Frugal architecture in action: The Urban Institute innovates with R and Serverless on AWS

The article discusses how the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization, leverages frugal architecture to innovate using R programming language and serverless computing on AWS.

Specifically, the article covers:

• The Urban Institute's adoption of R programming language for data analysis and visualization, and the benefits it provides in terms of cost savings, ease of learning, and compatibility with university programs.
• The use of AWS services like Lambda, Step Functions, and EC2 to build cost-effective and scalable applications, such as the Education Data Portal and Spatial Equity Data Tool.
• The incremental adoption of serverless computing to optimize costs while supporting various use cases like data quality checks, microsimulation models, and secure data access.
• The frugal architecture principles followed by the Urban Institute, such as aligning cost to business needs, optimizing costs incrementally, and challenging assumptions.
• Conclusion highlighting the Urban Institute's commitment to sustainable innovation and the resources provided for learning about frugal architecture.