Census Bureau to go high-tech in 2010

Fewer errors
Accuracy is much greater when people fill out forms for themselves, Waite said. When they're talking with an interviewer, they can get nervous and forget to give information, or make other mistakes.

Common mistakes are divorced parents both reporting their children, or people who own more than one home getting counted as residents in both places. The new computer system can catch those duplications, Waite said.

Mistakes in headcount can happen in several ways, Waite said — not only by omitting to count people, or counting them more than once, but also by attributing people to the wrong location.

Surprisingly, about half of census-recording errors come from mapping mistakes, Waite said. In the past, the bureau printed paper maps identifying each U.S. household. But census-takers often had trouble deciphering the maps. This time, they'll use computer maps that pinpoint each address to an accuracy of 3 meters. That's particularly important in high-density areas in cities and also helps with rural locations, where remote farm houses can be hard to track down.

Field trials so far have resulted in a 91 percent accuracy rate, which Waite said is better than expected. "At first, we wanted to develop the technology ourselves, but we realized that we didn't have the expertise," Waite said.

In 2002, Harris, a defense contractor and communications company, won the $600 million contract for the Field Data Collection Automation program, as well as a contract for mapping.

Other companies, such as Dell Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp., Oracle Corp., will provide software and equipment to collect and store data.

Melbourne, Fla.-based Harris had total sales in fiscal 2006 of $3.5 billion.

Harris' first project was to create a master address file for the U.S., along with detailed maps that show every location.

Between now and 2010, the Census Bureau will keep testing the electronic system, with "dress rehearsals" in March in San Joaquin County, Calif., and Fayetteville, N.C.

MORE FROM WIRELESS

Wireless Section Front

Dell smartphone to debut in China, Brazil Review: New BlackBerry Storm improves on original Newsweek: How texting can help you save money Review: Motorola's Droid a serious smartphone T-Mobile says phone service outage resolved Scared of flying? Press the fear iButton AT&T to Verizon: There’s a lawsuit for that iPhone comes to China without key feature NBA introduces live games on mobile devices Verizon's iPhone challenger goes on sale Nov. 6 Wireless Section Front   Add Wireless headlines to your news reader: