At the Washington State IT Industry Forum & Modernization Summit held at St. Martin’s University on Sept. 25, Bill Kehoe, WaTech’s director and the state Chief Information Officer, shared his vision for the future of technology modernization in state government.
He underscored a fundamental shift in approach, moving away from traditional IT upgrades to a more holistic focus on improving the customer experience. Bill called for increased collaboration between business and IT sectors, emphasizing that they can no longer operate in silos and pointed out that modernization now involves reimagining processes and integrating user-centered design to improve services for residents.
He challenged attendees to rethink modernization beyond just technological upgrades. Now, the state is shifting to focus on the customer experience. “What is the customer experience in the state of Washington right now when they come to us for critical services? We should care about that,” he said.
More than 300 people signed up to attend the forum including 135 state agency employees from 39 state agencies and 170 vendor representatives from 109 companies.
The forum was an opportunity to help shape the future of technology in Washington. With aging systems and growing demands, the state needs innovative, modern solutions and this summit puts you at the forefront of these critical changes. The event offered attendees an opportunity to network and learn from both industry and government leaders.
Participants explored key strategies for updating technology, enhancing digital services, and cultivating a future-ready workforce, as well as gained insights into the components of successful modernization initiatives reshaping Washington state government.
Bill at the event also emphasized the importance of data analytics in achieving modernization goals, cautioning that without a robust data foundation, progress would be limited.
He called for a unified effort to move the state forward. “We need architects. We need human centered design folks. We need
infrastructure folks, we need data folks, we need business folks, we need industry. That's the multi-disciplinary team coming together to solve problems, to serve our residents in a better way.”