In my previous blogs about our end of the year survey, I reported on the increase in records requests and the reasons the respondents of our survey see for this growth. In this last blog about our survey results, I will conclude with exploring the main bottlenecks in handling record requests*.
Collection replaces redaction as main bottleneck
Contrary to what customers have told us for a long time, the identification and collection of records now tops our respondents list as the most burdensome element of the request process.
In previous years, review and redaction were named as the most time consuming phase of the process. Apparently, the increasing complexity of the requests and the growing number of sources information needs to be collected from, has moved the main challenge to the beginning of the process.
In the other (free) answer field, “time, resources and last minutes requests” were named as being most burdensome.
Interestingly enough, there is a significant difference in the answers of organizations that receive less than hundred requests a year, and agencies that receive more requests (>100 a year). As the number of request received increase, review and redaction are getting more burdensome.
Technical solutions
While the issues are similar when it comes to collection and review of electronic information, contrary to their peers in the corporate industry, the majority of public entities do not use specialized technology solutions to support the records requests process.
As expected, the number of organizations using technology is slightly higher with organizations receive more requests. 48 percent of the organizations that receive more than 500 requests use a technical solution, versus 34% with organizations who receive less than 500 requests a year.
The main reason why they are not using technology is due to insufficient budget (44%). Other reasons are “insufficient requests” (21%) or unaware that this kind of technology existed (18%).
If you want to receive all stats, you can follow this link to download the info-graphic with all survey results.
In this 30 minutes webinar, successful federal, state and local agencies show how they handle requests in an efficient and timely manner, while also protecting the agency’s sensitive information.
Or contact me to schedule a demo and I will show you how to respond to public disclosure requests in an efficient and timely manner In the next blog, we will discuss the difference in complexity of managing public disclosure requests.
* The outcome of this survey is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as (legal) advice on any subject matter. ZyLAB expressly disclaims all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any or all the outcomes of this survey.
