2020 CENSUS

Progress Report on the 

Census Bureau's Efforts to 

Contain Enumeration Costs 

Statement of Robert Goldenkoff

Director, Strategic Issues

Carol R. Cha, Director 

Information Technology Acquisition Management 

Issues

Testimony 

Before the Subcommittee on Federal 

Workforce, U.S. Postal Service, and the 

Census, Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform, House of Representatives

For Release on Delivery 

Expected at 9:30 a.m. EDT

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

GAO-13-857T

United States Government Accountability Office
United States Government Accountability Office

Highlights of GAO-13-857T, a testimony 

before the Subcommittee on Federal 

Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and the 

Census, Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform, House of 

Representatives

September 11, 2013

2020 CENSUS

Progress Report on the Census Bureau's Efforts to 

Contain Enumeration Costs

Why GAO Did This Study

At $13 billion, 2010’s headcount was 

the costliest in U.S. history. Thus, 

over the next few years, the 

fundamental challenge facing Bureau 

leadership will be designing and 

implementing a census that controls 

the cost of the enumeration while 

maintaining its accuracy. 

This testimony focuses on progress 

the Bureau is making in three areas 

key to a more cost-effective 

enumeration: (1) transforming the 

Bureau into a higher-performing 

organization; (2) improving the costeffectiveness of census-taking 

operations; and (3) strengthening IT 

management and security practices.

This testimony is based on 

completed work that included an 

analysis of Bureau documents, 

interviews with Bureau officials, and 

field observations of census 

operations in urban and rural 

locations across the country.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is not making new 

recommendations in this testimony 

but reports on the status of past 

recommendations that the Bureau 

strengthen its IT management, 

develop policies and procedures for 

its cost estimates, and integrate its 

2020 Census planning. The Bureau 

generally agreed with GAO’s findings 

and recommendations and is taking 

steps to implement them.

What GAO Found

In preparing for the 2020 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) has 

launched several initiatives aimed at organizational transformation, some of 

which show particular promise. For example, the Bureau is attempting to develop 

Bureau-wide, or “enterprise,” standards, guidance, or tools in areas such as risk 

management and information technology (IT) investment management to reduce 

duplicative efforts across the Bureau. Although the Bureau has made progress in 

these and other areas, if the Bureau is to transform itself to better control costs 

and deliver an accurate national headcount in 2020, several areas will require 

continued oversight: cost estimation, integrated long-term planning, and 

stakeholder involvement. For example, while the Bureau has made progress with 

long-term planning by implementing some elements of GAO’s recommendation 

that it develop a road map for 2020 planning, it still needs to pull together 

remaining planning elements, such as milestones for decisions and estimates of 

cost, into its roadmap.

The Bureau is researching several key operational initiatives that may yield

significant cost savings. However, while these initiatives have the potential to 

reduce costs, the Bureau will be employing them in ways that are new for 2020 

and thus entail some operational risk. Key among these are using the Internet as 

a self-response option, targeting only certain addresses for field verification as 

the Bureau builds its national list of addresses, and replacing enumeratorcollected data with administrative records under certain circumstances. Bureau 

tests conducted in 2011 showed that adding an Internet response option to the 

census could increase its overall response rate, which could save money, since 

Bureau field staff would need to visit fewer households, which is its largest and 

most costly census field operation. In addition, the Bureau has estimated that it 

could save up to $2 billion if it uses administrative records in 2020 to reduce the 

need for related costly and labor-intensive door-to-door visits by Bureau 

employees.

Additionally, the Bureau is exploring technology options for census operations 

that collectively represent a dramatic leap from 2010. These options include the 

possible use of a “bring your own device” model to enable enumerators to use 

their own mobile devices for field data collection. Given the role of information 

technology in conducting the census, while controlling cost and protecting 

privacy, it is essential that the Bureau strengthen its ability to manage these 

investments, as well as its practices for securing the information it collects and 

disseminates. The Bureau faces several long-standing IT challenges that, if 

effectively addressed, will significantly enhance its ability to acquire these 

solutions within cost, schedule, and performance targets. For example, effective 

workforce planning is essential to ensuring organizations have the proper skills, 

abilities, and capacity for effective IT management; however, the Bureau has not 

yet finalized its IT workforce plans. Additionally, in January 2013, GAO reported 

that controls over access to the Bureau’s IT systems contained deficiencies.

Without adequate system access controls, the Bureau cannot be sure that its 

information and systems are protected from intrusion.

View GAO-13-857T. For more information, 

contact Robert Goldenkoff, 202-512-2757, 

goldenkoffr@gao.gov or Carol R. Cha at 202-

512-4456 or chac@gao.gov.
Page 1 GAO-13-857T

Chairman Farenthold, Ranking Member Lynch, and Members of the 

Subcommittee:

We are pleased to participate in today’s hearing to discuss the U.S. 

