GovPilot’s FOIA Process: A True Masterpiece

The art world is beginning to embrace something that government has known all along — sharing data with the public pays off.
Grab a beret and strike a thoughtful pose! This blog post analyzes the impact of a bona fide masterpiece.
Art’s Latest Movement
New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is celebrating 6 months of its Open Access initiative — the publication of over 375,000 images of artwork for educational and commercial use.
Needless to say, the Met’s decision to crack open its vault has made the art community very happy. Teachers around the world can explore the Met’s extensive art collection with their students, without having to set foot on a single one of its storied steps. Artists are incorporating the images into remixes, mash-ups and all manner of collages as well as face swapping the subjects of classic portraits, to hilarious effect.

Like a thought-provoking piece of art, the benefits of the Open Access initiative can be interpreted from a variety of viewpoints. From the museum’s perspective, the initiative has been great for publicity. As Chief Digital Officer, Loic Tallon notes:

- More than 90% of the publicized images have been uploaded to Wikimedia Commons
- There has been a 500% increase in new Wikipedia articles featuring Met images (6,598 as of June 2017)
- Traffic to the online collection from the Wikimedia platforms has increased by 10%
- The Met’s content makes up two-thirds of the searches on Creative Commons’ website
- “Van Gogh”, “Monet”, “Botticelli” and “Picasso” all rank as high as “cat” and “dog” as search terms
- Overall traffic to the online collection has increased by 17%
- Image downloads have increased by 64%
- Users who download an image spend five times longer on the site and visit five times more pages than the average site visitor
The Met’s decision to publicize pictures of its most sought-after art has proven mutually beneficial — pleasing artists and generating positive press for the Big Apple institution. The success of the Met’s Open Access initiative is reminiscent of the win-win results local governments experience after implementing GovPilot’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process.
Life Imitates Art
The late, great, Leonard Nimoy, once said that, “the more we share, the more we have”. Nimoy’s allegiances may have lied with the United Federation of Planets, but his thoughts on sharing sum up the philosophy of the United States, where all levels of government are obligated to comply with federal FOIA law.
“the more we share, the more we have”
Though it varies slightly from state to state, FOIA law mandates that government grant citizens access to requested data sets. Traditionally, citizens have requested access via paper documents snail mailed to the administration and government has complied through equally convoluted and costly means.
The Andy Warhol of government management software developers, GovPilot has taken what exists and revamped it for a new generation. Instead of requiring constituents to write and send a formal letter, GovPilot clients share a digital FOIA request form on their official website. The form can be completed via desktop, laptop or mobile device for optimal convenience.

Upon submission, the curious constituent and designated government employee both receive a notification. This is the first of many transparent steps in the FOIA process, as managed by GovPilot’s automated workflow. Automation eliminates miscommunication, information barriers and other common impediments to progress. Turnaround time is minimal and transparent operations eliminate mystery to cut the frequency of constituents’ phone calls and unannounced visits to government headquarters.
Union Township, NJ knows the benefits of GovPilot’s process firsthand. Since upgrading operations a few months ago, the clerk’s office has saved significant time and resources responding to requests, even as the convenience of digital forms causes the volume of requests to skyrocket.
RMC/CMC/Municipal Clerk, Eileen Birch,says that GovPilot has, “streamlined the entire process and it is easier to keep track of the requests. The best part is no paper!”
RMC/CMC/Municipal Clerk, Eileen Birch,says that GovPilot has, “streamlined the entire process and it is easier to keep track of the requests. The best part is no paper!”
The enhanced tracking capabilities Birch speaks of help government gauge which data is in high demand. Administrations looking to further convenience employees and constituents can opt to publish their most sought after data sets on a GovPilot geographic information system (GIS) map.
GovPilot’s FOIA process gifts constituents with quick and easy access to government information. Behind the scenes, government employees experience a streamlined, stress-free environment.
It doesn’t take a trained eye to see that GovPilot’s FOIA process is a true masterpiece!
