2020 Census: Sustaining Current Reform Efforts Will Be Key to a More Cost-Effective Enumeration
Published: 2012-07-18T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: Obtaining an accurate census in the face of societal trends such as increased privacy concerns and a more diverse population has greatly increased the cost of the census. At $13 billion, 2010 was the costliest census in U.S. history. Without changes, future enumerations could be fiscally unsustainable. GAOs past work noted that early planning, leading management practices, and strong congressional oversight, can help reduce the costs and risks of the enumeration. GAO also identified four key lessons learned from 2010 that could help secure a more cost-effective 2020 Census. The Bureau agreed and is taking steps to address them. As requested, this testimony focuses on the Bureaus progress on these lessons learned and what remains to be done going forward. It is based on GAOs completed work, including an analysis of Bureau documents, interviews with Bureau officials, and field observations of census operations in urban and rural locations across the country.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: Overall, the U.S. Census Bureaus (Bureau) planning efforts for 2020 are off to a good start, as the Bureau made noteworthy progress within each of the four lessons learned from the 2010 Census. Still, additional steps will be needed within each of the lessons learned in order to sustain those reforms.
1. Reexamine the nations approach to taking the Census. The Bureau has used a similar approach to count most of the population for decades. However, the approach has not kept pace with changes to society. Moving forward, the Bureau has begun to rethink its approach to planning, testing, implementing, and monitoring the census. For example, the Bureau is researching how it can use administrative records, such as data from other government agencies, to locate and count people including nonrespondents. Use of administrative records could help reduce the cost of field operations, but data quality and access issues must first be resolved.
2. Assess and refine existing operations focusing on tailoring them to specific locations and population groups. The 2010 Census had several operations tailored to specific population groups or locales. For example, the Bureau mailed bilingual English/Spanish forms to some areas and sent a second questionnaire to areas with historically lower response rates. Preliminary evaluations show these targeted efforts contributed to an increased awareness of the census and higher mail-back response rates. For 2020, the Bureau is considering expanding these efforts. Designing future studies to better isolate the return on investment of key census operations would help the Bureau further target its operations to specific population groups and locations and potentially gain significant cost savings.
3. Institutionalize efforts to address high-risk areas. Focus areas for the Bureau include improving its ability to manage information technology (IT) investments and develop a reliable cost estimates. In January 2012, GAO reported that the Bureau did not have policies and procedures for developing the 2020 Census cost estimate. In moving forward, it will be important for the Bureau to improve its IT acquisition management policies and develop better guidance to produce more reliable cost estimates.
4. Ensure that the Bureaus management, culture, and business practices align with a cost-effective enumeration. In May 2012, GAO reported that the Bureaus early planning efforts for the 2020 Census were consistent with most leading practices for organizational transformation, long term planning, and strategic workforce planning. Nevertheless, GAO found that additional steps could be taken to build on these early efforts. For example, the Bureaus schedule does not include milestones for key decisions to support the transition between planning phases. These milestones are important and could help with later downstream planning.
section_title: What GAO Recommends
paragraphs: GAO is not making new recommendations in this testimony, but past reports recommended that the Bureau strengthen its testing of key IT systems, develop policies and procedures for its cost estimates, and take actions to make 2020 Census planning more consistent with leading management practices. The Bureau generally agreed with GAOs findings and recommendations and is taking steps to implement them.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: I am pleased to be here today to provide a progress report on the U.S.  Census Bureau’s (Bureau) planning and reform initiatives for the 2020  Census. As you well know, the nation’s population has been growing  steadily larger, more diverse, increasingly difficult to count, and less  willing to participate in the census. The bottom line is that securing an  accurate count in the face of these trends has greatly raised the difficulty  and cost of the enumeration. Unless changes to the census are made  going forward, future headcounts could be fiscally unsustainable.
With a life-cycle cost of around $13 billion, the 2010 Census was the most  expensive population count in U.S. history, costing over 50 percent more  than the $8.1 billion 2000 Census (in constant 2010 dollars). While some  cost growth is to be expected, in part because there are more people to  count with each decennial, enumeration costs grew more than three times  faster than the workload between 2000 and 2010 with a 39 percent  increase in costs to count each housing unit compared to a 12 percent  increase in workload. These trends do not bode well for future costs.  Indeed, the Bureau estimates that if it used the same approach to count  people in 2020 as it did in 2010, it would cost $151 to count each housing  unit compared to 2010’s $97 (assuming real costs grow at the same rate  they did between 1990 and 2010).
