Final Draft RFI for NexGen FOIA Tech Showcase 2.0.pdf

Request for Information Summary:

The Chief FOIA Officers Council’s Technology Committee, in conjunction with the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and Records Administration and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Information Policy (OIP), is planning a[n] [two-day] event for federal agencies in May 2024 called the NexGen FOIA Tech Showcase 2.0.

This event is in follow-up to the two-day NexGen FOIA Tech Showcase that was held on February 9-10, 2022 (https://www.justice.gov/oip/nexgen-foia-tech-showcase). The purpose of the 2024 event is to identify FOIA technology solutions for federal agencies in response to existing FOIA case processing challenges. Additionally, the event is intended to raise awareness within federal agencies of the different technology capabilities to consider for future case processing by leveraging advanced technology, including, but not limited to, artificial intelligence. The purpose of this Request for Information is to identify interested and capable vendors to present video-demonstrations and respond to questions during the NexGen FOIA Tech Showcase 2.0.

What: NexGen FOIA Tech 2.0 Showcase.

Audience: Federal Government FOIA professionals and their technology support staff.

When: One Or Two Days (depending on how many submissions are received) Event to be held on May 14 and 15, 2024.

Topics:

1. eDiscovery/electronic record search tools

2. Case processing tools (including the collection of records to review for redaction and posting accessible 508 compliant releases)

3. Redaction tools (including tools that allow for automatic redaction of similar forms and record types including paper, digital content, videos, data, etc.)

4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools that may assist with FOIA case processing.

5. Improved public FOIA reading rooms/websites

6. Improving the FOIA customer experience.

RFI Process:

● Each vendor interested in participating may submit a written outline not to exceed three to five (3-5) pages regarding their available solution(s) for any of the topics listed above. Based on a review of the written outlines, vendors who are selected will be asked to submit short video demonstrations. The Technology Committee may reach out to vendors with additional information regarding the content of the videos and provide additional instructions. These videos are to be virtual demonstrations that will be made available to participants prior to the event, presented during the event, and followed by a live Q&A session.

● Any follow-up communication and/or invitation to participate in the event will be at OGIS’s and OIP’s discretion and no further communications are guaranteed. OGIS/OIP may ask some or all respondents to provide additional information after reviewing their submissions and may schedule further exchanges to learn more about potential solutions.

https://www.justice.gov/oip/nexgen-foia-tech-showcase

Dates:

To be considered for the NexGen FOIA Tech Showcase 2.0, written outlines must be received no later than 11:59pm, ET, on March 29, 2024.

Where to submit:

Written outlines submitted in response to this notice shall be sent by email to CFO- Council@nara.gov. Email submissions should be machine-readable, not be copyright-protected, and should not include any proprietary notification language. Submissions should include the title “RFI Response: NexGen FOIA Tech Showcase 2.0.”

Instructions:

Each individual or institution is requested to submit only one response.

Submissions must be in 12-point or larger font, including a page number on each page, not to exceed three to five (3-5) pages. Responses should include the name of the person(s) or organization(s) filing the submission.

This RFI is being issued by NARA on behalf of the Chief FOIA Officers Council’s Technology Committee and is not related to any one specific future acquisition. Please do not contact NARA or the Council (OGIS/OIP) about forthcoming RFQs. For any possible future acquisition related to these subjects, each agency will be responsible for the acquisition process for their requirements as needed. The RFI is intended to raise awareness within federal agencies of the different technology capabilities to consider.

Responses to this RFI and the accepted videos will be posted online at https://www.foia.gov/chief-foia-officers-council. Submissions must be appropriate for posting publicly without change or redaction. No business proprietary information, copyrighted information, or personally identifiable information should be submitted in response to this RFI.

In accordance with FAR 15.202(3), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.

For Further Information:

CFO-Council@nara.gov

Supplementary Information Background:

In response to a recommendation of the 2016-2018 term of the FOIA Advisory Committee, the Archivist of the United States proposed that the Chief FOIA Officers (CFO) Council seek to establish a Technology Committee to study the utilization and deployment of technology in FOIA programs across agencies, and identify best practices and recommendations that can be implemented across agencies. In September 2018, the CFO Council co-chairs established the Technology Subcommittee (later renamed the Technology Committee). Two senior FOIA mailto:CFO-Council@nara.gov mailto:CFO-Council@nara.gov https://www.foia.gov/chief-foia-officers-council mailto:CFO-Council@nara.gov officials at the Department of State and the Department of Veterans Affairs, respectively, co-chair the Committee; membership includes FOIA professionals from both Cabinet-level and independent agencies. The Committee liaises with the co-chairs of the CFO Council.

In 2020, the Technology Committee completed a report found at https://www.archives.gov/files/ogis/assets/cfoc-tech-comm-final.report-02-14-2020.pdf.

Since that time, the Technology Committee has created numerous working groups and two papers on the topics of video redaction and FOIA search identified at https://www.foia.gov/chief-foia-officers-council. Information about the 2022 NexGen FOIA Tech Showcase is available at https://www.justice.gov/oip/nexgen-foia-tech-showcase.

The Technology Committee serves as a network of FOIA professionals seeking to improve the use of technology at their federal agencies and government wide. The NexGen FOIA Tech Showcase 2.0 event is meant to further this mission by elevating awareness of existing technology available for FOIA work and to explore the future of FOIA work involving federal records, data, and modern technology.

https://www.archives.gov/files/ogis/assets/cfoc-tech-comm-final.report-02-14-2020.pdf https://www.justice.gov/oip/chief-foia-officers-council https://www.justice.gov/oip/nexgen-foia-tech-showcase