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Open FOI
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Open Freedom of Information refers to a transparent process for freedom of information requests and disclosures. The description of each pending request is published online along with the status of the response. When the response to the request is fulfilled, it is published online either within the FOI request platform or with a link to an open data catalog. This way subsequent requests for the same information can be fulfilled automatically based on past disclosure. In this way, Open FOI is similar to Open311 and could potentially be managed with future versions of the Open311 Inquiry protocol.

Open Source Examples

The following platforms are examples of an Open FOI system, but they're managed outside of government. There have been recent murmurs from a few governments who are interested in providing a tool like this themselves that would integrate with their existing FOI process.

Other Examples

Possible Features or Requirements

Some ideas from John Kaehny:

  • Single online form for FOI requests, including menu buttons for agency, type of information within the agency being requested, whether the record being requested is personal to the person requesting it (educational records, arrest records etc) or information available to the general public under FOI. The way the menus are done here is very important for getting best idea of what is being requested.
  • "Analytic layer" database which includes all FOI requests, responses, denied disclosure requests, status report on "ticket" and collation of nature of request, and display of how long it takes various agencies to respond, and to respond to various topics.
  • Public reporting of the history of requests via real-time data in machine readable formats. This data enables dashboards and other visualizations to compare how long it is taking for agencies to respond to FOIs, most popular types of FOIs, databases most used to retrieve FOI records,
  • Responses to all public FOI disclosure requests - easily seachable and sortable on the screen. A user should be able to find all of the records disclosed in response to say school disciplinary action in Broome County.
  • Disclosure denials - openly publish reasons why FOI requests are being rejected.