Census Bureau’s (Bureau) preparations for the next enumeration. 

Although Census Day 2020 is still more than 6 years away, research and 

testing activities for the decennial have been progressing for some time, 

and the Bureau will be making key design decisions in 2014 and 2015. 

Our reviews of the 1990, 2000, and 2010 enumerations underscore the 

importance of early planning and strong and continuing congressional 

oversight to reduce the costs and risks of the national headcount as well 

as to keep the entire enterprise on track.

At $13 billion, 2010’s headcount was the costliest in U.S. history. Thus, 

over the next few years, the fundamental challenge facing Bureau 

leadership will be designing and implementing a census that 

simultaneously controls the cost of the enumeration while maintaining its 

accuracy.

The basic design of the enumeration—mail out and mail back of the 

census questionnaire with in-person follow-up for nonrespondents—has 

been in use since 1970. A key lesson learned from 2010 and earlier 

enumerations is that this design is no longer capable of cost-effectively 

counting a population that is growing steadily larger, more diverse, 

increasingly difficult to find, and reluctant to participate in the census. The 

Bureau is well aware that reforms are needed, and plans to significantly 

change the methods and technologies it uses to enumerate the 

population. However, the Bureau has never before employed many of 

these methods at the scale being considered for 2020, if at all, which 

adds a large degree of risk. Moreover, the Bureau’s past efforts to 

implement new approaches and systems have not always gone well. As 

one example, during the 2010 Census the Bureau planned to use 

handheld mobile devices to support field data collection for the census, 

including following up with nonrespondents. However, due to significant 

problems identified during testing of the devices, cost overruns, and 

schedule slippages, the Bureau decided not to use the handheld devices 

for non-response follow-up and reverted to paper-based processing, 

which increased the cost of the 2010 Census by up to $3 billion and 

significantly added to its risk as it had to switch its operations to paperbased operations as its backup.

As the Bureau launched its preparations for 2020 earlier this decade, we 

noted that controlling census costs while maintaining accuracy hinged on 
Page 2 GAO-13-857T

the Bureau addressing challenges in three key areas: (1) transforming the 

Bureau into a high-performing organization; (2) improving the costeffectiveness of census-taking operations; and (3) strengthening 

information technology (IT) management and security practices. With this 

as backdrop, our remarks this morning will focus on the Bureau’s plans 

for 2020, paying particular attention to the status of cost-containment 

initiatives within each of these three areas. In particular we will discuss 

where the Bureau has made progress, and management challenges and 

open questions that the Bureau will need to resolve going forward.

In summary, we found that the Bureau is progressing along a number of 

fronts to secure a more cost-effective enumeration. For example, the 

Bureau’s organizational transformation efforts, which includes efforts to 

improve its workforce in order to help the Bureau become more results 

oriented.

At the same time, innovative enumeration methods such as the use of 

administrative records to assist with enumerating people, use of the 

Internet to collect data, and targeted address canvassing might help to 

control costs, but a number of operational uncertainties remain, such as 

ensuring privacy and information security with some of the new 

approaches. Likewise, the Bureau’s ability to effectively and efficiently 

acquire the technological solutions supporting 2020 will be largely 

dependent on having established, mature IT management controls, an 

area of long-standing concern to us.

The information in our testimony is based on our previous reports on the 

2010 Census, as well as the Bureau’s planning efforts for 2020.1

 1

See related GAO products at the end of this statement.

For this 

work, among other things we analyzed key documents such as budgets, 

plans, procedures, and guidance for selected activities; and interviewed 

cognizant Bureau officials at headquarters and local census offices. In 

addition, for the work on the 2010 Census, we made on-site observations 

of key enumeration activities across the country including both urban and 

less populated areas. To obtain information on various management and 

organizational reforms that could help the Bureau become more 

accountable and results oriented, we reviewed our prior work on 

government-wide reexamination, as well as leading practices and 

attributes in the areas of IT management, organizational performance, 
Page 3 GAO-13-857T

collaboration, stewardship, and human capital.2

We provided the Bureau with a summary of the information included in 

this statement, and Bureau officials provided technical comments, which 

we included as appropriate. We conducted the work that this testimony is 

based on in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 

standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to 

obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for 

our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe 

that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings 

and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

More detail on our scope 

and methodology is provided in each published report that this testimony 

is based on.

The decennial census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution and provides 

data that are vital to the nation. This information is used to apportion the 

seats of the U.S. House of Representatives; realign the boundaries of the 

legislative districts of each state; allocate billions of dollars in federal 

financial assistance; and provide social, demographic, and economic 

profiles of the nation’s people to guide policy decisions at each level of 

government.