Moreover, as shown in figure 1, while census costs have steadily  increased since 1970, the mail response rate—a key performance  measure because of its implications for both cost and accuracy—declined  over this same period from 78 percent in 1970 to around 63 percent in  2010.
In terms of quality, a post-census Bureau evaluation found that the 2010  Census generally accurately counted the total population of the country  as well as each state. As in past enumerations, renters, young children,  young adult males, Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians on  reservations were more likely to be undercounted, while home owners,  older persons, females, and White non-Hispanics were more likely to be  included more than once in the census. Moreover, despite some  significant initial setbacks that raised the cost of the enumeration, the  Bureau eventually developed workarounds to the challenges facing the  2010 Census and it was ultimately an operational success as the Bureau  generally completed its peak census data collection activities consistent  with its plans and released the state population counts used to apportion  Congress on December 21, 2010, several days ahead of the legally  mandated end-of-year deadline.
Mr. Chairman, these trends, facts, and figures all point to one simple fact:  the basic design of the decennial census—mail-out and mail-back of the  census form with in-person follow-up for nonrespondents (the same  general approach the Bureau has used since 1970)—is no longer capable  of a cost-effective enumeration. Thus, going forward, the singular  challenge for Bureau officials will be balancing the need to control the  cost of future enumerations with the need to assure their accuracy.
The Bureau is well aware of the need for reforms, and its business plan— which describes its efforts for the early research and testing phase of the  2020 Census—notes that the Bureau is committed to conducting a  census that costs no more than the approximately $100 per housing unit  that was spent on the 2010 Census, and has already developed six broad  design alternatives for 2020. This is a noteworthy goal. However, fulfilling  it will be an ambitious task as the Bureau’s research and planning efforts  over the next few years will take place in an uncertain environment owing  to the extent and magnitude of the reforms being considered, budget  constraints, and the planned August 2012 resignation of the current  Bureau Director with the likelihood that it may be a number of months  before a permanent replacement takes office.
When we last testified before this Subcommittee in April 2011, we  discussed four lessons learned from the 2010 and earlier decennials that  could help secure a more cost-effective enumeration in 2020.included:  1.  reexamining the nation’s approach to taking the census;  2.  assessing and refining existing operations, tailoring them to specific  locations and population groups;  3.  institutionalizing efforts to address high-risk areas; and  4.  ensuring that the Bureau’s management, culture, and business  practices align with a cost-effective enumeration.
The Bureau generally agreed with these lessons and is taking steps to  address them. As requested, in my remarks today, I will focus on the  Bureau’s progress in each area and what remains to be done going  forward. In summary, while the Bureau’s preparations are off to a good  start—as evidenced, for example, by its use of leading practices in such  key management areas as organizational transformation, long-term  project planning, and strategic workforce planning, moving forward,  sustaining those efforts, focusing on priorities, winnowing down design  options, and keeping the entire enterprise on-track—all within tight  timeframes—will be a tremendous challenge. Furthermore, it will be  important for Congress to hold the Bureau accountable for results through  strong and continuing involvement in preparations for the 2020 Census,  including weighing in on key Bureau decisions and providing the  necessary funding.
My testimony today is based on our completed work related to key 2010  Census operations, on 2010 Census cost drivers and the 2020 life-cycle  cost estimate, and the Bureau’s planning efforts for 2020. For this body  of work, we analyzed key documents—such as budgets, plans,  procedures, and guidance—for selected decennial activities; interviewed  cognizant Bureau officials; reviewed existing leading practices for  organizational transformation, long-term project planning, and workforce  planning that we and other organizations have previously developed; and  identified leading practices that are most relevant to the Bureau’s early  planning for the 2020 Census.
Additionally, for our work on 2010 operations, we made on-site  observations of key census-taking activities across the country including  such urban locations as Los Angeles, California; Atlanta, Georgia;  Brooklyn, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New Orleans,  Louisiana; and Washington, D.C.; as well as such less populated areas  as Meridian, Mississippi, and New Castle, Delaware. We selected these  locations because of their geographic and demographic diversity, among  other factors. More detail on our scope and methodology is provided in  each of our issued products.
