Census to scrap handheld computers for 2010 count (* even screws that up...)

[The Straight Story]

Census to scrap handheld computers for 2010 count
By Gautham Nagesh 04/03/08

Story updated at 1:05 p.m.

The Census Bureau will tell a House panel today that it will drop plans to use handheld computers to help count Americans for the 2010 census, contributing to the increase in cost for the decennial census by as much as $3 billion, according to testimony the Commerce Department secretary plans to give this afternoon.

Comment on this article in The Forum."Today I am reporting to this committee that we will move forward with the recommendation to use a paper-based in the 2010 decennial census," according to Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez's testimony he plans to give to the House Appropriations Committee on Commerce, Justice and Science, and which Nextgov has obtained.

The recommendation to revert to paper came from an independent panel of experts Gutierrez formed last month. The task force included former House speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Neb., and former Census Bureau directors Kenneth Prewitt and Vincent Barabba. Gutierrez said a majority of panel members recommended moving forward with a paper-based census.

In 2006, the Census Bureau awarded a $595 million contract to Harris Corp. to develop more than 525,000 handheld computers that enumerators would use to collect data from Americans who did not send in their census forms. The handhelds would replace the millions of costly paper forms and maps that enumerators must carry when going door to door to visit Americans who did not mail in their census forms. Since awarding the contract, the project has experienced constant setbacks, including changing system requirements that led to increased costs and missed deadlines. Reports by the Government Accountability Office, the department's inspector general and Mitre Corp. all issued warnings that the handhelds were at risk of not being ready by 2010 and may not work as planned.

“I am here today because the Field Data Collection Automation project has experienced significant schedule, performance and cost issues,” according to Gutierrez's testimony. “A lack of effective communication with one of our key contractors has significantly contributed to the challenges.”

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080403_9574.php

This administration is about as pathetic as it comes.