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2020 US Census expected to move online, catch up with 2010
The US Census is an expensive beast to run when paper is involved: multiply the $96 per household of the 2010 Census by millions of households and you'll feel the government's pain. When the mandate is to keep those expenses in check for the 2020 study, it's almost no surprise that the Census Bureau is now telling the Washington Post that it expects to rely on the internet for its next decennial survey in the wake of smaller-scale trials. The anticipated move is about more than just cutting the costs of lengthy forms and postage stamps, though. While frugality is the primary goal, joining the modern era should also reduce the need for follow-ups -- the Bureau would know as soon as we were done, after all. There's no question that an online Census is overdue when swaths of the US government (and society) can already skip traditional paperwork, but we still appreciate having a tentative schedule for one of the last great digital transitions. [Image credit: USDA, Flickr]
Census Bureau releases first mobile app, offers real-time stats on the US economy
The US Census Bureau just released its first public API last month, giving web and mobile app makers access to its vast stores of statistics, and it's now also gone the extra mile by releasing its first mobile app. Dubbed America's Economy, the app draws on data from the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor to provide a real-time picture of the US economy, offering details on everything from the country's gross domestic product to housing sales to the unemployment rate (all presented with the requisite charts and graphs). That's available for Android smartphones and tablets right now, while an iOS app promised in the "coming weeks." It's also the first of three planned apps from the Bureau -- the others are said to be coming over the next several months (both of which will also be available for both Android and iOS).
US Census Bureau posts its first API, allows smartphone apps for the stat-obsessed
As much as the US Census Bureau has worked to embrace the digital space, its sea of data has been largely locked away from developers not keen on doing much of the heavy lifting. As of late last week, however, there's now a public app programming interface (API) for quickly putting all of that knowledge to work. Both mobile and web apps can hook into either the complete 2010 census or the 2006-2010 American Community Survey, bringing in basic demographics as well as more complicated subjects such as commuting habits and education. The Bureau sees the API leading to not just a more informed public, but to smarter government as well -- imagine a state government that knows the income levels by county through a custom smartphone app. Budding statistics hounds can request a key for API use right away, but if you'd rather just see what public access will mean in practice, you can check out an app gallery at the second source link below.
Census Bureau goes forward with plans to ditch PDAs
While it doesn't exactly come as a surprise given recent developments, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez has now told a House subcommittee that the Census Bureau will in fact be ditching its much-ballyhooed PDAs in favor of paper and pencil for the 2010 census. According to the AP, that fairly drastic move comes as part of a package of changes that will ultimately add as much as $3 billion to the cost of the census, bringing the total cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $14 billion. Among other things, Gutierrez said that a "lack of effective communication with one of our key contractors" was one of the factors that "significantly contributed to the challenges." The handhelds will apparently still see some use during the census, however, although only for verifying street addresses using the PDA's GPS functionality. For its part, Harris Corp. (which had the contract to provide the PDAs) put the best spin on things, saying that it was "encouraged that automation and the adoption of new technology is moving forward, even if in a more narrowly focused fashion." Of course, it's still getting its $600 million+, so it can't really complain all that much.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
HTC's voice-free Census coming to Sprint?
If this is the device Census Bureau workers end up getting to use come 2010, we've gotta say, we're a little jealous. The aptly-named "Census" from HTC crossed the FCC's wires several months ago, and a fresh visit reveals that pictures of the device and a user's manual are now available. Sticking with the Bureau's claim that their device would be strictly used for data collection, the Windows Mobile Pocket PC-powered Census dispenses with calling functionality, instead loading up with a variety of options for transmitting collected data back to home base: 1xRTT / EV-DO, WiFi, and a phone jack (oh, my!) are all on board. Though we're not certain, we're guessing the jack is an analog modem, ensuring that even the most rural Census visits -- places where even CDMA may not penetrate -- won't go unreported in short order. The device also includes a fingerprint reader, which gives us some sense of security (however false it may be) that the intimate details we share with those workers are safe. A screen shot in the user's manual reveals Sprint as a possible carrier, but if this is in fact the Census device we've all been hearing about, it's uncertain whether it'll ever be made available outside the feds' bureaucratic hands.[Via phoneArena]
Census employee discusses the HTC smartphone deployment
While there was certainly celebrating to be done in Taipei, Redmond, and Melbourne, FL upon the Census Bureau's announcement that Harris Corp. had won a contract to supply its pollsters with half a million Windows Mobile-powered HTC smartphones, some regular taxpayers were likely left wondering why it was necessary to add $600 million to a 2010 census budget that already tops $11 billion. Luckily for the majority of us who were kept out of the loop during this decision-making process, Computerworld has an interview with the Bureau's field data collection project manager, Edwin B. Wagner Jr., who sheds a little bit of light (though not much) on the rationale behind equipping data collectors, who already sport Blackberries, with yet another device. Wagner claims that the smartphones will save the Bureau both time (keeping workers abreast of mailed-in returns so they don't go on unnecessary home visits) and money (due to the amount of paper saved, although last time we checked, you could get a whole ream of the white stuff for less than the lowest-end HTC product), along with providing more accurate census results by reducing the number of times data needs to be manually transferred. He also goes into a bit of detail (though again, not much) on why they went with WinMo over other OSes, and hints that the phones may be enabled for limited voice use after all, so hit the Read link for the full scoop.