On June 29, 2012, we provided the Bureau with a statement of facts  related to the information included in this statement, and Bureau officials  provided technical comments, which we included as appropriate. The  work on which this statement is based was conducted 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.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: At first glance, it might seem premature to discuss preparations for the  decennial census; after all, Census Day, April 1, 2020, is still almost 8  years away. However, our reviews of the 1990, 2000, and the 2010  Censuses have shown that early planning, the use of leading  management practices, and strong congressional oversight can help  reduce the costs and risks of the national headcount. Indeed, the  characteristics of the decennial census—long-term, large-scale, complex,  high-risk, and politically sensitive—together make a cost-effective  enumeration of the nation’s population and housing a monumental  project-planning and management challenge.
Despite the complexity, cost, and importance of the census, however,  recent enumerations were not planned well. Indeed, shortcomings with  managing and planning the 2000 and 2010 enumerations led to  acquisition problems, cost overruns, and other issues, and, as a result,  we placed both enumerations on our list of high-risk programs.
For example, leading up to the 2010 Census, we found that additional  costs and risks associated with the data capture technologies used in the  2010 Census were related to a failure to adequately link specifications for  key information technology systems to requirements.  Additionally, 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.
GAO, Information Technology: Census Bureau Needs to Improve Its Risk Management  of Decennial Systems, GAO-08-79 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 5, 2007). program difficult and hampered accountability, succession planning, and  staff development.
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 these  operational and organizational challenges. For its part, the Bureau has  stated that to contain costs and maintain quality, bold innovations in both  planning and design of the 2020 Census will be required, and has  launched a number of change initiatives. Some of these efforts are  directed at transforming the Bureau’s organization, while others focus on  reexamining the fundamental approach to the 2020 Census.
Although bold reform plans are critical steps in the right direction, the  Bureau’s past experience has shown that the more difficult challenge will  be sustaining those efforts throughout the course of the decade. Indeed,  preparations for both the 2000 and 2010 Censuses started with ambitious  plans that gave reason for optimism that major improvements were on the  way. However, in the subsequent ramp-up to those enumerations, the  Bureau had difficulty identifying and implementing promising innovations,  progress on reforms slowed, and as Census Day drew closer, the  success of those head-counts became an open question.
section_title: Lesson Learned 1: Reexamine the Nation’s Approach to Taking the Census
paragraphs: In our April 2011 testimony, we noted that based on the results of prior  enumerations, simply refining current methods—some of which have  been in place for decades—will not bring about the reforms needed to  control costs while maintaining accuracy given ongoing and newly  emerging societal trends such as concerns over personal privacy and an  increasingly diverse population.reconsider the nation’s approach to the census including rethinking such  activities as how it plans, tests, implements, monitors, and evaluates  enumeration activities. The Bureau concurred and its 2020 Census  business plan states that the Bureau needs substantial innovation to  achieve its cost and quality targets and to meet its strategic goals.
Consequently, the Bureau will need to  As one example, with respect to its research and testing efforts, the  Bureau plans to use the American Community Survey—an ongoing  Bureau survey of population and housing characteristics that is  administered monthly throughout the decade—as a vehicle to test certain  decennial census processes and information technology (IT) systems.  According to the Bureau, this approach will enable it to conduct many  small tests throughout the decade in a production environment instead of  relying on a small number of large, expensive tests as was the case in  past decennial planning cycles. According to the Bureau, refining systems  in the American Community Survey reduces the risk of building one-use  systems for the decennial that need to operate flawlessly the first time  they are put into production.
With respect to implementing the census, among other activities, the  Bureau is researching potential electronic methods of promoting the  census and collecting data, including with the Internet via social  networking sites, e-mail, and text messages, as well as with automated  phone systems. For the 2010 Census, the Bureau initially investigated the  use of an Internet response option but dropped plans based on concerns  over information technology security, and after completing a cost-benefit  analysis that led the Bureau to conclude that Internet data collection  would not significantly improve the overall response rate or reduce field  data collection.
The Bureau is also researching how it can use administrative records to  reduce the cost of certain decennial activities. Administrative records from  government agencies, including driver licenses and school records, can  be used to identify persons associated with a particular household  address. Administrative records could save the Bureau money because  they could help reduce the need for certain costly and labor-intensive  door-to-door visits by Bureau employees to collect data in-person from  non-respondents. During the 2010 Census, the Bureau made only limited  use of administrative records. Expanding their use to supplement  respondent data on a national level will present a certain degree of risk,  and issues concerning data quality and access to records must first be  resolved.
With so many innovations underway at the Bureau, strong and continuing  stewardship at the senior level will be critical for ensuring they stay on  track moving forward. However, the announced resignation of the Director  coming up this August could mean that it will be a number of months  before an agency head appointed by the President and confirmed by the  Senate will be in place.
