While some of us on the East Coast may feel like this is the winter that will never end, it’s nice to know that there’s sunshine on the horizon – Sunshine Week 2014! During the week of March 16 to March 22, groups across the country will promote openness in state and local governments and … Continue reading A Sunny Forecast
We’ve written about the new FOIA Modernization Committee forming out of the U.S. National Action Plan for the global Open Government Partnership, and we’ve heard from lots of folks who are interested in joining the effort. If you are interested in serving on the committee or nominating someone to serve on the committee, it’s not … Continue reading FOIA Modernization Committee Update
Sunshine Week is less than six weeks away! Agencies, what are you doing to prepare? Last year, Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero sent a message during Sunshine Week to National Archives’ staff reminding them that FOIA is everyone’s responsibility and responding to access requests doesn’t rest solely on the agency’s FOIA and archival … Continue reading Getting Ready for Sunshine Week
The U.S. National Action Plan for the global Open Government Partnership is big news for FOIA. We’ve written about the plan’s five-part commitment for strengthening and modernizing the Freedom of Information Act. One of the five components of the FOIA commitment calls for a new FOIA advisory committee: Establish a FOIA Modernization Advisory Committee. Improvements to FOIA … Continue reading Modernizing FOIA
In his November 28, 2011 Presidential Memorandum -Managing Government Records, President Obama noted “proper records management is the backbone of open Government.” Sound records management helps agencies carry out their missions, promotes accountability by documenting agency activities, and fosters open Government. As we’ve written before, good records management is essential for good FOIA programs. That’s … Continue reading Managing Emails & Government Records: Are your ducks in a row?
As the government strives to find ways to improve FOIA, proactive disclosure seems to be one strategy that everyone agrees on; if agencies make more information publicly available, people will not need to make FOIA requests for those records. In many cases, this strategy has worked. Thanks to efforts like data.gov and agencies’ FOIA libraries, … Continue reading Making “Publicly Available” Records Available
The Department of State received nearly 19,000 FOIA requests in fiscal year 2012 – clearly, people are interested in the agency’s records! To better satisfy the needs of the public, the department has launched a new FOIA website (available at www.foia.state.gov). State designed the website with researchers in mind. It makes already-public information easier to … Continue reading The Department of State launches a new FOIA site
Did you check the forecast this morning to see if you should grab an umbrella before you headed out the door? If so, did you know that information collected and distributed by the government helped you to stay dry? Many familiar technologies are built using government data sets, including the National Digital Forecast Database and … Continue reading Forecast: Innovation Ahead
In its March 29 self-assessment of the National Action Plan, the White House evaluated its progress on the two FOIA-related components of that plan: professionalizing FOIA administration and harnessing the power of technology. During Sunshine Week 2012, the Office of Personnel Management announced the creation of the Government Information Series. This specialized field within … Continue reading White House Assesses FOIA Commitments
FOIA is everyone’s responsibility. This is a common refrain for FOIA processors and records managers, but we have observed that it can be a challenge to impress upon those outside the FOIA department that FOIA is their job, too. For those who don’t live and breathe FOIA, having a cumbersome, time-sensitive project like a FOIA … Continue reading FOIA: Spread the Word!
You must be logged in to post a comment.