Gov't watchdog agency warns that Census Bureau hasn't prepared enough for next year's count - Entrepreneur Generations

At a Wednesday hearing, a top federal watchdog agency warned that the U.S. Census Bureau has not adequately tested new its planned shift in collecting data for the 2020 decennial Census, Andrea Noble reports for Route Fifty.

For the first time, in next year's Census, residents will be encouraged to fill out the questionnaire online. Compliance in past years has relied on door-to-door efforts. But that could result in areas being undercounted if they don't have good broadband access, among other things, Noble reports.

"These innovations show promise for controlling costs but they also introduce new risks in part because they have not been tested extensively, if at all, in earlier enumerations," said Government Accountability Office official Robert Goldenkoff during the hearing. "Without sufficient testing across a range of geographic locations, housing types, living arrangements and demographic groups, operational problems can go undiscovered and the opportunities to refine procedures and systems could be lost."

Goldkoff also warned that the Census Bureau is running short on time before key operations begin, and said the bureau must devote more attention to developing and implementing cybersecurity and IT system improvements. The GAO issued a report Wednesday detailing its findings.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/30U4FHE Gov't watchdog agency warns that Census Bureau hasn't prepared enough for next year's count - Entrepreneur Generations

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