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Breaking Barriers: Public Safety & Network Intelligence Innovation
Jan
 
31
, 
2023
January
 
31
, 
2023
 | 
9:00AM
 - 
12:00PM 
EST
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Mackenzie Kosut

Global Startup Evangelist, Amazon Web Services

Mackenzie is the Global Startup Evangelist at AWS. His days are spent traveling the globe to meet startups, share their stories, and connect engineering teams together. Every day there are a large number of startups launching on AWS across every imaginable industry. It’s Mackenzie’s mission to find stories of startups that are helping to improve the world and share these stories with a wide audience.

 

Prior to joining AWS, Mackenzie was the Head of Technical Operations at Betterment, the world’s largest independent robo-advisor based in NYC which manages over $8B in assets. Mackenzie was a founding engineer and Head of Technical Operations at Oscar Health, an insurance startup also based in NYC, helping to grow the company to over 400+ employees.

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9:00AM - 10:00AM

Breakfast

Breakfast. Registration will take place five minutes before breakfast.

9:00AM - 10:00AM

Breakfast

Breakfast. Registration will take place five minutes before breakfast.

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Breaking Barriers: Public Safety & Network Intelligence Innovation

2020 Global series

Sep 
19 
2025
 - 
Sep 
21 
2025
September 19: 2:00PM – 10:00PM
September 20: 8:00AM – 10:00PM
September 21: 8:00AM – 3:00PM
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About the event

In collaboration with AT&T and Deloitte, AWS is hosting an innovative developer challenge focused on transforming the future of networks through agents and generative AI. This three-day hackathon, hosted on Southern Methodist University’s campus, will unite the Dallas-based community of students, startups, and enterprises to develop ideas that may shape the future of FirstNet, America’s largest network for first responders.


Challenge 1 | Network Intelligence Enhancement
Develop an innovative solution that leverages AI technologies (LLMs, Digital Twins, and Intelligent Agents) to optimize FirstNet's network performance and resource allocation. Examples include:

• Create predictive models for network demand during emergencies
• Implement smart load balancing using digital twin simulation
• Enable autonomous network optimization through AI agents
• Enhance network resilience and efficiency during critical situations


Challenge 2 | Community Safety & Health Innovation
Design a novel application or service that utilizes FirstNet's dedicated public safety network to enhance community well being and emergency response. Examples include:

• Connect first responders with real-time health/safety data
• Enable faster coordination between emergency services
• Improve disaster preparedness and response
• Create new ways for communities to interact with emergency services

  • Bullet 1
  • Bullet 2
  • Bullet 3

Key dates

August 21 - September 18: Submit your team's idea (up to 5 people per team) based on the challenge questions. Email generative-ai-hackathon-telco@amazon.com with:


• Subject: "Breaking Barriers: Public Safety & Network Intelligence Innovation"
• Team name
• Names of all participating developers
• Proposal (0.5-1 page) as attachment


Proposals will be accepted to attend the in-person event on a rolling basis. Spots are limited so don’t wait to apply!


September 2025: Attend online Immersion Days hosted by AWS and partners to learn about generative AI technology on AWS.
September 19 – September 21: Hackathon days, culminating in the winners announcement on September 21st at 3PM.


View terms and conditions here.

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Agenda

9:00AM - 10:00AM

Breakfast

Breakfast. Registration will take place five minutes before breakfast.

10:00AM - 11:00AM

The Horizon of AI

The Emerging World of Artifical Intelligence and Machine Learning by Matthew Hartman and Partner, Betaworks.

11:00AM - 12:00PM

Startup Evangelist of the Month

Welcome Mackenzie Kosut, AWS Startup Evangelist

1:00PM - 2:00PM

Breakout Session 1

In this project, you will learn how to deploy and host Jenkins, an open-source automation software predominantly used for CI/CD

3:00PM - 4:00PM

Breakout Session 2

In this project, you will learn how to deploy and host WordPress, an open-source blogging tool and content management system

Speakers

Mackenzie Kosut

Global Startup Evangelist, Amazon Web Services

Mackenzie is the Global Startup Evangelist at AWS. His days are spent traveling the globe to meet startups, share their stories, and connect engineering teams together. Every day there are a large number of startups launching on AWS across every imaginable industry. It’s Mackenzie’s mission to find stories of startups that are helping to improve the world and share these stories with a wide audience.


Katherine Barna

Vice President Communications, Awesomeness

Katherine Barna is Vice President, Communications for Awesomeness, a leading multi-platform media company defining the future of entertainment. At Awesomeness, Barna oversees communication and PR strategy for the company and its four key divisions: the Gen Z-focused AwesomenessTV network, Awesomeness Films, DreamWorksTV, and Awestruck. In addition, she heads up the company’s social responsibility initiatives. Previously, she was Head of Communications and Public Policy for Tumblr. She joined the company in 2011 as the 25th employee overall and one of the first non-technical members of the team

Adam Rothenburg

Co-Founder & Partner, BoxGroup

Adam Rothenberg is a Co-founder and Partner of BoxGroup, a New York City based early stage venture capital fund. BoxGroup invests in pre-seed and seed rounds with the goal of backing talented entrepreneurs building disruptive technology companies and with visions to create the next generation of category defining businesses. Investments include Blue Apron, Trello, PillPack, Spring, Sunrise, Warby Parker, Harry’s, Oscar, Behance, and more. Adam was previously the Director of TechStars in New York City. TechStars is a mentorship-driven seed stage accelerator program. Prior to joining TechStars, Adam spent 4 years investing in the public markets at a hedge fund in New York City. Adam attended The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where he concentrated in Finance and minored in Fine Arts. Adam is a native New Yorker.

Mackenzie Kosut

Global Startup Evangelist, Amazon Web Services

Mackenzie is the Global Startup Evangelist at AWS. His days are spent traveling the globe to meet startups, share their stories, and connect engineering teams together. Every day there are a large number of startups launching on AWS across every imaginable industry. It’s Mackenzie’s mission to find stories of startups that are helping to improve the world and share these stories with a wide audience.

 

Prior to joining AWS, Mackenzie was the Head of Technical Operations at Betterment, the world’s largest independent robo-advisor based in NYC which manages over $8B in assets. Mackenzie was a founding engineer and Head of Technical Operations at Oscar Health, an insurance startup also based in NYC, helping to grow the company to over 400+ employees.

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Location

January
 
31
, 
2023
 | 
9:00AM
 - 
12:00PM
Register
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Location

January
 
31
, 
2023
 | 
9:00AM
 - 
12:00PM
Register
Text goes here
X

Sponsors

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