Virtual Meeting of the Chief FOIA Officers Council

The Office of Information Policy (OIP) is pleased to announce that the Chief FOIA Officers (CFO) Council will hold a virtual meeting on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM EDT.     

In addition to agency Chief FOIA Officers, the CFO Council meeting is open to all agency FOIA professionals and members of the public.  Time will be provided for members of the public to address the Council.  Registration is required on Eventbrite.  All attendees must register by 11:59 PM (EDT) on Monday, November 15, 2021.  The meeting will also be livestreamed on the National Archives' YouTube channel.  However, if you wish to provide oral comments during the meeting, you must attend via Webex to do so.

For anyone who is unable to join, meeting minutes and associated materials will be posted on the Chief FOIA Officers Council pages of OIP’s and OGIS’s websites.

In accordance with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, the Chief FOIA Officers Council is tasked with developing recommendations, sharing best practices, and developing and coordinating initiatives to improve agency FOIA administration.  The Council is co-chaired by the Directors of OIP and OGIS and is comprised of each agency Chief FOIA Officer and the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management Budget.

The meeting will focus on the work of the Council’s two committees, the Committee on Cross-Agency Collaboration and Innovation (COCACI) and the Technology Committee.

The CFO Council established COCACI in October 2020 to research and propose cross-agency grant programs and funding sources, create federal career paths for FOIA professionals, and promote models to align agency resources with agency transparency. COCACI began meeting in March 2021 and has focused its work on three areas: virtual FOIA office administration, the Government Information Specialist (GIS) job series, and technology standardization.

The Technology Committee began its work in September 2018 to study the use and deployment of technology in FOIA programs, and to identify best practices and recommendations that can be implemented across agencies. In 2020, the Technology Committee established seven working groups: 508 Compliance and Collaborative Tools, Artificial Intelligence, FOIA and Classified Information, FOIA Searches, FOIAonline, FOIAXpress, and Video Review and Redactions.

Both committees continue to accept members and we encourage agency officials interested in joining either committee to express their interest during the upcoming meeting.  You can also volunteer ahead of time by contacting either OIP or OGIS. 

Additionally, if you have ideas for future meeting topics please email us at DOJ.OIP.FOIA@usdoj.gov