GAO: Better use of IT could help DHS reduce backlog of FOIA requests
< http://gcn.com/Articles/2009/03/23/DHS-FOIA-improvement.aspx>
By William Jackson, Mar 23, 2009
Despite work to improve its handling of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
requests, which has reduced the Homeland Security Department's backlog by 24
percent, DHS still has the largest number of overdue requests in the
government, the Government Accountability Office found in a recent study.
Several DHS agencies have adopted policies and technologies to improve the
handling of FOIA requests, but these improvements need to be implemented
departmentwide, GAO said in its recent report
<http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09260.pdf> .
Among the improvements recommended by GAO are:
* Online-status checking services.
* Dissemination of records in electronic format.
* Electronic redaction.
Using these tools in some agencies has contributed to the reduction of
backlog at DHS from more than 99,000 requests in September of 2006 to 75,163
two years later. They have improved efficiency, reducing the time, manpower
and expense for processing requests.
DHS agreed with the recommendations and plans to implement them across the
department.
--snip--
----
Mark Perkins MLIS, MCLIP
www.markperkins.info
0 comments:
Post a Comment