A presidential advisory board has recognized ARLIS for its work to help modernize government declassification efforts.
In letters to President Biden and Congress, the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) outlined how ARLIS is working with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security (OUSD I&S) to develop tools that make it easier to identify information for declassification.
“This project is a great example of applying digital tools to address an arduous challenge to make work easier on humans, while also keeping humans in the decision-making process,” said Craig Lawrence, interim executive director at ARLIS.
In 2000, Congress established the PIDB to advise the president of the United States on issues pertaining to national classification and declassification policy. The letters to the president and Congress recommend reforming Executive Order 13526, which proscribes a uniform classified national security information system.
As part of sweeping record-keeping modernization, ARLIS is helping lead the digital transformation of processes into streamlined, efficient systems. Through their project with OUSD (I&S), the journey toward this transformation has been marked by planning, strategic collaboration, and a commitment to excellence.
The current document-review process means sifting through overwhelming amounts of paperwork, leading to personnel burnout and high turnover rates. Recognizing the inefficiency inherent in this manual approach, ARLIS embarked on a modernization mission.
The first step in this journey involved a thorough analysis of existing processes. ARLIS dissected each step, creating systems engineering diagrams to visualize the complexity of the tasks at hand. By understanding the intricacies of these processes, they were able to identify areas ripe for improvement and optimization.
The team understood that they needed to delve into the needs and challenges faced by those involved in the process. To achieve this, ARLIS conducted extensive interviews and surveys with declassification specialists, seeking insights into their daily struggles and aspirations. From there, ARLIS set out to leverage the power of technology to enhance and streamline government record-keeping.
“Declassification requires a delicate balance between safeguarding national security information and maintaining transparency to the public. Our team implemented AI and machine learning capabilities to automated tedious tasks, improve search capabilities, and enhance overall efficiency,” said Michael Brundage, an ARLIS principal investigator. “We’ve found that human input is crucial in the loop of this process; by harnessing the capabilities of these cutting-edge technologies, we aimed to empower declassification specialists to work more effectively and focus on the specific tasks that require human expertise.”
Right now, ARLIS is actively working with OUSD(I&S) to engage with government agencies, share best practices, test solutions, and work together to drive meaningful change.
“We hope our work will result in a more efficient and effective record-keeping system,” Brundage said. “We are creating pathways to digital transformation and government transparency.”