Freedom of Information Act Request Processing
Pn Automation has modernized and automated the process for organizing and responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests specific to the COVID-19 pandemic. This process was created in support of our clients at the Division of Information Disclosure Policy (DIDP) at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at FDA. This was previously a manual and labor-intensive process which involved:
- Manually sorting through spreadsheets containing thousands of records.
- Reading through hundreds of thousands of pages of emails and attachments.
We created an automated solution using VBA scripts, Microsoft Excel formulas and an e-discovery system to automatically eliminate unnecessary data. Our solution also organizes and assembles files into documents that are ready to be reviewed by the FOIA staff and Litigation team. Our process results in:
- A reduction in the staff’s workload by 75% with improved accuracy without reduction in productivity, freeing them up for other duties.
- Increased efficiency with responding to FOIA requests.
- A reduction of human error resulting in more accurate work products.