Although the complexity, cost, and importance of the census necessitate 

robust planning, recent enumerations were not planned well. Our prior 

work has found shortcomings with managing, planning, and implementing 

IT solutions in the 2000 and 2010 enumerations that led to acquisition 

problems, cost overruns, and other issues. As a result, we placed both 

 2

See for example: GAO, Results-Oriented Government: Practices That Can Help Enhance 

and Sustain Collaboration among Federal Agencies, GAO-06-15 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 

21, 2005); 21st Century Challenges: Reexamining the Base of the Federal Government, 

GAO-05-325SP (Washington, D.C.: February 2005); Information Technology Investment 

Management: A Framework for Assessing and Improving Process Maturity, GAO-04-394G

(Washington, D.C.: March 2004); Comptroller General’s Forum, High-Performing 

Organizations: Metrics, Means, and Mechanisms for Achieving High Performance in the 

21st Century Public Management Environment, GAO-04-343SP (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 

13, 2004; and Human Capital: Key Principles for Effective Strategic Workforce Planning, 

GAO-04-39 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 11, 2003).

Background
Page 4 GAO-13-857T

enumerations on our list of high-risk programs.3

As shown in figure 1, the cost of enumerating each housing unit has 

escalated from around $16 in 1970 to around $98 in 2010, in constant 

2010 dollars (an increase of over 500 percent). At the same time, the mail 

response rate—a key indicator of a cost-effective enumeration—has 

declined from 78 percent in 1970 to 63 percent in 2010. In many ways, 

the Bureau has had to invest substantially more resources each decade 

just to try and match the results of prior enumerations.

For example, leading up 

to the 2010 Census, we found that the lack of skilled cost estimators for 

the 2010 Census led to unreliable life-cycle cost estimates, and some key 

operations were not tested under census-like conditions.

 3

GAO, Information Technology: Significant Problems of Critical Automation Program 

Contribute to Risks Facing 2010 Census, GAO-08-550T (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 5, 2008) 

and High-Risk Series: Quick Reference Guide, GAO/HR-97-2 (Washington, D.C.: 

February 1997).
Page 5 GAO-13-857T

Figure 1: The Average Cost of Counting Each Housing Unit (in Constant 2010 

Dollars) Has Escalated Each Decade while Mail Response Rates Have Declined

Note: In the 2010 Census the Bureau used only a short-form questionnaire. For this statement, we 

use the 1990 and 2000 Census short-form mail response rate when comparing 1990, 2000, and 2010 

mail-back response rates. Census short-form mail response rates are unavailable for 1970 and 1980, 

so we use the overall response rate.

Beginning in 1990, we reported that rising costs, difficulties in securing 

public participation, and other long-standing challenges required a revised 

census methodology—a view that was shared by other stakeholders.4

 4

See for example, GAO, 2000 Census: Progress Made on Design, but Risks Remain, 

Since then, we and other organizations—including the Bureau itself—

have stated that fundamental changes to the design, implementation, and 

management of the census must be made in order to address operational 

GAO/GGD-97-142 (Washington, D.C.: July 14, 1997), and Decennial Census: Preliminary 

1990 Lessons Learned Indicate Need to Rethink Census Approach, GAO/T-GGD-90-18

(Washington, D.C.: Aug. 8, 1990).
Page 6 GAO-13-857T

and organizational challenges.5 In response, the Bureau has stated that 

containing costs and maintaining quality will require bold innovations in 

the planning and design of the 2020 Census. The Bureau has also stated 

its goal is to conduct the 2020 Census at a lower cost per housing unit 

than the approximately $98 per housing unit cost of the 2010 Census (in 

constant 2010 dollars) while still maintaining high quality.

The Bureau’s experience with the 2010 and prior enumerations has 

shown that lack of proper planning and not following leading practices in 

key management areas can increase the costs and risks of later 

downstream operations. For example, in a self-assessment in October 

2008, the Bureau found that its organizational structure made overseeing 

a large program difficult and hampered accountability, succession 

planning, and staff development. Moreover, leading up to the 2010 

Census, we reported that internal organizational, planning, funding, and 

human capital challenges jeopardized the Bureau’s overall readiness. 

In preparing for 2020, the Bureau has launched several initiatives aimed 

at organizational transformation, some of which show particular promise if

successfully implemented.

• Organizational restructuring. The Bureau’s organizational 

transformation took a significant step forward in July 2011 when it 

created a 2020 Census Directorate that included the office 

responsible for the American Community Survey, supporting the 

Bureau’s objective to rely on that nation-wide survey as a “test bed”

 5

GAO, 2020 Census: Sustaining Current Reform Efforts Will Be Key to a More CostEffective Enumeration, GAO-12-905T (Washington, D.C.: July 18, 2012).

