Chief FOIA Officer Council issues RFI for tech to improve FOI, but keeps excluding public & press
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Alexander Howard
Feb 10, 2026, 2:19:16 PM (8 days ago) Feb 10
to US Open Government, OGP Civil Society group, openg...@googlegroups.com
The US government is once again soliciting information about next-generation solutions to improve administration of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This year’s “showcase” is heavily focused on how vendors could use AI to improve the FOIA:
https://www.foia.gov/chief-foia-officers-council/nexgen2.0-foia-showcase
The solicitation fulfills one recommendation by the US FOIA Advisory Committee, which I served on: https://www.archives.gov/files/ogis/documents/finalreport.6.17.24.pdf#page=29 but many other actions of this administration are an affront to the American public’s right to know and access information. I hope that record receives a thorough airing at the next public meeting in March, ahead of #SunshineWeek.
Unfortunately, these “showcases” have been closed to the public and press since their inception years ago. Events held by the Chief FOIA Officers Council should be open to the people by default: without transparency, there can be no accountability.
To their credit, the Office of Government Information Services & Office of Information Policy disclosed presentations in a YouTube playlist in 2022 & 2024, along with partial responses to the RFI, but the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the Justice Department have declined to open access beyond federal agencies & vendors in response to the request of advocates.
The American people should be the key stakeholders in administration of the Freedom of Information Act, not just agency IT officials or vendors — especially given the quality of the FOIA “portals” we see across all levels of government.
CIOs should have been building open, secure, accessible modern systems to replace FOIAOnline with the requester community for years — not firing FOIA staff, taking down open data, or instituting identity & account requirements that deny Americans access to the records our government holds in trust for us.
That would have made a terrific flagship commitment by the Justice Department, OMB, and NARA for the 6th U.S. National Action Plan for Open Government for the Open Government Partnership, but The White House withdrew the US government from the global initiative to improve government transparency and accountability this winter, after President Biden and his administration refused to co-create ambitious commitments with the American people they served. https://e-pluribusunum.org/2026/01/28/embracing-illiberalism-trump-administration-withdraws-from-global-open-government-partnership/
https://www.foia.gov/chief-foia-officers-council/nexgen2.0-foia-showcase
The solicitation fulfills one recommendation by the US FOIA Advisory Committee, which I served on: https://www.archives.gov/files/ogis/documents/finalreport.6.17.24.pdf#page=29 but many other actions of this administration are an affront to the American public’s right to know and access information. I hope that record receives a thorough airing at the next public meeting in March, ahead of #SunshineWeek.
Unfortunately, these “showcases” have been closed to the public and press since their inception years ago. Events held by the Chief FOIA Officers Council should be open to the people by default: without transparency, there can be no accountability.
To their credit, the Office of Government Information Services & Office of Information Policy disclosed presentations in a YouTube playlist in 2022 & 2024, along with partial responses to the RFI, but the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the Justice Department have declined to open access beyond federal agencies & vendors in response to the request of advocates.
The American people should be the key stakeholders in administration of the Freedom of Information Act, not just agency IT officials or vendors — especially given the quality of the FOIA “portals” we see across all levels of government.
CIOs should have been building open, secure, accessible modern systems to replace FOIAOnline with the requester community for years — not firing FOIA staff, taking down open data, or instituting identity & account requirements that deny Americans access to the records our government holds in trust for us.
That would have made a terrific flagship commitment by the Justice Department, OMB, and NARA for the 6th U.S. National Action Plan for Open Government for the Open Government Partnership, but The White House withdrew the US government from the global initiative to improve government transparency and accountability this winter, after President Biden and his administration refused to co-create ambitious commitments with the American people they served. https://e-pluribusunum.org/2026/01/28/embracing-illiberalism-trump-administration-withdraws-from-global-open-government-partnership/
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