Sunshine Week Meeting of the FOIA IT Working Group

Over the last few years the Office of Information Policy (OIP) held a series of meetings with agency FOIA and technology professionals to examine different ways to leverage technology tools in order to improve FOIA administration across the government.  On Thursday March 14th, during Sunshine Week 2013, our office will convene a meeting of the FOIA IT Working Group to continue the conversation into how to harness the power of technology to find efficiencies in the processing of FOIA requests. The FOIA IT Working Group serves as a forum for agency personnel to discuss many aspects of FOIA administration that could benefit from the application of technological and digital tools, and to share or highlight best practices in agency use of such technologies.  In the spirit of Sunshine Week and the fourth anniversary of the issuance of Attorney General Holder’s FOIA Guidelines, the Working Group will look at how agencies can strengthen the culture of openness in their administration of the FOIA through the use of technology.  Additionally, OIP will extend an invitation to technology specialists from civil society organizations and open government groups to join the Working Group in its discussions. The details for the meeting are: From using expanded social media footprints as a tool for proactive disclosures, to exploring the benefits of leveraging digital tools for FOIA administration, agencies are making great strides in using technology to improve fundamental aspects of FOIA administration.  The persistent use, and investigation to the use, of such tools is vital to ensuring that agencies continue to administer the FOIA with a presumption of openness. If you are interested in attending this event, you can register by e-mailing your name and phone number to OIP’s Training Officer, Bertina Adams Cleveland, at DOJ.OIP.FOIA@usdoj.gov, with the subject “FOIA IT Working Group Sunshine Week Meeting.”  If you have any questions regarding this meeting, please contact Ms. Adams at (202) 514-1010.