As with the heads of all federal agencies, it will be important for the  Bureau Director to possess the requisite leadership and management  skills and background to successfully address the challenges facing the  Bureau in the years ahead. On the basis of our knowledge of past and  present census operations and a review of readily available literature,  certain general stewardship roles that the Director, as a senior executive,  will play in managing the institution, and their related qualifications, merit  particular attention in this regard. These roles and qualifications are not  necessarily unique to the Bureau, and it is unlikely that any one person  will excel in all of these areas. That said, based on our knowledge of past  and present census operations and review of available literature on  leadership—particularly of federal agencies—we identified the following  characteristics of a successful leader:
Strategic leader. As the head of the Census Bureau, the Director is  responsible for, among other activities, (1) leading change and (2)  leading people. In leading change, the Director will be expected to  build a shared vision or long-term view for the organization among its  stakeholders, as well as be a catalyst for developing and  implementing the Bureau’s mission statement and strategic goals, and  be cognizant of the forces affecting the Bureau. Moreover, in addition  to the decennial census, the Bureau is also responsible for a number  of other vital national data gathering and statistical programs such as  the American Community Survey. As a result, it will be important for  the Director to ensure the Bureau’s information products continue to  meet the current and emerging needs of its numerous and diverse  customers, including Congress, state, local and federal government  organizations, and a wide array of other public and private  organizations.
In leading people, the Director should ensure that human resource  strategies, including recruitment, retention, training, incentive, and  accountability initiatives are designed and implemented in a manner  that supports the achievement of the organization’s mission and goals  and addresses any mission critical skill gaps. In particular, it will be  important for the Director to motivate headquarters, field, and  temporary staff to ensure they function as an integrated team rather  than a stovepiped bureaucracy.
Technical professional. It is logical to expect that the Director would  have at least a general background in statistics or a related field.  Although no one person will have the full range of knowledge needed  to answer the many methodological and technical questions that the  Director may face, it is important that he or she have sufficient  technical knowledge to direct the Bureau’s statistical activities. In  addition, the Director should manage for results by developing and  using performance measures to assess and improve the Bureau’s  operations.
Administrator. Like other agency heads, the Director is responsible for  acquiring and using the human, financial, and information technology  resources needed to achieve its goals and mission. The Director  should, for example, be capable of setting priorities based on funding  levels. Further, because the Bureau’s product is information, the  Director should ensure that the Bureau leverages technology, such as  the Internet, to improve the collection, processing, and dissemination  of census information.
Collaborator. It will be important for the Director to continually expand  and develop working relationships and partnerships with those in  governmental, political and professional circles to obtain their input,  support, and participation in the Bureau’s activities. For example, it  will be important for the Director to continue working with local  government officials to have them play a more active role in taking the  census.
section_title: Lesson Learned 2: Assess and Refine Existing Operations Focusing on Tailoring Them to Specific Locations and Population Groups
paragraphs: We previously found that leveraging such data as local response rates,  census socio-demographic information, as well as other data sources and  empirical evidence, might help control costs and improve accuracy by  providing information on ways the Bureau could more efficiently allocate  its resources. For example, some neighborhoods might require a greater  level of effort to achieve acceptable results while in other areas those  same results might be accomplished with fewer resources.
The 2010 Census had several census-taking activities tailored to specific  population groups. As one example, the Bureau budgeted around $297  million on paid media to raise awareness and encourage public  participation in the census. To determine where paid media efforts might  have the greatest impact, the Bureau developed predictive models based  on 2000 Census data and other sources. Other efforts included mailing a  bilingual English/Spanish questionnaire in some areas, and sending a  second “replacement” census questionnaire to about 53 million  households in areas with historically lower response rates. Preliminary  Bureau evaluations suggest that some of these targeted efforts  contributed to an increased awareness of the census and were  associated with higher questionnaire mail-back response rates.
For the 2020 Census, the Bureau is considering expanding its targeting  efforts to activities such as address canvassing, an operation where  Bureau employees go door-to-door across the country verifying street  addresses and identifying possible additions or deletions to its address  list. This operation is important for building an accurate address list. In the  2010 Census, address canvassing was conducted at the vast majority of  housing units. For the 2020 Census, the Bureau believes it might be able  to generate cost savings by using existing address records for those  neighborhoods that have been stable, and only canvass those areas  where significant changes have occurred.
