In November, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the memorandum, “Modernizing Access to and Consent for Disclosure of Records Subject to the Privacy Act.” The memo (M-21-04) offers guidance for federal agencies to modernize processes of public records requests under the Privacy Act of 1974. The
What this could mean for the government technology sector A recent article by Federal News Network details initiatives that the U.S. Air Force is undertaking to improve flexibility in government contracting. Among the initiatives is a strategy to remove one-year Operation and Maintenance (O&M) funding by “rethinking current regulations.” Many U.S.
A University of Maryland (UMD) study recently published by the Association for Computing Machinery supports the usefulness of machine learning tools to assist the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) review process. The study, “Providing More Efficient Access To Government Records: A Use Case Involving Application of Machine Learning to
Cover Photo by Dan Girard At AINS, fall is the busiest season of the year. The end of the federal fiscal year, our annual hosted user conference, and the November rollout of new versions of eCase and FOIAXpress have kept employees working tirelessly these past few months. Now in our eighth
Last week, AINS hosted our 15th annual user conference for customers and partners of eCase and FOIAXpress. The conference, delivered virtually for the first time, saw over 400 attendees between two days of presentations, workshops, and panel discussions. We are grateful to the team at AINS for the successful execution
In July of this year, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that workplace safety records, including Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Form 300As, or “summaries of work-related injuries and illnesses,” are not exempt from disclosure under Exemption 4 of
On Monday, workplaces around the nation closed to celebrate Labor Day in its 127th year as a federal holiday. Established in June of 1894 by the 53rd Congress, the first Monday of September became the day to celebrate the achievements of American workers and the creation
In June, our eCase HR Team was joined by a new consultant, Sandra (Sandy) Sherman. In her career, Sandy has served three U.S. federal agencies and won multiple awards for her work in HR. Through consulting, Sandy will be applying her expertise to improving our eCase HR solution for the
The D.C. Circuit Court has reached a decision on a major case regarding “foreseeable harm” in FOIA law, says FOIA expert Richard Huff. The case, Machado Amadis v. United States Department of State, No. 19-5088 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 24, 2020), stems from U.S. agency responses to
The COVID-19 pandemic has heavily impacted the U.S. economy, resulting in unprecedented unemployment numbers and significant falls in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Many industries, such as restaurants and retail, have seen widespread closures across the nation. In June, the U.S. officially
