2010 is coming soon. And that means Census time. But rather than use hand-help computers, as was the previous plan, the Census Bureau officials told a congressional panel yesterday they will be going door-to-door to collect missing census information and will resort to using pencil and paper.
Despite a contract for the handheld devices with Harris Corp., scheduling, performance problems, and miscommunication about the cost of tech support (the original contract called for paying Harris $36 million to operate a help desk to assist census-takers who have computer problems - that figure has since jumped to $217 million) has put the kibosh on this plan. Apparently, though, since a contract was signed, the purchased hand-help computers will be used (from what I understand) essentially as GPS devices.
And so, the US Census for 2010 will cost about 14 billion dollars. Let me type that again... 14 billion dollars. At an initial cost of more than 11 billion, the 2010 census was already the most expensive ever. About a third of the population do not return the census form. You would think, since the census is mandated by the constitution, required by law, and takes less than 10 minutes to complete, the government would have a more cost effective, and thorough plan for this data collection. Call me paranoid, but I don't trust random citizen 1-600,000 to collect this important data which will be used to distribute Congressional seats to states, make decisions at every level of government, and distribute federal funds to communities each year.
