Sandra N. Bates serves as the commissioner of the Federal Technology Service (FTS), overseeing assisted acquisition services and contract development and management resulting in $9 billion worth of government telecommunications and IT purchases annually. Prior to her selection as commissioner in April, 2000, Bates served two years as assistant commissioner for service delivery and three years as deputy commissioner in the Federal Technology Service

Commissioner Bates began her government career in 1969 as an intern with GSA. She worked as an agency liaison for telecommunications and ADP acquisitions on the original governmentwide long distance services program, FTS. She returned to GSA in 1996 after seventeen years with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration where she served in various telecommunications positions until 1993 when she was named chief of communications with responsibility for all NASA operational, command, and control networks worldwide. 

A graduate of Roanoke College, Sandra Bates has been active in the federal technology community, serving in leadership roles with a number of government and industry councils and associations. She has received numerous awards, including NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal, the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Service, the Government Information Technology Award, the Fed 100 Award (three separate years), the Industry Advisory Council's Outstanding Individual Government Communicator Award, and the American Council for Technology’s John J. Franke Award for Extraordinary Contributions to Long Term Federal Service.