We previously found that studying the value added of a particular  operation, such as the extent to which it reduced costs and/or enhanced  data quality, could help the Bureau make more cost-effective use of its  resources. As one example, in addition to address canvassing, the  Bureau has several other operations to help it build a complete and  accurate address list. This is to help ensure that housing units missed in  one operation get included in a subsequent operation. However, the  extent to which each individual operation contributes to the overall  accuracy of the address list is uncertain. This in turn makes it difficult for  the Bureau to fully assess the extent to which potential reforms such as  targeted address canvassing or other operations might affect the quality  of the address list. Indeed, the Bureau’s formal program of assessing and  evaluating various 2010 Census operations and activities, with which it  expects to have completed over 100 studies by early in 2013, has only a  few studies designed to produce information describing the return on  investment. Designing future studies to better isolate the return on  investment would help the Bureau further tailor its operations to specific  population groups and locations and potentially generate substantial cost  savings.
section_title: Lesson Learned 3: Institutionalize Efforts to Address High-Risk Areas
paragraphs: A key priority for the Bureau will be to continue to address those  shortcomings that led us to designate the 2010 Census a high-risk area in  2008, including strengthening its ability to develop reliable life-cycle cost  estimates and following key practices important for managing information  technology (IT) so that they do not recur in 2020. In February 2011, we  removed the high-risk designation from the 2010 Census because of the  Bureau’s progress and strong commitment to and top leadership support  for addressing problems, among other actions. The Bureau has made  progress in these areas. However, additional efforts are needed.
Processes for developing a life-cycle cost estimate. In our January  2012 report, we found that the Bureau had not yet established  policies, procedures, or guidance for developing the 2020 Census life  cycle cost estimate and is at risk of not following related best  practices. A reliable cost estimating process, according to our Cost  Estimating and Assessment Guide, is necessary to ensure that cost  estimates are comprehensive, well documented, accurate, and  credible. The Bureau intends to use our cost guide as it develops  cost estimates for 2020 and follow best practices wherever  practicable; however, as we reported, the Bureau has not yet  documented how it plans to conduct its cost estimates and could not  provide a specific time when such documentation would be finalized.  Developing this necessary guidance will help ensure the Bureau has a  reliable life-cycle cost estimate, which in turn will help ensure that  Congress, the administration, and the Bureau itself can have reliable  information on which to base decisions.  IT management issues. As the Bureau prepares for 2020, it will be  important for it to continue to improve its ability to manage its IT  investments. Leading up to the 2010 Census, we made numerous  recommendations to the Bureau to improve its IT management  procedures by implementing best practices in risk management,  requirements development, and testing.many of our recommendations, but not our broader recommendation  to institutionalize these practices at the organizational level. The  challenges experienced by the Bureau in acquiring and developing IT  systems during the 2010 Census further demonstrate the importance  of establishing and enforcing a rigorous IT systems development and  management policy Bureau-wide. In addition, it will be important for  the Bureau to improve its ability to consistently perform key IT  management practices, such as IT investment management, system  development and management, and enterprise architecture  management. The effective use of these practices can better ensure  that future IT investments will be pursued in a way that optimizes  mission performance. We have ongoing reviews of the Bureau’s early  2020 Census planning for its IT investment management, as well as  its information security program, which we expect to report out in the  months ahead.
section_title: Lesson Learned 4: Ensure that the Bureau’s Management, Culture, and Business Practices Align with a Cost-Effective Enumeration
paragraphs: As we noted in our May 2012 report, the Bureau’s early planning and  preparation efforts for the 2020 Census are consistent with most leading  practices in each of three management areas we reviewed— organizational transformation, long-term planning, and strategic workforce  planning. For example, the Bureau is in the middle of a major  organizational transformation of its decennial operations, and consistent  with our leading practices, top Bureau leadership has been driving the  transformation through such activities as issuing a strategic plan for the  2020 Census, incorporating annual updates of its business plan, and  chartering an organizational change management council comprised of  Bureau-wide executives and senior managers. The Bureau also has  focused on a key set of principles as it begins to roll-out the  transformation strategy to staff, and has created a timeline to build  momentum and show progress. Although the decennial directorate is  progressing with its organizational transformation, the person responsible  for this effort—the Bureau’s organizational change manager—is  responsible for a number of tasks, including transformation planning and  implementation, and leading two working groups. At this point in the  process, the amount of change-related activity the Bureau is considering  may exceed the resources the Bureau has allocated to plan, coordinate,  and carry it out. As a result, the planned transformation efforts could be  difficult to sustain.
