FOIA Post (2007): Upcoming Conferences and Training Related to Implementation of Executive Order 13,392

On June 1, 2007, the Attorney General submitted his second report to the President pursuant to Executive Order 13,392, "Improving Agency Disclosure of Information,"describing the progress agencies have made, and the challenges they face, in implementing their goals under their individual FOIA Improvement Plans. In the June 1, 2007 report, a series of conferences and training sessions were recommended.

Specifically, the Attorney General recommended the convening of a third Chief FOIA Officers Conference "to communicate and emphasize the importance of agency implementation activities in the coming months." In addition, the Attorney General recommended that two specialized training sessions be held for government personnel.

The first specialized session is designed as a follow-up seminar for FOIA Public Liaisons and "will ensure that these supervisory officials continue to understand their many responsibilities in both FOIA administration and Executive Order implementation," including their role in resolving disputes. The second specialized training session will be focused on FOIA Website improvement, and is designed to address both the required elements of agency FOIA Websites and the potential such sites hold for enabling agencies "to successfully reach [their] milestones in many Executive Order improvement areas, including backlog reduction and customer service."

Lastly, the Attorney General recommended a follow-up meeting of the Inter-agency Working Group on Technology, to explore "approaches for maximizing the opportunities that technology offers for providing agencies with cost-effective ways to process FOIA requests on a more efficient and timely basis."

All of these conferences and training seminars have now been scheduled for the upcoming months. In addition, the Office of Information and Privacy has scheduled a FOIA conference for all Department of Justice FOIA Officers. This Department of Justice conference will build on the discussion from the Chief FOIA Officers Conference and will also focus on the implementation issues applicable to the Department in particular. All agencies are encouraged to hold similar agency-specific conferences to further aid in their successful implementation of their FOIA Improvement Plans.

The details for each of these events are listed below:

1. Chief FOIA Officers Conference
When:	September 13, 2007 (rescheduled for October 18, 2007)
Where:	Department of Commerce’s Auditorium 14th and Constitution Avenue NW (main entrance is on 14th Street)
Time:	10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Who should attend: Chief FOIA Officers and Agency Principal FOIA contacts
2. FOIA Public Liaison Training
When:	September 13, 2007 (rescheduled for October 18, 2007)
Where:	Department of Commerce’s Auditorium 14th and Constitution Avenue NW (main entrance is on 14th Street)
Time:	11:00 - 12:00 noon
Who should attend: Agency FOIA Public Liaisons
3. Web Site Training
When:	November 6, 2007 (rescheduled for December 6, 2007)
Where:	Department of Commerce’s Auditorium 14th and Constitution Avenue NW (main entrance is on 14th Street)
Time:	10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Who should attend: Web Content Managers who are responsible for the maintenance of their agency FOIA websites, and Agency Principal FOIA contacts.
4. IT Working Group
When:	October 18, 2007 (rescheduled for October 4, 2007)
Where:	Office of Information and Privacy’s Conference Room 1425 New York Avenue NW
Time:	10:00 - 12:00 noon
Who Should Attend: Existing members of the IT working group and any new member. You must register for it by calling Bertina Adams at (202) 514-1010.
5. Department of Justice FOIA Officers Training
When:	October 23, 2007
Where:	Department of Justice’s Great Hall 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Time:	10:00 - 12:00 noon
Who Should attend: Principal FOIA contacts and key staff for all Department of Justice components.