The Government is Not a Software Company: Lessons Learned from the Sunsetting of FOIAOnline

OPEXUS, June 12, 2024

A proposal to revive FOIAOnline, a government-sponsored software solution for handling Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, has sparked interest and debate within the FOIA community. While the concept of a centralized system to address the specific needs of the public sector seems promising, past experiences have revealed significant challenges and complexities. 

FOIAOnline, which was previously sponsored by the EPA, was decommissioned in 2023 after encountering numerous obstacles during its operation. One of the primary issues was its inability to effectively accommodate the diverse and ever-changing requirements of federal agencies while requiring ever-increasing IT resources to support it.  

Read more here.