The National Achives has named Pamela Wright as its first chief innovation officer, the agency announced Friday.
Wright will lead the agency in developing innovative ways to share the National Archives’ extensive holdings with the public. She plans to create a so-called “Innovation Hub” to develop and launch collaborative projects, raise public challenges and form partnerships with the archival community, industry and academic institutions.
“This new office is charged with fostering a culture of innovation at the National Archives, and I am pleased that Pamela Wright has been selected to lead it,” said Archivist of the United States David Ferriero. “With her extensive experience, proven leadership and innovative spirit, she is well suited to lead this effort.”
Wright started at the National Archives in 2001, and has spent the past seven years promoting digital access and strategy. Prior to this appointment, she served as the agency’s first chief digital access strategist.
She created a “Citizen Archivist Dashboard” to make National Archives records more accessible online by using crowdsourcing to tag, transcribe and edit articles, as well as to upload and share scans or images of records. She also advanced Internal Collaboration Network, the agency’s first internal online communications tool.