The Bureau’s Plans 

for Controlling 

Enumeration Costs 

Show Promise, but 

Key Challenges Need 

to Be Addressed

Transforming the Bureau into a 

High-Performing Organization
Page 7 GAO-13-857T

for cost saving innovations for the 2020 Census. The Bureau is 

undertaking an organizational transformation of its entire decennial 

directorate in order to improve collaboration and communication 

across its divisions, improve operational efficiencies, and instill a 

culture that, according to the Bureau, encourages risk-taking and 

innovation without fear of reprisal. The Bureau believes such change 

is necessary so that it can more effectively control costs and 

enumerate the population for 2020.

• Enterprise solutions. The Bureau is attempting to develop Bureauwide, or “enterprise,” standards, guidance, or tools in areas such as 

risk management, project management, systems engineering, and IT 

investment management in order to reduce duplicative efforts across 

the Bureau.

• Better workforce planning. As the Bureau reexamines how it will plan 

the 2020 Census, it is also reviewing the employee skills and 

competencies needed to make that happen, in part by a formal 

analysis comparing its needs to its in-house capabilities.

The Bureau has made progress in these areas and others. However, they 

will require continued oversight if the Bureau is to transform itself to better 

control costs and deliver an accurate national headcount in 2020.

Cost Estimation

Our prior work has highlighted the need for the Bureau to develop more 

accurate and rigorous cost estimates for census operations.6 The Bureau 

uses the life-cycle cost estimate as the starting point for the annual 

budget formulation process and, according to our Cost Estimating and 

Assessment Guide, a reliable cost-estimating process is necessary to 

ensure that cost estimates—particularly for large, complex projects like 

the 2020 Census—are comprehensive, well documented, accurate, and 

credible.7

 6

GAO, 2010 Census: Census Bureau Should Take Acton to Improve the Credibility and 

Accuracy of Its Cost Estimate for the Decennial Census, 

In January 2012, among other actions, we recommended that 

the Bureau finalize guidance, policies, and procedures for cost estimation 

GAO-08-554 (Washington, D.C.: 

June 16, 2008).

7

GAO, GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide: Best Practices for Developing and 

Managing Capital Program Costs, GAO-09-3SP (Washington, D.C.: March 2009).
Page 8 GAO-13-857T

in accordance with best practices prior to developing the initial 2020 lifecycle cost estimate.8

In response to our recommendation, the Bureau has created a cost 

estimation team reporting to the Director. The team intended, among 

other things, to standardize guidance and training in cost estimation 

throughout the Bureau. The Bureau recently took the important step of 

hiring an individual to lead that group. However, until the Bureau finalizes 

its cost-estimating policies, procedures, and guidance, as we 

recommended, it runs the risks of developing unreliable cost estimates for 

2020.

Integrated Long-term Planning

The Bureau’s progress thus far with early planning is noteworthy given its 

long-standing challenges in this area. In December 2010,9

In addition, we recommended in November 2009 that the Bureau improve 

its use of a master activity schedule for 2020 to include levels of 

resources and take other steps that would support systematic analyses of 

we 

recommended that the Bureau develop a roadmap for 2020 that 

integrates performance, budget, methodological, schedule, and other 

information that would be updated as needed and posted on the Bureau’s 

website and other social media outlets. We also recommended that the 

Bureau develop a mechanism that allows for and harnesses input from 

census stakeholders and individuals. The Bureau agreed with our 

recommendations and brought together some of these elements in an 

annual fiscal year update of its “business plan,” which it issued to 

Congress in concert with its budget submissions for each of the past 2 

years. However, as the approach for 2020 takes shape, the Bureau 

needs to fully implement our recommendation to pull together remaining 

planning elements, such as milestones for decisions and estimates of 

cost into its tactical plan or roadmap.

 8

GAO, Decennial Census: Additional Actions Could Improve the Census Bureau’s Ability 

to Control Costs for the 2020 Census, GAO-12-80 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 24, 2012).

9

GAO, 2010 Census: Data Collection Operations Were Generally Completed as Planned, 

but Long-standing Challenges Suggest Need for Fundamental Reforms, GAO-11-193

(Washington, D.C.: Dec. 14, 2010).
Page 9 GAO-13-857T

the risk to the schedule.10

Stakeholder Involvement

The Department of Commerce did not 

comment on that recommendation in its response to that report, but the 

Bureau has since developed an integrated schedule covering its early 

research and testing activity that we are reviewing as part of ongoing 

work. Implementing additional steps such as those we have 

recommended will help ensure the Bureau’s reform initiatives stay on 

track, do not lose momentum, and coalesce into a viable path toward a 

more cost-effective 2020 Census.

Ensuring active stakeholder involvement and buy-in is critical to highperforming organizations. For example, over the past decade we have 

reported on the importance of congressional outreach to secure early 

agreement between the Bureau and Congress on the Bureau’s 

fundamental approach for its next decennial.11

In response to these reports and recommendations that we made, the 

Bureau has taken several steps forward. For example, in July 2012, the 

Bureau issued a plan for 2020 Census communications and stakeholder 

engagement, describing roles and responsibilities, among other elements. 

