, will coordinate with DOL business units to integrate the former’s AI CoE model with the department's procedures.

According to GSA Administrator and 2020 Wash100 winner Emily Murphy, the partnership serves as “an example of GSA playing a key role in governmentwide IT modernization.”

“Our main focus is on improving outcomes for our agency partners and we’re pleased to serve as a catalyst to help them develop a culture of innovation,” noted Anil Cheriyan, director of TTS. “[RPA] in combination with [AI] capabilities is gaining momentum in government, and is a strategic focus area for TTS this year.”

DOL is the sixth agency that joined GSA’s CoE effort to date.