Cyber-security is a hot topic in federal, state and local government agencies. The year 2019 will be remembered as the cyber-security horror year. With hundreds of security breaches that resulted in significant costs to repair the damage, cyber-security is not just an...
The Access to Information and Privacy Act (ATIP) of Canada came into effect in 1983. With this act, under the control of a federal government institution, Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or other individuals or corporations in Canada have the right of...
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) codifies government transparency and ensures citizens access to public records of interest. Despite these admirable intentions, often the volume and speed of public records request fulfillment results in frustrated citizens and...
As the number of FOIA and public records requests increases, so do the numbers and types of records that must be searched. This is becoming a big problem and is even causing legal issues for FOIA agencies. The Department of Justice received 228 FOIA lawsuits in FY...
The number of FOIA requests backlogs has been rising for years. Now, federal agencies that deal with FOIA request processing are starting to realize they need to improve their processes. One of these improvements should be for agencies to start using FOIA software...
In order to increase the security among Federal agencies, several agencies created the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). These agencies are: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)...
Handling FOIA requests without an FOIA software is impossible. So you probably have some FOIA software running in your agency. But, for Federal agencies ‘some FOIA software solution’ is not enough. Nowadays, when working with sensitive data, security must come first....
Western societies take liberty seriously. We have our governments tied with legal frameworks to keep track of everything they do, and after a set time, these documents become publicly accessible through the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA). But sometimes, this...
We all know that price is not always the indicator of quality, and yet, we still tend to make rash judgments based solely on the price tag of a product. You have probably been in a situation like this: looking at the product name, and jumping to the bottom line, and...
If you’ve been dealing with FOIA requests processing for at least a year, you probably can relate with people who are overwhelmed and tired of the amount of work. FOIA requests processing is tedious and tiresome. Especially if you’ve been doing this for years. From...
The UC Berkeley School of Information Management and Systems addressed the growing need for more efficient Records Management in 2003, reporting: “The world's total yearly production of print, film, optical, and magnetic content would require roughly 1.5 billion...
The Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) and the Chief Records Officer (CRO) constantly observe and analyze the performances of FOIA agencies. The goal is to improve FOIA implementation across Federal Agencies. They do this by relying on the Records...
In March 2018, 50 years after the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act, the US Department of Justice released their Fiscal Year 2017 Annual FOIA Reports. According to these reports, the number of FOIA requests continues to increase. And in 2017, for the...
It’s no secret that cyber security threats loom over federal agencies. According to the report the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued 2 months ago, three out of four federal agencies are at risk from cyber attacks. From 96 federal agencies that...
In 2014, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) formed the Federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee to improve Federal Agency FOIA Operations. The purpose of creating the FOIA Advisory Committee was to explore procedures and...
The awareness of open and transparent government continually increases. As a result, government agencies find it more difficult to deal with the enormous number of FOIA requests. Responding to FOIA requests in an efficient and timely manner is a huge challenge for...
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) also referred to as Release of Information (ROI) allows citizens access to undisclosed information that is managed by the government. As more citizens have become aware of their right this has led to a significantly increased...
Does your government agency have a difficult time keeping pace with responding to FOIA requests? That is likely due to having an old instead of a modern FOIA software solution. The FOIA Project made a study where they submitted an FOIA request to 21 different federal...
Is your agency challenged when handling FOIA requests in a timely and efficient way? Is your agency still processing paper requests manually? If your answer was yes, you are surely frustrated with the number of resources and time it takes to compile, copy, and redact...
For federal government agencies, records and information management is an important part of their everyday work. They must comply with directives and memorandums for record retention and classification. This is partly to enable them to respond to the continuous stream...
Are you looking for ways to solve the overworked staff problem in your department? Sure, each and every agency wants to increase the effectiveness of their staff and the maturity of their department. However, only a few companies understand the core of the problem....
Today, agencies are actively looking for the right software management solution in order to increase the rate and quality for responding to public records requests. Back then, agencies used basic web forms, fillable PDF’s, and even faxed requests. As solutions, such...
With large-scale repetitive processes like FOIA requests management, it makes perfect sense to try and optimize the workflow as much as possible. Even a minor process improvement can mean avoiding tons of unneeded repetitive work. Here are some of the best practices...
More proactive information disclosure and higher transparency are the current needs of federal agencies responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Complying with the FOIA is an essential way that the government agencies serve US democracy. But the...
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) which supports release of information (ROI) gives citizens the right to request access to undisclosed information, managed by the government. Citizens are becoming more aware of their rights and are increasingly using FOIA to get...
Armedia has created the FOIA module for ArkCase, a flexible, open source, case management system to help organizations easily and successfully navigate the FOIA maze. The administrative appeal process is a critical element of the FOIA system, and it’s a useful...
Agencies must adopt clear procedures for fees and waivers. These procedures include fees for searching for information, the release of information, and duplication of information. Many requesters have expressed frustration with the FOIA fee system; issues such as...
Many FOIA requesters have raised worries about excessively broad claims of confidential business information limiting access to important public information. Armedia’s FOIA Module is designed to help you avoid excessively broad claims or delayed responses to FOIA...
Destruction of confidential documents is the ultimate means of hiding something. Unfortunately, it’s a practice, or "mistake", that has become far too common. Federal legislation governs the handling of old/classified documents. ArkCase, powered by Alfresco, will help...
Regardless of scheme or size, all agencies must meet the same FOIA requirements and act accordingly. Armedia’s FOIA Module, built on ArkCase architecture, is designed to clearly and proactively communicate with requesters… regardless of the size of your agency or...
Journalists who regularly use the federal FOIA complain about lost requests, long delays, and responses that give no indication if and when the agency will turn over documents. But a new feature promises to make it easier for agencies and requesters to keep track of...
As we mentioned in a previous blog post, we are running a coverage of how the Armedia FOIA Module helps companies use open source software like ArkCase in their case management needs. In this series, we are reviewing how agencies should handle FOIA requests following...
Earlier we posted a blog post on how to navigate the FOIA maze. That blog inspired readers to get in touch with us and ask some specific questions on how to deal with the FOIA challenge, and if Armedia has a simpler solution to this complex challenge. And the good...