Pursuit's Take
The Census Bureau is attempting to innovate its systems for the 2020 Decennial Census, including more reliance on automation, supplemental data, verifying addresses using on-screen imagery, and allowing the public to respond via the internet. While these innovations spark progress and innovation, the Census Bureau faces risk because of a lack of testing. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Census Bureau canceled its 2017 field test and then scaled back its 2018 End-to End Test due to budget constraints.
The Department of Commerce announced in October 2015 that the 2020 Census life-cycle cost is now estimated to be $15.6 billion, a more than $3 billion (27 percent) increase over an earlier estimate. GAO says the cost overruns are due “to the Bureau’s earlier failure to meet best practices for a quality cost estimate.”
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