In December 2012, the Bureau began quarterly reviews intended to 

provide internal and external census program stakeholders, including 

congressional staff, officials from the Office of Management and Budget, 

and the Department of Commerce and its Office of Inspector General, 

with a broad and timely status of planning and development projects 

thereby facilitating strategic guidance and information sharing.12

 10See GAO, 2010 Census: Census Bureau Has Made Progress on Schedule and 

Operational Control Tools, but Needs to Prioritize Remaining System Requirements, 

These 

are important strides by the Bureau to ensure its research and planning 

are transparent. However, the challenge remains for the Bureau to 

identify tradeoffs among cost, quality, privacy, and security that may arise 

in the Bureau’s proposed approaches, and raise these tradeoffs with 

stakeholders.

GAO-10-59 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 13, 2009). 

11See GAO, 2020 Census: Additional Steps Are Needed to Build on Early Planning, 

GAO-12-626 (Washington, D.C.: May 17, 2012), and 2010 Census: Cost and Design 

Issues Need to be Addressed Soon, GAO-04-37 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 15, 2004).

12We also attend these reviews as observers at the Bureau’s invitation.
Page 10 GAO-13-857T

The Bureau’s current research and testing phase represents a critical 

stage in preparing for a cost-effective 2020 Census. Bureau management 

will use the results of ongoing research and testing to shape the next 

decennial census as it determines what new operations will be a part of 

the 2020 Census design, which operations need to be revised, and how 

to mitigate remaining risks.

The Bureau may be able to use its research initiatives during the next 

couple of years to attain significant cost savings. Key among these are 

three new operational changes being considered—using the Internet as a 

self-response option, targeting only certain addresses for field verification 

as the Bureau builds its national list of addresses, and replacing 

enumerator-collected data with administrative records under certain 

circumstances. All three initiatives have the potential to reduce costs. 

However, the Bureau will be employing them in ways that are new for 

2020, and they thus entail some operational risk. Going forward, the 

Bureau needs to ensure they will (1) produce needed cost savings, (2) 

function in concert with other census operations, and (3) work at the scale 

needed for the national headcount.

Using the Internet to Collect Responses

Tests conducted by the Bureau in 2011 showed that adding an Internet 

response option could increase the overall response rate for the census. 

The 2011 test results, coupled with the increased prevalence and 

accessibility of the Internet, led Bureau officials to commit to providing an 

Internet response option for the 2020 Census. If this option can help 

achieve an overall increase in the response rate, it can save money, 

since Bureau field staff would need to visit fewer households during 

nonresponse follow-up (NRFU), which is the largest and most costly 

census field operation.13

 13During NRFU the Bureau sends enumerators to collect data from households that did 

not mail back their census forms. NRFU procedures instruct enumerators to make up to 

six attempts to contact a household. The 2010 Census NRFU operation cost $1.6 billion.

Furthermore, testing has shown that the cost of 

an Internet survey is low compared to a mail survey, which incurs printing 

and postage costs. Moreover, web survey responses are generally 

available more quickly and are of better quality than responses from a 

mail survey because there is no lag time, as the responses are captured 

in real time, and there are reminders to prompt the respondent if a 

question is unanswered. Quicker and more complete responses can also 

Improving the CostEffectiveness of CensusTaking Operations
Page 11 GAO-13-857T

help reduce the amount of time and money spent on following up on late 

or incomplete census forms.

Targeting Address Canvassing

In the 2010 and earlier censuses, the Bureau mounted a full address 

canvassing operation, where field staff travelled virtually every road in the 

country to update the Master Address File (MAF) and the associated 

mapping database called TIGER (Topologically Integrated Geographic 

Encoding and Referencing). This labor-intensive effort was one of the 

more expensive components of the 2010 Census. It required 140,000 

temporary workers to verify 145 million addresses (by going door-to-door) 

at a cost of $444 million, or 3 percent of the $13 billion total cost of the 

2010 Census. For the 2020 Census the Bureau would like to reduce 

workload and cost by targeting the address canvassing operation to areas 

most in need of updating.

Administrative Records

Administrative records are a growing source of information on individuals 

and households. The Bureau has estimated that it could save up to $2 

billion if it uses administrative records to reduce the need in 2020 for 

certain costly and labor-intensive door-to-door visits by Bureau 

employees, such as collecting data in person from nonrespondents,

supporting quality control, or helping to evaluate the quality of the 

census.14 For purposes of the decennial census, the Bureau is 

considering administrative records from government agencies, including 

tax data and Medicare records,15

 14The amount of and quality of administrative records the Bureau is able to collect will 

affect the amount of cost savings it is able to realize.

as well as commercial sources to 

identify persons associated with a particular household address. During 

the 2010 Census, the Bureau made limited use of administrative records. 

