2010 Census: Census Bureau Generally Follows Selected Leading	 
Acquisition Planning Practices, but Continued Management	 
Attention Is Needed to Help Ensure Success (18-MAY-06,		 
GAO-06-277).							 
                                                                 
For the 2010 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) is making	 
the most extensive use of contractors in its history to supply a 
number of mission-critical functions and technologies. Because of
the critical role that contractors will play in the 2010 Census, 
GAO reviewed the Bureau's acquisition planning process. 	 
Specifically GAO's objectives were to (1) determine the status of
the Bureau's major decennial contracts, and (2) evaluate the	 
extent to which the Bureau is using selected leading practices to
manage its acquisition planning for these contracts.		 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-06-277 					        
    ACCNO:   A54203						        
  TITLE:     2010 Census: Census Bureau Generally Follows Selected    
Leading Acquisition Planning Practices, but Continued Management 
Attention Is Needed to Help Ensure Success			 
     DATE:   05/18/2006 
  SUBJECT:   Best practices					 
	     Best practices methodology 			 
	     Census						 
	     Contract administration				 
	     Procurement evaluation				 
	     Procurement planning				 
	     Procurement practices				 
	     Strategic planning 				 
	     Government contracts				 
	     2000 Decennial Census				 
	     2010 Decennial Census				 
	     Decennial Response Integration System		 
	     Field Data Collection Automation Program		 

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GAO-06-277

     

     * Results in Brief
     * Background
     * The Bureau Has Made Progress on Major Decennial Contracts, b
          * The Bureau Has Awarded Three Contracts and Is Working to Ach
          * Tight Time Frames May Affect the Bureau's Ability to Properl
     * The Bureau Is Generally Following Five Leading Acquisition P
          * The Bureau Has Developed a Strategic Plan Linked to Program
          * To Date, the Bureau Has Monitored the Acquisition Planning P
          * The Bureau Has So Far Involved Relevant Stakeholders in the
          * The Bureau Has Implemented Actions to Address Changes in Bus
          * The Bureau Has Taken Steps to Plan for Its Decennial Acquisi
     * Conclusion
     * Recommendations for Executive Action
     * Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
     * Appendix I: Scope and Methodology
     * Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Commerce
     * Appendix III: MAF/TIGER Accuracy Improvement Project (MTAIP)
     * Appendix IV: Decennial Response Integration System (DRIS) Co
     * Appendix V: Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA) Contract
     * Appendix VI: Data Access and Dissemination System (DADS II)
     * Appendix VII: Summaries of Major Decennial Contracts Planned
     * Appendix VIII: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
          * GAO Contact
          * Acknowledgments
     * Related GAO Products
          * Selected GAO Reports on the 2010 Decennial Census
               * Selected GAO Reports on Acquisition Planning
               * Order by Mail or Phone

Report to Congressional Committees

United States Government Accountability Office

GAO

May 2006

2010 CENSUS

Census Bureau Generally Follows Selected Leading Acquisition Planning
Practices, but Continued Management Attention Is Needed to Help Ensure
Success

GAO-06-277

Contents

Letter 1

Results in Brief 4
Background 7
The Bureau Has Made Progress on Major Decennial Contracts, but Adherence
to Contract Milestones Will Be Essential 8
The Bureau Is Generally Following Five Leading Acquisition Planning
Practices, but Continued Management Focus Will Be Critical 16
Conclusion 26
Recommendations for Executive Action 27
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 28
Appendix I Scope and Methodology 31
Appendix II Comments from the Department of Commerce 33
Appendix III MAF/TIGER Accuracy Improvement Project (MTAIP) Contract
Details 39
Appendix IV Decennial Response Integration System (DRIS) Contract Details
40
Appendix V Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA) Contract Details 41
Appendix VI Data Access and Dissemination System (DADS II) Contract
Details 42
Appendix VII Summaries of Major Decennial Contracts Planned for Award in
2007 or Later 43
Appendix VIII GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 44
Related GAO Products 45

Table

Table 1: Status of Major Decennial Contracts 9

Figures

Figure 1: The Bureau's Testing and Development Schedule and Contract
Activities Overlap 13
Figure 2: Decennial Contracts and Other Census Systems Will Need to Work
in Concert with One Another 14
Figure 3: Selected Leading Practices for Acquisition Planning 16

Abbreviations

CMMISM Capability Maturity Model(R) Integration DADS II Data Access and
Dissemination System II DRIS Decennial Response Integration System FDCA
Field Data Collection Automation GPO Government Printing Office GSA
General Services Administration MAF/TIGER Master Address
File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing MTAIP
MAF/TIGER Accuracy Improvement Project RFP request for proposal

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
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separately.

