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The Washington Technology Industry Association -- the largest statewide association of technology companies, IT departments and individual technology professionals in North America -- unveiled its new name yesterday during its 13th annual Industry Achievement Awards.

The association changed its name from WSA to better represent its broadened membership base.

"Since our start 24 years ago, we've grown from an association that served the needs of a burgeoning software industry to one that represents more than 1,000 companies and more than 100,000 employees across a broad spectrum of technology businesses," said Ken Myer, president and CEO of the Washington Technology Industry Association. "It's time our name matched our membership."

The new name and logo aren't the association's only changes during the past year. Along with opening a new satellite office in Shenzhen, China, the association has also welcomed IT professionals from any business to join its membership base, as well as partnered more closely with others in the technology community, including the Technology Alliance.

"The association's new name reflects what the organization has become over its many years," said Susannah Malarkey, executive director of Technology Alliance and a member of the Washington Technology Industry Association's board of directors. "We consider them a great partner as they serve their members in handling day-to-day issues, while we focus on ensuring that Washington continues, in the long term, to be a global center for the technology economy."

The association also announced the availability of additional discounted services for its membership, including a 401K plan, audio/web conferencing services, discounts on Dell hardware, HR "in a box" programs and access to an employment listing service for China.

In addition, the association's board members now represent the broader scope of today's technology industry: Paul Thelen of Big Fish Games and Carla Stratfold of Real Networks both work for game/media companies; Brian Webster is president and CEO of Physio-Control Inc., a medical device company; and Pia Jorgensen, a CTO for Washington Mutual, helps represent IT professionals.

Even the association's events are evolving -- it now offers every-other-month networking opportunities at local restaurants throughout the Puget Sound. Last fall, the association also hosted a CIO Forum that brought together more than 70 CIOs to hear the results of a national survey about issues that affect their specific field.

The WTIA Industry Achievement Award winners are:

Breakthrough Technology of the Year:
TravellingWave
TravellingWave's technology combines speech recognition with keypad inputs in a novel framework, "Predictive Speech-to-Text," that results in a next-generation multimodal mobile user experience.

Business Product of the Year:
Tableau Software, Inc.
Using a publishing and collaboration model, Tableau Server extends fast analytics and visualization of Tableau Desktop to the Web so that anyone with a browser can benefit

Consumer Product or Service of the Year:
Yapta, Inc.
Yapta - Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant - helps travelers pick flights, get low airfares and receive credits from airlines when prices drop after they buy tickets.

Service Provider of the Year:
Ramp Group
Ramp delivers an unequaled blend of user experience, technology development and business savvy to deliver truly game-changing results for its clients.

Technology Innovator of the Year:
INRIX, Inc.
Bryan Mistele is a technology visionary who sees the potential to significantly and positively impact the quality of people's lives, and that of our environment, by reducing traffic congestion worldwide.

Best Use of Technology in the Government, Non-Profit or Education Sector:
King County District Court
King County dramatically altered the manner in which citizens receive critical information pertaining to the district court system. [24x7]