Enterprise Data Strategy

Progress update - March 2025

Enterprise data strategy framework 2025-2027 completed! 

WaTech is excited to announce the launch of the Enterprise Data Strategy: Turning Data Into Action: Smarter Decisions, Better Outcomes. This strategy marks a significant step forward in harnessing data as a strategic asset to improve public services, inform policymaking, and strengthen collaboration across state agencies.

Developed through a statewide multi-agency collaboration involving more than 200 data leaders and partners, the strategy provides a unified framework to break down data silos, unlock insights, and create more coordinated, data-informed government services.

“This strategy isn’t just about managing data — it’s about putting it to work,” said State CIO and WaTech Director Bill Kehoe. “By aligning efforts across agencies, we can use data to drive smarter decisions, improve service delivery, and ensure better outcomes for all Washingtonians.”

The Enterprise Data Strategy is built around three key goals:

• Build partnerships to solve statewide challenges – By leveraging strong data foundations, unite state and local governments, institutions of higher education, nonprofits, communities, and industry partners to combine data, expertise, and innovative solutions to tackle Washington's biggest challenges and strengthen our resilience.
• Ensure data literacy to drive impact – Equip every employee with the skills, confidence, and tools to use data strategically - fostering a culture of data fluency, stewardship, and informed decision-making at every level of government.
• Expand data analytics for smarter services – Accelerate Washington’s data analytics capabilities to generate powerful insights and deliver efficient and effective public services, policy, and programs.

To support these goals, the strategy is built on three foundational pillars:

• Governance as a foundation - Establishing clear frameworks and policies to ensure responsible, effective, and scalable data management.
• Privacy, security & digital trust - Safeguarding data integrity and protecting resident privacy while enabling transparent, ethical data use.
• Equity in action - Embedding equity principles into data practices to ensure fair and accessible services for all communities.

The release of the strategy marks the beginning of a coordinated implementation effort. In the coming months, Goal Teams will be formed to lead the advancement of implementation roadmaps, establish measurable milestones, and align agency initiatives with statewide priorities. These teams will play a crucial role in advancing Washington’s commitment to using data to deliver better government services.

Overview

Washington is developing an Enterprise Data Strategy designed to build a strategic data foundation for connected government, strong communities, and a better Washington. Addressing the state's most pressing needs and civic challenges requires a systematic approach, with agencies collaborating to leverage shared data for improved service delivery and strategic decision-making that promote equitable outcomes and service priorities. The strategy is intended to provide a foundation that will drive significant changes in data practices and promote ongoing agency collaboration and alignment with customer-focused measures, security, privacy, and data governance.

There are three core objectives to the strategy:

1. Establish a statewide data ecosystem
   This objective focuses on creating enterprise-level resources, platforms, tools, and agreements that support inter-agency collaboration. This will enable agencies to collect, use, analyze, and make data-driven decisions based on shared information, while upholding high standards of data privacy and accuracy. Reducing the state's technical debt burden through effective data management strategies is also a key priority.
2. Foster customer-centric inter-agency decision-making with a focus on collective impact
   Washington is committed to fostering collaborative, data-driven decision-making across state agencies, centered on the needs and priorities of its residents.
3. Enable data-driven insights that empower action
   This objective supports the use of robust and repeatable analytical techniques to transform raw data into actionable insights. The strategy also aims to foster data literacy across agencies, empowering them to effectively act on insights and deliver better outcomes for the public.

A major foundation for this work is the Performance Data for Connected Government strategy, developed in collaboration with Results Washington, the state's performance management office. This strategy provided a targeted approach for tracking statewide performance data and enhancing cross-agency collaboration, which the broader Enterprise Data Strategy now builds upon.

By focusing on these objectives, the Enterprise Data Strategy seeks to create a more connected, transparent, and proactive government, capable of leveraging data to improve services and outcomes for all Washingtonians. This strategy positions Washington state to address its most pressing needs and challenges through inter-agency, customer-focused, data-driven collaborative decision-making.

Timeline:

Complete

• Jan 2024: Objectives of Enterprise Data Strategy determined
• Apr 2024: Performance Data for Connected Government strategy
• May 2024: Initial discovery (current & future state) with Better Data Goal team
• Jun – Aug 2024: Initial inventory of initiatives & measures + gap analysis

In Progress

• Sep – Oct 2024: Procure contractor to aid in the next steps of the Enterprise Data Strategy development

Upcoming

• Oct – Nov 2024: Statewide data collection for enterprise data strategy
• Nov – Dec 2024: Synthesis of information & strategy development; Better Data Goal team and Data Governance Committee to provide feedback
• Dec 2024: Publish Enterprise Data Strategy Brief
• Jan – Mar 2025: Develop Enterprise Data Strategy Implementation Plan
• Apr 2025: Publish Enterprise Data Strategy Implementation Plan

Performance Data for Connected Government

The Performance Data for Connected Government project, led by WaTech and Results WA, focused on creating a comprehensive strategy to guide future work in performance data management for Washington state agencies. The project was supported by an interagency agreement (IAA) with the Office of Financial Management (OFM) and involved collaboration with Slalom to develop a performance data strategy and technology roadmap. This roadmap will inform future decision-making, investments, and project planning.

Key outcomes include the development of strategic relationships with partner agencies, enabling a deeper understanding of their needs and concerns. The project also identified gaps in understanding around performance data and outlined the necessary steps for scaling the platform, including addressing communication and other operational needs.

Completed in May 2024, the project successfully delivered a foundation for future efforts, providing clarity on potential issues with agency data and offering insights that will shape subsequent initiatives. WaTech managed the project’s technical aspects, including vendor oversight, contracts, and invoicing, ensuring smooth project execution.