FOIA Libraries are robust resources for government data and information. There are over 240 FOIA Libraries containing FOIA responses (with redactions) and frequently requested federal agency information. This can include datasets from many agencies in many formats.  This program will emphasize the breadth of government information, including datasets, available to citizens, high school students, college professors, journalists, and non-profits in these FOIA repositories. More outreach is needed to promote these resources. This program is a collaboration opportunity for technologists, civic educators, non-profits and universities during NYC Open Data Week.  Ideally, this collaboration would also include data.gov, the portal for U.S. Government open data.

The goal of this event is to bring together government technologists from the General Services Administration, 18F, the Office of Information and Privacy (US DOJ) and FOIA specialists from federal agencies to discuss outreach with civic educators, non-profits and universities.  An additional goal is to generate goals for civic education about FOIA Libraries and data.gov as valuable research repositories.  While we know agency responses to FOIA requests may not be publicly available due to FOIA exemptions and/or redactions, the information present in agency repositories can help civic educators teach about agency history and operations, as well as lead citizens and students to primary documents for research in disciplines ranging from political science, international relations, medicine, environmental science, transportation, and history.