Former DC Mayor Vincent C. Gray recently announced the procurement of FOIAXpress, which will be the District’s first-ever citywide FOIA-processing system. This is part of a new initiative designed to improve transparency, public participation and accountability in the District government.
“This new automated FOIA system is in keeping with one of the goals of my One City Action Plan – strengthening government accountability,” said Mr. Gray. “We believe FOIAXpress will help users obtain information about District government operations more quickly and more efficiently and give the public a better understanding of the workings of the government.”
In an effort to better serve the public and the Mayor’s goal of government accountability and transparency, the District obtained the new system after studying its effective use by many federal agencies, including the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security. District officials also worked in consultation with the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability’s Office of Open Government in making the decision to adopt the FOIAXpress system.
“The automated system will be a great benefit not only to the public in improving transparency, but to District government agencies, which will be able to more timely and efficiently process the thousands of FOIA requests received by the District every year,” said Traci Hughes, Director of the Office of Open Government.
This software also will allow agencies to publish documents to a centralized open-government website that will serve as a reading room for information that is required to be made public in addition to frequently requested documents that will be readily available as part of the District’s Transparency and Open Government Initiative.
“Using technology to unify disparate sources of information crucial to the public and to the District government’s policymaking process is central to creating a more open and transparent government,” said Mayor Gray.
