Amazon Web Service looks to give start-ups in social sectors a boost

Kolkata: Amazon Web Services (AWS), a division of Amazon Internet Services Private Limited, will help start-ups in the social sector like education, healthcare, agriculture, e-governance and MSME by providing them with learning content and promotional credits.

State Finance minister Amit Mitra said that this was the result of the MoU signed between WEBEL and AWS in Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS). He said that Amazon should also look at setting up a logistics hub in the state like Flipkart, which is both labour-intensive and IT-driven and also has the potential to generate high employment.

Mitra said that the state government is also leveraging AWS for issuance of birth and death certificates while using block-chain technology for the public distribution system (PDS).

Rahul Sharma, president-public sector (India) of Amazon Internet Services Private Limited, said that the initiative is a part of AWS' global programme, which focuses on providing learning content, learning paths as well as promotional credit to start-ups working in these sectors.

He told reporters that AWS will provide USD one lakh promotional credit to identified start-ups and help them to grow their businesses in the MSME vertical in the state.

The programme would also help the start-ups get access to the AWS platform and subsequently connect to the various government departments, he said.

Sharma added that the idea is to make an intervention in these social sectors, with the help of Amazon technology.