In 2024, the Legislature passed SHB 1947, which eliminated the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) and incorporated all duties and responsibilities to Washington Technology Solutions (WaTech), as well as renamed the agency from Consolidated Technology Services (CTS) to WaTech. Previous references to the OCIO or CTS should be understood to refer to WaTech.
Ralph Johnson was named WaTech's new state Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) on Dec. 1, 2022.
Ralph replaced Vinod Brahmapuram, who resigned in March for a private-sector job. State CIO and WaTech Director Bill Kehoe, who has served as acting CISO during the interim, appointed Ralph to the position.
Ralph currently leads the information security program for NantMedia…
Government Technology recently published a news story about WaTech proposing legislation that would establish a "legacy modernization fund" to supply grants to agencies as they undertake the modernization process.
"If governments are going to move forward with transformation of their services to the public, they must have a plan to modernize their legacy systems. You can no longer push…
Legacy system modernization is a top priority of state and local governments across the country. But why is it important? How big is the problem and what are the ramifications if governments do not address this problem?
In the state of Washington, we define a legacy system as any system that presents a constraint or risk to the line of business that it supports. These range from…
Hundreds of IT professionals and vendors attended the Washington Digital Government Summit on Nov. 10 to discuss critical topics of the day from connected government to emerging GIS technology and improving recruitment and retention in the workplace.
WaTech staff participated in several sessions during the day including a discussion on using geographic…
Ralph Johnson has been named WaTech's state Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), effective Dec. 1.
Ralph replaces Vinod Brahmapuram, who resigned in March for a private-sector job. State CIO and WaTech Director Bill Kehoe, who has served as acting CISO during the interim, appointed Ralph to the position.
Ralph currently leads the information…