For example, the Bureau used U.S. Postal Service files to update its 

address list, and it used federal agency records (such as those from the 

Department of Defense) to count military and federal civilian employees 

stationed outside of the United States.

15The Bureau’s access to and use of administrative records is governed by agencyspecific statutes. For example, the Bureau has access to tax data under 26 U.S.C. § 

6103(j)(1) “for the purpose of, but only to the extent necessary in, the structuring of 

censuses ... and conducting related statistical activities.”
Page 12 GAO-13-857T

Depending on the results of ongoing research, Bureau officials plan to 

build a composite of quality administrative records from various sources 

(i.e., federal agencies, state and local governments, and commercial 

sources) that it can use to reduce or replace costly field work. Successful 

use of such a database presents challenges the Bureau will need to 

address. For example, as we reported in 2012, while the Bureau has 

access to some federally collected data, it does not have access to all of 

the federally collected administrative data that could potentially help it 

reduce the cost of the 2020 Census.16

Additionally, the Bureau is exploring technology options for census 

operations that collectively represent a dramatic leap from 2010. These 

options include the possible use of a “bring your own device” model to 

enable enumerators to use their own mobile devices for field data 

collection. Given the role of information technology in conducting the 

census, while controlling costs and protecting privacy, it is essential that 

the Bureau strengthen its ability to manage these investments, as well as 

its practices for securing the information it collects and disseminates. The

following represent long-standing IT challenges that, if effectively 

addressed, will significantly enhance the Bureau’s ability to acquire these 

solutions within cost, schedule, and performance targets.

Further increasing the Bureau’s 

access to records may involve negotiations with states or other federal 

agencies, potential statutory changes, and discussions of personal 

privacy protections, and most likely it would be a time-consuming 

process. In addition, the use of administrative records may present 

difficult decisions about tradeoffs between cost and quality, which the 

Bureau is actively researching to inform.

IT Governance

The Bureau lacks a sufficiently mature IT governance process to ensure 

that its investments are properly controlled and monitored. Implementing 

a governance framework and system development methodology are 

challenging tasks that can be aided by having robust implementation 

plans. Such a plan is instrumental in helping agencies coordinate and 

guide improvement efforts. In September 2012,17

 16GAO, 2020 Census: Initial Research Milestones Generally Met but Plans Needed to 

Mitigate Highest Risks, 

we reported that while 

GAO-13-53 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 7, 2012).

17GAO, Information Technology: Census Bureau Needs to Implement Key Management 

Practices, GAO-12-915 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 18, 2012).

Strengthening IT Management 

and Security Practices
Page 13 GAO-13-857T

the Bureau developed the Enterprise Investment Management Plan, 

which was to be applied to all investments, the plan was still a draft 

document and had key gaps. Specifically, the plan did not contain 

guidelines for the membership of investment review boards or the 

frequency of board meetings, and it omitted cost and schedule 

performance thresholds for escalating issues to higher-level boards. 

Accordingly, we made recommendations to address these weaknesses. 

The Bureau agreed, and in response to our recommendations, in June 

2013, program officials provided us with an updated plan, which was 

finalized on September 28, 2012. However, while the plan now states that 

investment review boards should meet at least monthly, the plan does not 

specify thresholds for escalating cost, risk, or impact issues. The Bureau 

needs to take action in this key area as we previously recommended to 

ensure that its senior executives have adequate insight into project health 

to make timely decisions.

Requirements Management

Proper requirements management remains a long-standing challenge for 

the Bureau. The Software Engineering Institute states that a disciplined 

process for developing and managing requirements can help reduce the 

risks of developing or acquiring a system. Unfortunately, the Bureau has 

had difficulties with this in the past, as illustrated by the problems it had in 

managing requirements during the 2010 census, which were largely 

responsible for the Bureau’s abandonment of its handheld enumeration 

devices and increased the cost of the census by up to $3 billion. In 

September 2012,18

 18

we reported that the IT and 2020 Census directorates 

had independently drafted new requirements, instead of developing a 

Bureau-wide requirements management plan, despite our prior 

recommendation. To address the Bureau’s recurring weaknesses in 

requirements management, we therefore recommended that it establish 

and implement a consistent requirements development and management 

process across the Bureau. Bureau officials agreed with the 

recommendation and in response, in August 2013, program officials 

stated that they began using a new life-cycle management tool to manage 

requirements Bureau-wide. While this is a good start, it remains to be 

seen whether the Bureau will fully implement the new tool and 

institutionalize the requirements management process. Until the Bureau 

GAO-12-915. 
Page 14 GAO-13-857T

fully implements our recommendation to establish a consistent 

requirements development and management process across the Bureau 

that has clear guidance for developing requirements at the strategic 

mission, business, and project levels and is integrated with its new 

system development methodology, it will not have assurance that the IT 

systems delivered for 2020 will actually meet user needs.

