It/205 Week 8 Checkpoint
The U.S. Census Bureau Field Data Collection Project: Don’t Count On It
IT/205
July 25, 2013
A census is the process of acquiring and recording information from the general public to determine population or housing numbers. For the 2010 census, the United States Census Bureau decided to implement a program called Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA). The program was intended to improve the data collection process by using handheld electronic devices. The mobile handhelds were to canvass addresses during the initial stage of the census.The FDCA program was important to the U.S. Census Bureau because it would replace the millions of paper forms and maps that were previously required to complete the census (Laudon&Laudon, 2011, p413). It was also important because it was meant to reduce costs, improve data quality, improve data collection efficiency, and encourage people to participate. Unfortunately, the FDCA program had problems. The FDCA program had people, organizational and technology problems. The problems were caused bythe lack of executive oversight, poor communication, and inadequate testing procedures. The implementation of mobile technology was very complicated and required good management because of the variety of carriers, applications, devices and components. The handheld devices were slow and inconsistent when transmitting data. Because of this issue, the use of paper forms was not completely eliminated as planned. The company responsible for the implementation of the project (Harris Corporation) did not have the necessary experience to manage a project of this size and scale. The Census Bureau also did not provide accurate system requirements and scheduling information to Harris Corp which was necessary for success. To control the risk in this project, I would have ensured that there was better oversight of the implementation process, and all the information that Harris Corp needed was provided. I would also set up a
IT/205
July 25, 2013
A census is the process of acquiring and recording information from the general public to determine population or housing numbers. For the 2010 census, the United States Census Bureau decided to implement a program called Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA). The program was intended to improve the data collection process by using handheld electronic devices. The mobile handhelds were to canvass addresses during the initial stage of the census.The FDCA program was important to the U.S. Census Bureau because it would replace the millions of paper forms and maps that were previously required to complete the census (Laudon&Laudon, 2011, p413). It was also important because it was meant to reduce costs, improve data quality, improve data collection efficiency, and encourage people to participate. Unfortunately, the FDCA program had problems. The FDCA program had people, organizational and technology problems. The problems were caused bythe lack of executive oversight, poor communication, and inadequate testing procedures. The implementation of mobile technology was very complicated and required good management because of the variety of carriers, applications, devices and components. The handheld devices were slow and inconsistent when transmitting data. Because of this issue, the use of paper forms was not completely eliminated as planned. The company responsible for the implementation of the project (Harris Corporation) did not have the necessary experience to manage a project of this size and scale. The Census Bureau also did not provide accurate system requirements and scheduling information to Harris Corp which was necessary for success. To control the risk in this project, I would have ensured that there was better oversight of the implementation process, and all the information that Harris Corp needed was provided. I would also set up a
References: Laudon, J. P., &Laudon, K. C. (2011).Essentials of management information systems (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.