Washington Technology Solutions (WaTech)

The Washington State Legislature created Washington Technology Solutions (WaTech), the government agency legally known as "the consolidated technology services agency" (CTS), in statute in 2017 (RCW 43.105.006). WaTech was created per Governor Inslee's 2015-17 budget to provide state agencies with a centralized provider and procurer of information technology services. To accomplish the Governor's directive, WaTech merged the former Department of Information Services (DIS), the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) and the enterprise applications division of the Department of Enterprise Services (DES) into one consolidated agency. The state Office of Cybersecurity (OCS) was created and added to WaTech in 2015 and formally designated in statute in the 2021 legislative session.

WaTech is around a 400-person organization that operates the state’s core technology services—the central network and data center—and provides strategic and comprehensive information security to protect state networks from growing cyber threats. WaTech serves state agencies, county, city and tribal governments, and public-benefit nonprofits. WaTech leads the implementation of a strategic direction and enterprise architecture for information technology and oversees the portfolio of major IT projects for state government. The Office of Privacy and Data Protection leads Washington’s effort to protect the state and citizens’ data and privacy through advocacy and education.

WaTech Connect Contact Center service offering allows WaTech customers to use cloud-based contact center functions in a highly adaptable environment. WaTech Connect can leverage other Amazon Web Services (AWS) to provide the end user a fully immersive experience in order to meet their needs. WaTech Connect can retrieve information from a computer database or other data source to automatically provide the information to customers or to the agents assisting the customers through secured interactions. Answers to frequently asked questions can be made available to customers for self-service, and automation using WaTech Connect can reduce staff time, operator errors, and enhances customer service.