IT Workforce Planning

As discussed earlier in this statement, effective workforce planning is 

essential to ensure organizations have the proper skills, abilities, and 

capacity for effective management. The Bureau has not yet finalized its IT 

workforce plans. In 2012, we reported that the Bureau had taken limited 

steps to develop IT human capital practices, such as inventorying critical 

competencies among its IT staff.19

IT System Security

Yet many key steps remained to be 

implemented. In particular, the Bureau had not developed a Bureau-wide 

IT workforce plan, identified gaps in mission-critical IT occupations, skills, 

and competencies, or developed strategies to address gaps. Accordingly, 

we recommended that the Bureau establish a repeatable process for 

performing IT skills assessments and gap analyses that can be 

implemented in a timely manner. The Bureau agreed with the 

recommendation, and in response, in June 2013, Bureau officials stated 

that they plan to complete a skills and needs assessment for the Bureau’s 

IT workforce by the end of this month. Officials also reported that they 

have a workforce planning team that has developed a strategic workforce 

planning process and implementation plan. While the Bureau has taken 

certain steps to improve its IT workforce planning processes, going 

forward it will be important for it to fully establish a repeatable process for 

performing skills assessments and gap analyses, as we recommended, 

that can be implemented in a timely manner and better enable managers 

to address any skills gaps in preparation for the 2020 Census.

Critical to the Bureau’s ability to perform its data collection and analysis 

duties are its information systems and the protection of the information 

they contain. A data breach could result in the public’s loss of confidence 

in the Bureau, thus affecting its ability to collect census data. Access 

 19GAO-12-915.
Page 15 GAO-13-857T

controls are designed and implemented to ensure the reliability of an 

agency’s computerized information.20

In January 2013, we reported that the Bureau’s IT systems’ access 

controls contained certain deficiencies.

Access controls that are intended to 

prevent, limit, and detect unauthorized access to computing resources, 

programs, information, and facilities, are referred to as logical and 

physical access controls. Inadequate design or implementation of access 

controls increases the risk of unauthorized disclosure, modification, and 

destruction of sensitive information and disruption of service.

21 For example, the Bureau did not 

adequately control connectivity to key network devices and servers, 

identify and authenticate users, or limit user access rights and 

permissions to only those necessary to perform official duties. An 

underlying reason for those weaknesses was that the Bureau had not 

fully implemented a comprehensive information security program to 

ensure that controls were effectively established and maintained. 

Accordingly, we recommended that the Bureau take several actions, such 

as clearly documenting its assessment of common controls for 

information systems before granting an authorization to operate and fully 

developing an incident response plan. In response to the report, the 

Bureau indicated it would work to identify the best way to address our 

recommendations. The Bureau reported that it has efforts under way to 

address our recommendations; however, more work remains. For 

example, according to Bureau officials they have been working to better 

track assessments of their common controls as part of a new risk 

management process. They expect to complete the transition to the new 

process by the end of this month. While the Bureau has recently taken 

key steps to address its IT security weaknesses, certain steps remain. 

Having adequate controls over access to its systems, as we 

recommended, would help the Bureau to better ensure that its information 

and systems are protected from intrusion.

 20Access controls include those related to (1) protection of system boundaries, (2) 

identification and authentication, (3) authorization, (4) cryptography, (5) audit and 

monitoring, and (6) physical security.

21GAO, Information Security: Actions Needed by Census Bureau to Address Weaknesses, 

GAO-13-63 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 22, 2013).
Page 16 GAO-13-857T

The Bureau is moving forward along a number of fronts to secure a more 

cost-effective 2020 enumeration. Significant research is already under 

way, and the Bureau is responding to our past recommendations. A little 

more than 6 years remains until Census Day 2020. While this might seem 

like an ample amount of time to finalize the Bureau’s planning process 

and take steps to control costs, past experience has shown that the chain 

of interrelated preparations that need to occur at specific times and in the 

right sequence leave little room for delay or missteps.

Thus, as the Bureau’s 2020 planning and reform efforts gather 

momentum, the effectiveness of those efforts will be determined in large 

measure by the extent to which they enhance the Bureau’s ability to 

control costs, ensure quality, and adapt to future technological and 

societal changes. Likewise, Congress can hold the Bureau accountable 

for results, weigh in on key design decisions, provide the Bureau with 

resources the Congress believes are appropriate to support that design, 

and help ensure that the gains made to date stay on track. The Bureau’s 

initial preparations for 2020 are making progress. Nonetheless, continuing 

congressional oversight remains vital.

