Nine Washington state agencies on Thursday highlighted new and innovative technologies they’re implementing as the result of funding provided by WaTech’s Innovation and Modernization Fund (IMF).
The new technologies described ranged from Eastern Washington State Historical Society's transition to a sophisticated SQL database for art collection management to the Department of Ecology shifting water right applications online for efficiency and compliance.
In 2023, the state Legislature created an Innovation and Modernization Fund (IMF) at WaTech that allows state agencies to address emergent legacy-systems issues and adopt innovative technology to meet a critical business need. The 2023-25 biennial budget appropriated $3 million for the IMF, of which $1.5 million was available for fiscal year 2024. WaTech received 34 proposals, of which 12 requests were approved and funded.
WaTech Director and State CIO Bill Kehoe during the event on Thursday said he hopes the IMF will serve as the catalyst for a cultural shift of persistent innovation across the state. “This is a foundation that we want to sustain for a very long time,” he said. “It’s so important for us all to understand that building an innovation culture in the state of Washington is not something that the state CIO can mandate and it's not anything your agencies can mandate. It's a movement, it's a culture. It's a way of doing work, and it involves everybody.”
Nick Stowe, WaTech’s Chief Technology Officer, celebrated the swift progress of the IMF program, which is less than a year old.
“One of the reasons we’re hosting this showcase of projects today is to allow agencies to show off their awesome work, and also to give other agencies opportunities to be inspired,” he said
A long lineup of state agencies unveiled their tech endeavors being funded by the IMF, including:
- The Eastern Washington State Historical Society (EWHS) is updating its database management system for its art collections, which includes artifacts and photographs. The current system, nearing the end of its life, will be replaced with a more user-friendly and faster SQL database system. The upgrade will facilitate better workflow, increase access to collections, and provide a single online portal that meets state accessibility standards.
- Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA) is transitioning to a new collection database to manage their art collection, which includes thousands of artworks and artists. Their current database system is reaching the end of its life and will be replaced with a more modern SQL-based system that is browser-based and has better capabilities for sharing data across platforms.
- The Health Care Authority (HCA) is working on an innovative electronic consent management system that is a first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at streamlining the consent process between providers and patients. This new system is expected to introduce automated workflows, reducing the reliance on manual, paper-based processes.
- The Department of Fish and Wildlife is modernizing its permitting system, which is currently reliant on paper forms. This overhaul aims to digitize the process, minimizing document loss, data loss, and inefficiencies.
- The Office of Financial Management (OFM) is tackling the challenges of internal competition for talent among state agencies by implementing a Candidate Relationship Management System. This tool is designed to help remember and reach out to quality candidates who weren't hired in the initial recruitment but showed potential.
- The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) discussed a project that addresses the barrier of English proficiency in accessing services. They've selected an application to provide real-time interpretation for virtual meetings. The solution will support both human interpretation and AI, tailored to the specific needs of DSHS, to enhance accessibility and service delivery for Washington's diverse population.
Each project demonstrates a focused effort by Washington's state agencies to leverage technology in order to improve internal operations and public services, with goals that include increased accessibility, process efficiency, better data management, and enhanced security.