The National Archives Celebrates the United States’ Entry into the Open Government Partnership
Yesterday, President Barack Obama unveiled the U.S. National Action Plan during a meeting in New York of the member nations of the Open Government Partnership. Last Week, the White House also issued a Status Report on the Administration’s Commitment to Open Government.
Over the past year and a half, I’ve written a lot about how the work of the National Archives is based on the belief that citizens have the right to see, examine, and learn from the records that document the actions of their government. The following are only a few of the areas where the National Archives is making significant contributions to strengthen open government and our democracy.
Records Management
The backbone of a transparent and accountable government is good records management. Good government cannot be held accountable if it does not preserve – and cannot find – its records. The exponential growth of electronic records poses multiple challenges. The National Archives will continue to play a leadership role in finding and developing cost-effective IT solutions needed to meet the electronic records management challenges found in Federal agencies today.
National Declassification Center
The National Declassification Center (NDC) is strengthening open government by improving coordination among agencies and streamlining the declassification process throughout the Federal Government. The NDC is leading a multi-agency effort to address the backlog… [ Read all ]