Chairman Farenthold, Ranking Member Lynch, and Members of the 

Subcommittee, this concludes our statement today. We would be pleased 

to respond to any questions that you may have.

If you have any questions concerning this statement, please contact 

Robert Goldenkoff, Director, Strategic Issues, at (202) 512-2757 or 

goldenkoffg@gao.gov; or Carol R. Cha, Director, Information Technology 

Acquisition Management Issues, at (202) 512-4456 or chac@gao.gov. 

Other individuals who made key contributions include Ty Mitchell and 

Shannin G. O’Neill, Assistant Directors; Robert Gebhart; Nancy Glover; 

Lisa Hardman; Vernetta Marquis; Aku Pappoe; Dan Webb; and Timothy 

Wexler.

Concluding Observations

Contacts and 

Acknowledgments
Related GAO Products

Page 17 GAO-13-857T

Information Security: Actions Needed by Census Bureau to Address 

Weaknesses. GAO-13-63. Washington, D.C.: January 22, 2013.

2020 Census: Initial Research Milestones Generally Met but Plans 

Needed to Mitigate Highest Risks. GAO-13-53. Washington, D.C.: 

November 7, 2012.

Information Technology: Census Bureau Needs to Implement Key 

Management Practices. GAO-12-915. Washington, D.C.: 

September 18, 2012.

2020 Census: Sustaining Current Reform Efforts Will Be Key to a More 

Cost-Effective Enumeration. GAO-12-905T. Washington, D.C.: 

July 18, 2012.

2020 Census: Additional Steps Are Needed to Build on Early 

Planning.GAO-12-626. Washington, D.C.: May 17, 2012.

Decennial Census: Additional Actions Could Improve the Census 

Bureau’s Ability to Control Costs for the 2020 Census. GAO-12-80. 

Washington, D.C.: January 24, 2012.

2010 Census: Preliminary Lessons Learned Highlight the Need for 

Fundamental Reforms. GAO-11-496T. Washington, D.C.: April 6, 2011.

2010 Census: Data Collection Operations Were Generally Completed as 

Planned, but Long-standing Challenges Suggest Need for Fundamental 

Reforms. GAO-11-193. Washington, D.C.: December 14, 2010.

2010 Census: Follow-up Should Reduce Coverage Errors, but Effects on 

Demographic Groups Need to Be Determined. GAO-11-154. Washington, 

D.C.: December 14, 2010.

2010 Census: Key Efforts to Include Hard-to-Count Populations 

Went Generally as Planned; Improvements Could Make the Efforts 

More Effective for Next Census. GAO-11-45. Washington, D.C.: 

December 14, 2010.

2010 Census: Plans for Census Coverage Measurement Are on Track, 

but Additional Steps Will Improve Its Usefulness. GAO-10-324. 

Washington, D.C.: April 23, 2010.

Related GAO Products
Related GAO Products

Page 18 GAO-13-857T

2010 Census: Data Collection Is Under Way, but Reliability of Key 

Information Technology Systems Remains a Risk. GAO-10-567T. 

Washington, D.C.: March 25, 2010.

2010 Census: Key Enumeration Activities Are Moving Forward, but 

Information Technology Systems Remain a Concern. GAO-10-430T. 

Washington, D.C.: February 23, 2010.

2010 Census: Census Bureau Continues to Make Progress in Mitigating 

Risks to a Successful Enumeration, but Still Faces Various Challenges. 

GAO-10-132T. Washington, D.C.: October 7, 2009.

2010 Census: Census Bureau Should Take Action to Improve the 

Credibility and Accuracy of Its Cost Estimate for the Decennial Census.

GAO-08-554. Washington, D.C.: June 16, 2008.

Information Technology: Significant Problems of Critical Automation 

Program Contribute to Risks Facing 2010 Census. GAO-08-550T. 

Washington, D.C.: March 5, 2008.

Information Technology: Census Bureau Needs to Improve Its Risk 

Management of Decennial Systems. GAO-08-259T. Washington, D.C.: 

December 11, 2007.

2010 Census: Census Bureau Has Improved the Local Update of Census 

Addresses Program, but Challenges Remain. GAO-07-736. Washington, 

D.C.: June 14, 2007.

Information Technology Management: Census Bureau Has Implemented 

Many Key Practices, but Additional Actions Are Needed. GAO-05-661. 

Washington, D.C.: June 16, 2005.

2010 Census: Cost and Design Issues Need to Be Addressed Soon. 

GAO-04-37. Washington, D.C.: January 15, 2004.

Human Capital: Key Principles for Effective Strategic Workforce Planning.

GAO-04-39. Washington, D.C.: December 11, 2003.

2000 Census: Lessons Learned for Planning a More Cost-Effective 2010 

Census. GAO-03-40. Washington, D.C.: October 31, 2002.

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