We also noted in May 2012 that the Bureau is taking steps consistent with  many of the leading practices for long-term project planning, such as  issuing a series of planning memorandums in 2009 and 2010 that laid out  a high-level framework documenting goals, assumptions, and timing of  the remaining four phases of the 2020 Census. The Bureau also  created a high-level schedule of program management activities for the  remaining phases, documented key elements such as the Bureau’s  decennial mission, vision, and guiding principles, and produced a  business plan to support budget requests, which is being updated  annually. These are important steps forward that, if continued, could help  the Bureau’s planning stay on track for 2020. However, the Bureau’s  schedule does not include milestones or deadlines for key decisions  needed to support transition between the planning phases which could  result in later downstream planning activity not being based on evidence  from such sources as early research and testing.
Also in the area of long-term planning, to help incorporate lessons  learned, in 2011 the Bureau created a recommendation follow-up  process, built around a database it created containing various oversight  and internal Bureau recommendations. Not having a formal process for  recommendation follow-up for prior censuses made it difficult to ensure  that recommendations were considered by those at the Bureau best able  to act on them. The Bureau has provided these recommendations to  relevant Bureau research and testing teams and is beginning to take  steps to hold the teams accountable for reporting on how they are  considering them.
The Bureau is also taking steps consistent with leading practices for  strategic workforce planning, including identifying current and future  critical occupations with a pilot assessment of the competencies of  selected information technology 2020 Census positions. However, the  Bureau has done little yet either to identify the goals that should guide  workforce planning or to determine how to monitor, report, and evaluate  its progress toward achieving them, which could help the Bureau identify  and avoid possible barriers to implementing its workforce plans.
While the Bureau’s efforts are largely consistent with leading practices in  each of these areas, in our May 2012 report, we noted that additional  steps could be taken going forward to build on these early planning  efforts. Specifically, we recommended that the Director take a number of  actions to make 2020 Census planning more consistent with key  practices in the three management areas, such as examining planned  transformation activity to ensure its alignment with resources, developing  a more-detailed long-term schedule to smooth transition to later planning  phases, and setting workforce planning goals and monitor them to ensure  their attainment. The Department of Commerce concurred with our  findings and recommendations and has taken steps to address our  recommendations. For example, to support to its organizational  transformation activities the Bureau has added additional staff and  contractor support.
section_title: Concluding Observations
paragraphs: The Bureau is moving forward along a number of fronts to secure a more  cost-effective 2020 enumeration. Many components are already in place,  a number of assessment and planning activities are underway, and the  Bureau has been responsive to our past recommendations. Further, the  Bureau is generally applying key leading practices in the areas of  organizational transformation, long-term project planning, and strategic  workforce planning, although additional efforts are needed in the months  ahead. In short, the Bureau continues to make noteworthy progress in  reexamining both the fundamental design of the census as well as its own  management and culture.
While this news is encouraging, it is still early in the decade, and the  Bureau’s experience in planning earlier enumerations has shown how  ambitious preparations at the start of the census life-cycle can derail as  Census Day draws near. 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, it will be important for  Congress to hold the Bureau accountable for results, weighing-in on key  design decisions, providing the Bureau with resources the Congress  believes are appropriate to support that design, and ensuring that the  progress made to date stays on track. The Bureau’s initial preparations  for 2020 are making progress. Nonetheless, continuing congressional  oversight remains vital.
Chairman Carper, Ranking Member Brown, and Members of the  Subcommittee, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be  pleased to respond to any questions that you may have at this time.
section_title: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgements
paragraphs: If you have any questions on matters discussed in this statement, please  contact Robert Goldenkoff at (202) 512-2757 or by e-mail at  goldenkoffr@gao.gov. Other key contributors to this testimony include  Richard Hung, Ty Mitchell, Lisa Pearson, Mark Ryan, and Timothy  Wexler.
section_title: Related GAO Products
paragraphs: 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.  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.  21st Century Challenges: Reexamining the Base of the Federal  Government. GAO-05-325SP. Washington, D.C.: February 1, 2005.
Information Technology Investment Management: A Framework for  Assessing and Improving Process Maturity. GAO-04-394G. Washington,  D.C.: March 1, 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.: February 13, 2004.  2010 Census: Cost and Design Issues Need to Be Addressed Soon.  GAO-04-37. Washington, D.C.: January 15, 2004.
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