The legislative session wrapped up with some positive developments for WaTech and the Office of Privacy and Data Protection (OPDP). We were grateful to see OPDP fully funded and WaTech’s request legislation to formerly name the agency Washington Technology Solutions signed by the Governor. This updated law aligns with current practices for processing projects in the agency.
As part of broader funding for WaTech’s small agency services, the Legislature also provided OPDP with one position to act as a privacy officer for small agencies. We are excited to be able to use this position to increase our support for small agencies by assisting with privacy program maturity and best practices.
AI Summit and IT Industry Forum
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure to help lead WaTech in its first AI Summit and IT Industry Forum at St. Martin’s University. Thank you to all of you who were able to join us and support Washington’s efforts to harness industry and state agency knowledge to gain important insights on AI use cases and impacts. We welcomed over 250 participants, including representation from 38 agencies and enjoyed insightful panels, engaging AI workshops, and valuable networking opportunities.
April Webinar
The Office of Privacy and Data Protection receives lots of interesting questions and inquiries from agencies on a wide range of privacy and privacy-adjacent topics. Join us this month to get the benefit of hearing some of our answers in a Webinar we’re calling “Sometimes Asked Questions.” These questions range on issues from data share agreements, ad tracking pixels, biometrics, demographic data protections, and more. Please email OPDP if you would like to attend: privacy@watech.wa.gov.
- Date: April 25
- Time: 10 a.m. to 11a.m.
- Place: Zoom
Grant Opportunity
We are excited to announce that the next State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program application is available! If you have privacy or security projects that you would like to see funded, check out the website (State & Local Cybersecurity Grant Program | WaTech) for more details.
Thanks and see you next month with more updates!
Katy Ruckle
State Chief Privacy Officer