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Census Bureau Field Data Collection Project: Don't Count on It

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The U.S. Census Bureau Field Data Collection Project: Don't Count On It
Lisa Sims
IT/205 Management of Information
December 12,2013
Dr. John Pitron

The U.S. Census Bureau Field Data Collection Project: Don't Count On It
In an effort to reduce the rising cost of the ten-year census, the U.S. Census Bureau attempted to implement an automated data collection system. As a result from lack of leadership and management skills, the program ran over budget and part of the project had to be scrapped with significant monetary loss. In this exercise, the challenges the Census Bureau had to face, reasons for failure and key players responsible for the debacle will be identified. I will also describe the steps I would have taken to control the risk in this project.
The census is mandated by the US constitution and requires a census of all people living in the United States. The information that is gathered from the census is used for government planning and determines how many seats each state gets in the US House of Representatives. The government is also dependent on the census numbers to indicate how much federal funding each state should receive (Calleam Consulting Ltd., 2012).
The first problem the Census Bureau faced was the rising cost of conducting the census. Because of the drastic cost increase, Congress asked the Bureau to look for ways to reduce cost and improve efficiency on the ten-year census. The second problem the Bureau faced had to do with the process of gathering information from a growing and diverse population while maintaining the accuracy of the data. (Calleam Consulting Ltd., 2012) The new data collection system was to change from a paper system to a technology system. There was a lack of understanding of the technology and management skills needed for the project. Later, the Associate Director and Chief Operating Officer For the 2010

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