Joanne Markert is the Washington State Geographic Information Officer at WaTech. In that role, she is responsible for coordinating GIS technology across all state agencies and finding connections to local, tribal and federal partners. In addition to using geography to solve critical business problems at the state, GIS touches many aspects of traditional IT including data sharing, sensitive data, big data, cloud technologies and privacy principles. She has almost 30 years experience as a GIS practitioner in the public and private sectors. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Masters in Environmental Studies. She is a positive and focused leader and enjoys integrating geographic information into decision making. She is an enthusiastic and consistent advocate for GIS technology.