Census Bureau proposing to scrap handheld plan, going back to paper

AbacusWe do the official census here in the U.S. every 10 years so there’s plenty of off-cycle time for improvements. One of the plans for 2010 is about to be scrapped if the Census Bureau has it’s way. In 2006, the Bureau awarded a contracts for over half-a-million handheld computers to help collect data from folks that didn’t send in their paperwork. Sounded like a great use of mobile tech, but now the Bureau plans to abandon the idea.As I read the story though (warning: 15-year IT background surfacing) it seems to be more of a failure to manage the technology project rather than a failure of the technology itself.

“Since awarding the contract, the project has experienced constant setbacks, including changing system requirements that led to increased costs and missed deadlines.”

Reading further into the article, it appears that 400 new or changed technical requirements were delivered to the project team earlier this year, after a May 2007 test identified “development and scoping problems”. You can have the best technology in the world, but I’ve always said it doesn’t mean a thing if it doesn’t meet the project requirements. Sadly, the cost of not going with the handhelds and reverting back to paper forms will add another $2.2 and $3 billion although some of those costs aren’t related directly to the handhelds. The Bureau still plans to use them for address verification, so don’t expect to find 525,000 handhelds on the cheap at a liquidation house. Thanks for the tip, Roger!

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