Category: Public Engagement

The PIDB continues its role advising the President, Executive Branch officials, and Congress on ways to bring sunshine to the security classification system in the interest of our national security.  During Sunshine Week, we want to share our plans for a new report and series of recommendations we believe will transform the security classification system … Continue reading Making Sunshine: The Work of the Public Interest Declassification Board

Please join PIDB member Sanford Ungar at the "Free Speech Legacies: The Pentagon Papers Revisited" symposium on February 16-17, 2017 at Georgetown University.   The event is free and you can register at tinyurl.com/freespeechlegacies. Mr. Ungar orchestrated the symposium, which will feature a variety of distinguished panelists, including Floyd Abrams, Martin Baron, David Cole, David Sanger, … Continue reading Join Us at the “Free Speech Legacies: The Pentagon Papers Revisited” Symposium February 16-17, 2017

On Friday, the PIDB participated in the Digital Public Libraries of America (DPLA) Festival.  As a non-profit organization, DPLA brings together America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them available to all users.  The festival is an annual series of workshops, presentations, and discussions that brings together librarians, archivists, and museum professionals, developers and technologists, … Continue reading The DPLAfest: Making Access Happen

The Members of the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) congratulate Mr. John W. Ficklin on his January 2016 retirement from government service, completing his forty-three year tenure at the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Records and Access Management at the National Security Council. In his capacity as Senior … Continue reading PIDB Congratulates John W. Ficklin for his Years of Public Service

The PIDB congratulates Ms. Sheryl Shenberger on being selected as a FY 2015 Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award recipient. We understand the Presidential Rank Award Program honors high-performing career senior executives for “sustained extraordinary accomplishment.” The news of Ms. Shenberger being selected for the award was unsurprising to us. We have seen firsthand her dedication … Continue reading Sheryl Shenberger, Director of the NDC, Named Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award Recipient

On Friday, April 10, 2015, the National Declassification Center held a public forum, NDC Prioritization: What Secrets Do People Want to See? to discuss prioritization of its holdings as a way forward since the completion of the 351 million page backlog in February 2014. The public forum featured remarks from the Archivist of the United … Continue reading NDC Outlines Prioritization Plan

We are pleased that PIDB member William (Bill) Leary will participate as a panelist at the National Declassification Center’s next public forum. The forum’s theme is NDC Prioritization: What Secrets Do People Want to See?  This is an excellent opportunity for Mr. Leary to discuss the PIDB’s recent supplemental report, Setting Priorities: An Essential Step … Continue reading PIDB Member William Leary to Participate in NDC Public Forum on Prioritization

In our 2014 supplemental report, Setting Priorities: An Essential Step in Transforming Declassification, the PIDB advocated for a coordinated, government-wide approach to declassifying information based on those records most sought after and of most historical significance to the public.  To this end, we believe topic-based prioritization is a viable alternative to prioritizing records simply by … Continue reading Prioritization and the National Declassification Center

On behalf of the members of the Public Interest Declassification Board, I would like to congratulate Miriam Nisbet on the eve of her retirement from Federal  service.  Throughout her Federal career, she served with distinction as a tireless advocate for transparency and access to government records.  We first met Ms. Nisbet in her role as … Continue reading Retirement of Miriam Nisbet, Director of OGIS

On September 11-12, 2014, the PIDB traveled to College Station and Austin, Texas to see first-hand how the Presidential Libraries are providing access to their important holdings.  The PIDB would like to thank the Directors and staff at the George. H. W. Bush and the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Libraries for hosting us.  We appreciated … Continue reading PIDB Visits Presidential Libraries and the Center for Content Understanding