A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reveals that the U.S. Census Bureau spent less than it expected to on the 2020 Census, with technology being one key area that helped it to cut costs. […]

A team of government-contracted “red team” hackers managed to gain unauthorized and undetected control of critical Census Bureau systems in a simulated attack test revealing major cybersecurity weaknesses within the Federal agency, according to a new report by the Commerce Department Office of Inspector General (IG). […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in its latest report on the 2020 Census that the Census Bureau needs to do more work identifying specific dates and key activities going forward to protect respondent privacy in its future efforts.   […]

A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that the U.S. Census Bureau delayed decisions regarding IT plans and capabilities for the 2020 Census, which led to schedule impacts, cost increases, and reduced scope. […]

The Senate late last week confirmed President Biden’s nominee Robert Santos to be the next director of the U.S. Census Bureau. […]

As the migration to the cloud for Federal agencies has evolved and matured over the past decade, many agencies have learned valuable lessons that have allowed them to put their data to use efficiently. […]

As the Census Bureau prepares for its planning of the 2030 Census, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending that the Bureau assess data collection challenges. […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the Census Bureau to make a series of late-stage adjustments to the census design and these changes have opened risks to the “quality of data that the Bureau provides for apportioning congressional representation among the states.” […]

With artificial intelligence applications still being developed, the chief technology officer of the nation’s primary cyber agency said “a new cadre of data professionals” is needed in order to prepare cyber information for analysis. […]

While much attention has been focused on the Census Bureau’s ongoing 2020 decennial survey, another bureau operation whose impact will stretch well beyond then has proceeded with much less recognition – a training program to modernize the way employees deal with data. […]

As the final weeks of the nation’s first census conducted primarily online conclude, a Census Bureau official said the website of the 2020 decennial survey has experienced no downtime during peak operations as a result of a move to the cloud. […]

The Census Bureau hired a deputy director for data to help ensure “the 2020 Census data products are of the highest quality.” As of August 16 statistics, the Census Bureau’s Total Self-Response Rate for the 2020 Census was 63.8%. […]

While the Census Bureau was already adjusting to embracing new tech for the 2020 Census, the COVID-19 pandemic has raised new concerns and pushed the agency to increase its focus on IT, data, and cybersecurity matters to properly manage risks.
Per a June 9 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Census Bureau must closely manage its tech to ensure that the pandemic and other delays don’t impact the quality of its 2020 Census results. […]

The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking to purchase a subscription-based, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) survey programming platform to support its Rapid Response Survey Study on COVID-19 and its social and economic impacts. […]

Federal agencies and departments have spent more than $5.7 billion on COVID-19 related contracts since February – with total virus-related spending more than doubling in the last nine days. […]

Originally scheduled as a panel discussion at South by Southwest, three representatives from government agencies shared their work transforming data collections for greater use and benefit. […]

With data collection for the 2020 Census beginning this month, the U.S. Census Bureau is turning to Internet content creators to help the Census go viral. […]

In January, the 2020 U.S. Census officially begins, with the population count in remote parts of Alaska. By April 1, the process begins for the rest of the U.S. population. The census, conducted every 10 years, is the most important initiative of the U.S. Census Bureau, the Federal government’s largest statistical agency and the nation’s leading provider of quality data about its people and economy. The data collected by the census determines the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives, and it is used to distribute more than $675 billion in Federal funds to local communities. This funding supports education, healthcare, infrastructure improvements, and more. […]

The Census Bureau’s personnel and hiring systems are not ready to scale to meet the peak demand needed for the 2020 Decennial Census, according to a management alert from the Department of Commerce’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG). […]

The U.S. Census Bureau has named Beau Houser chief information security officer (CISO). […]

The Census Bureau did not implement security baselines and basic security practices for its cloud implementation, leading to “severe risks to 2020 Census cloud environments,” according to an audit from the Department of Commerce Inspector General released June 19. […]

Preparation for the 2020 Census is overall on-track, according to the second quarter Census Goal Action Plan, but the Census Bureau still faces the challenges of upscaling Area Census Offices (ACOs) to expand operations and recruiting and hiring the staff it needs to conduct the 2020 decennial. […]

With less than a year until Census Day left, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that the Census Bureau’s critical census IT systems and cybersecurity mitigation and contingency plans are high-concern areas among the 360 active risks for the 2020 Census that GAO identified in a report today. […]

The U.S. Census Bureau launched a new virtual hub this year that aims to inform citizens how they can make use of the data the bureau collects, said Census Bureau Digital Marketing Lead Anthony Calabrese at the Granicus Annual National Summit today. […]

Government Accountability Office (GAO) Director of IT and Cybersecurity Nick Marinos emphasized concerns about the Census Bureau’s IT readiness and cybersecurity ahead of the 2020 census, at a House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee oversight hearing today. […]

As technology changes mission requirements, the management of human capital, and how work is done at the Federal level, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report today recommending how Federal agencies should remain cognizant of emerging tech’s impact on managing and maintaining their workforce.  […]

After the partial government shutdown that stretched from mid-December 2018 and into January 2019, the Department of Commerce took a long look at its needs, according to Acting Executive Director for Commerce’s Enterprise Services Program Jamie Krauk. […]

With the U.S. decennial census set to begin gathering data in one year, the focus on new technology involved in the effort is increasing, along with security questions. The coming census has a reference date of April 1, 2020. […]

The 2020 U.S. Census is on the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO’s) list of high-risk programs, particularly out of concern for the U.S. Census Bureau’s ability to implement modified information technology (IT) systems to efficiently collect and secure data in a timely and cost-effective manner. […]

A new report from the Commerce Department Office of the Inspector General (OIG) determined that the Census Bureau must improve the implementation of its risk management framework. […]