D.C. Begins Using New Online Portal for Requesting Public Records
Requests for District of Columbia government records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) must be submitted at a new portal as of June 14, 2024, according to an online notice. The link is https://myfoia.dc.gov.
Public records access is the latest exhibit in the government’s efforts to keep up electronic services as legacy software requires costly repairs, knowledgeable staff retire, and new users expect government to promptly offer the faster and more user-friendly functionality they find elsewhere in their digital lives.
The prior access portal, opened here a decade ago with fanfare by Mayor Vincent Gray, was called FOIAXpress. A product of a Maryland software company called OPEXUS (formerly AINS, LLC), it had been developed for federal agencies and used widely.
The new portal is GovQA, a product of Granicus, a firm that already provides multiple information technology services to the D.C. government.
The D.C. Open Government Coalition looks forward to the improved user experience that should be expected from new web designs and updated software. Perhaps advanced AI tools will be part of a truly modern solution to common issues in records requests such as
- suggesting to those mystified by the maze of D.C. agencies where records may be held,
- explaining questions about the complex FOIA process, or
- identifying personal information exempt from release and required to be removed from records found in a search.
The Granicus firm, as a large supplier of government information services of all kinds, has strong incentive to maintain its competitive position (just like Microsoft or Google) by adding AI enhancements to its products as fast as possible. It’s unknown what features are available in the product or what D.C. officials chose and rejected as the new portal deal was done; as far as we know, consultation did not extend beyond big agency users like the police.
The Coalition had previously asked for improvement of the portal based on reports from disappointed users and an evaluation by the Office of Open Government. In May 2 D.C. Council testimony the Coalition urged user input in system redesign and competitive procurement of new platform software.
But the closely held procurement of the new portal appears consistent with the treatment of public records access policy generally; that is, there are few occasions where users and public experts can bring up issues and advocate for improvements–the observation that motivates the Coalition’s call for an information policy and resources commission to take a fresh look at decision-making.
Simple functions, like reaching the agency a requester targets, are needlessly hard. Why, after a decade, does the online FOIA portal only allow requests to some agencies? And will the new portal cure that? Public Works and Operations Committee chair, D.C. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1) pressed the point in questions to Acting Chief Technology Officer Steven Miller at the May 2 budget oversight hearing on his office.
She learned only that “it’s not within [OCTO] control” but he offered to provide more detail later. Under Council pressure, users may hope a new request management system will draw even broader participation.
Miller did promise also to share his agency’s evaluation of other possible vendors, presumably a requirement to justify giving away a big contract without competition.
Users of the new site will find it only partly open for business.
- Information on all previous requests remains on the old portal only, and then only through June. Whether the entire existing database and its information on past requests, including access to downloaded records, will be available through the new portal is not clear. The old portal is at foiaarchive.dc.gov.
- Also, appeals of agency denials of requests that were submitted via the old portal can no longer be submitted online. Instead, “If you need to appeal an existing request from this portal, please contact MOLC – Mayor’s Office of Legal Counsel at foia.appeals@dc.gov and provide your Request ID.”
The Coalition hopes for the best and will be interested in users’ experience with the new FOIA request portal. Comments on how it’s working are welcome at info@dcogc.org.