UPDATE, June 21, 2018: Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the winners of its City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge 2018. The winners are as follows, and more information on the winners' projects can be found here:

Dive Brief:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) has named the finalists for its City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge 2018, which recognizes governments, schools, nonprofit organizations and tech businesses that use AWS to become innovation hubs. 
• The finalists have been nominated in four categories: Best Practices, Partners in Innovation, Dream Big and We Power Tech.
• Winners will receive a portion of the total $450,000 in AWS promotional credits to begin or continue their innovative projects. 

Dive Insight:

The dozens of City on a Cloud nominees skew heavily toward city governments or individual departments and agencies within the governments. All nominees must use AWS for their innovative solutions to better the lives of citizens.

Last year, Louisville, KY won the Dream Big Award for its adaptive traffic management system that automatically adjusts the city's infrastructure based on real-time traffic flow conditions, while gathering data and insights. Louisville Data Officer Michael Schnuerle told Smart Cities Dive last year the competition pushed the city to find the right combination of flexible, expandable tools to further their project, which speeds development and reduces costs.

Besides just achieving greater exposure for AWS, the competition incentivizes entrepreneurs to use tools they already have to foster innovation. It also judges nominees on having a noticeable impact on their communities. A newer focal point is how well competitors serve underrepresented groups and attempt to bridge the digital divide.