March 18, 2026 Executive Session
The Board held an in-person executive session on March 18, 2026, at the National Archives in College Park, MD. The session began with a briefing from the Deputy Director of the National Declassification Center (NDC) and the Executive for Agency Services where the Board received an overview of NDC’s mission and of their procedures for accessioning and declassifying both classified federal and presidential records. The briefing provided high-level insight into how records move through NDC’s workflow – from initial intake to final declassification decisions – and highlighted the operational factors that influence the pace and practicality of declassification.
Next, the Board toured the state-of-the-art digitization center, accompanied by the Executive for Research Services. In an archival context, digitization is the process of converting analog, physical materials (such as documents, photographs, objects, maps, or audio tapes) into digital formats. Digitization is crucial because many classified documents only exist in an analog format. This process advances interagency review and ultimately, provides the public with electronic access to the records once they are declassified. The visit offered an overview of how these capabilities are laying the groundwork for a more efficient, accessible, and future-ready declassification system. The Board concluded the session with an annual ethics briefing.
More on The National Declassification Center
The National Declassification Center (NDC) is responsible for coordinating the declassification of historically valuable accessioned Federal records and Presidential records that are in NARA’s physical and legal custody. Established by Executive Order 13526, Classified National Security Information in 2009, the NDC serves as a central hub for systematic declassification review. The NDC aids in resolving classification equity issues amongst originating agencies and applies quality assurance processes to ensure that declassification decisions comply with national security classification policies.
Attendees
The March Executive Session was attended by PIDB members Mark Angelson, Ezra Cohen, Valdez Demings, Carmen Medina, and Alissa Starzak.
Laura DeBonis joined virtually for the ethics briefing.
The agenda for the meeting is available on the PIDB webpage.