United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548

May 18, 2006

The Honorable Susan M. Collins Chairman The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman
Ranking Minority Member Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs United States Senate

The Honorable Tom Davis Chairman The Honorable Henry A. Waxman Ranking
Minority Member Committee on Government Reform House of Representatives

The Honorable Michael Turner Chairman The Honorable Wm. Lacy Clay Ranking
Minority Member Subcommittee on Federalism and the Census Committee on
Government Reform House of Representatives

For the 2010 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) is making the most
extensive use of contractors in its history, turning to the private sector
to supply a number of different mission-critical functions and
technologies. These functions range from data capture and processing
services to the manufacture and support of hundreds of thousands of
handheld mobile computing devices that temporary census workers will use
to locate addresses and to collect and transmit data electronically. The
Bureau estimates that of the $11.3 billion it will cost to conduct the
2010 Census, around $1.9 billion (nearly 17 percent) will be spent on its
seven major decennial contracts. More importantly, the success of these
contracts will largely determine whether the Bureau meets its goals to
improve the accuracy, reduce the risk, and contain the cost of the 2010
Census.

Contractors can help address the challenges the Bureau faces as it plans
for and implements the 2010 Census. Because of various social and
demographic trends, the nation's population has become increasingly
difficult to count. Due to this and other challenges, the Bureau
recognized that it is not equipped to perform the needed tasks using its
own staff and capabilities and has been looking outside the agency to
obtain the expertise and services essential for a complete and accurate
enumeration.

That said, increased reliance on contractors also entails certain
management challenges. The Bureau's experiences in the 2000 Census-the
first time the Bureau relied on contractors to perform a large number of
major decennial activities-highlight the importance of a rigorous
acquisition planning process1 to help mitigate those challenges and better
ensure that contractors meet the Bureau's needs in an effective,
economical, and timely manner. For example, the Department of Commerce
(Commerce) Office of Inspector General raised questions regarding the
Bureau's ability to acquire critical systems and services. Although these
projects were ultimately successful in supporting the 2000 Census, the
Inspector General concluded they were more costly than necessary.2

In March 2006, we testified on the Bureau's acquisition and management of
two critical information technology systems that contractors are
developing for the 2010 Census. The two contracts-Field Data Collection
Automation and the Decennial Response Integration System-are two of the
seven major decennial acquisitions for the 2010 Census. We noted that,
while the project offices responsible for these two contracts have carried
out initial acquisition management activities, neither office has the full
set of capabilities they need to effectively manage the acquisitions.
Until these basic management activities are implemented, both projects
face increased risks of cost overruns, schedule delays, and performance
shortfalls.3

1The Federal Acquisition Regulation defines acquisition planning as "the
process by which the efforts of all personnel responsible for an
acquisition are coordinated and integrated through a comprehensive plan
for fulfilling the agency need in a timely manner and at a reasonable
cost. It includes developing the overall strategy for managing the
acquisition." Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) S: 2.101(b)(2).

2Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, Improving our
Measure of America: What Census 2000 Can Teach Us in Planning for 2010,
OIG-14431 (Washington, D.C.: Spring 2002).

3GAO, Census Bureau: Important Activities for Improving Management of Key
2010 Decennial Acquisitions Remain to be Done, GAO-06-444T (Washington,
D.C.: Mar. 1, 2006).

Because of the mission-critical role contractors will play in the 2010
Census, we reviewed the Bureau's acquisition planning process under the
Comptroller General's statutory authority. As agreed with your office, we
are providing this report to you because it contains information that will
be useful for your oversight responsibilities for the decennial census.
Specifically, our objectives were to (1) determine the status of the
Bureau's major contracts related to the 2010 Census, and (2) evaluate the
extent to which the Bureau is using selected leading practices to manage
its acquisition planning process for the decennial census.

To address the first objective, we reviewed documents related to the seven
major 2010 Census acquisitions (as defined by Bureau officials)-including
acquisition plans, strategic planning documents, requests for proposals,
finalized contracts, and budget requests to the Office of Management and
Budget-and interviewed knowledgeable Bureau officials responsible for
contracting and acquisition planning.

To evaluate the Bureau's use of leading acquisition planning practices, we
first reviewed (1) our own guidance, reports, and testimonies on the
acquisition function; and (2) external studies to identify leading
acquisition planning practices used in the federal government. From these,
we adapted five leading acquisition planning practices most relevant to
the Bureau's acquisition planning efforts for its major decennial
contracts. We then evaluated the extent to which the Bureau employed these
leading practices for its seven major decennial contracts by interviewing
officials, reviewing Bureau documents, and observing acquisition
activities related to these contracts. Appendix I provides additional
information on our scope and methodology. We conducted our work from July
2005 through March 2006 in accordance with generally accepted government
auditing standards.

This report is the latest in a series of evaluations that we have issued
on the Bureau's preparations for the 2010 Census. Most recently, this
March, we testified on the progress of the Bureau's planning and testing
activities and information technology systems.4 See the Related GAO
Products section for a list of selected reports we have issued to date.

4 GAO-06-444T and GAO, 2010 Census: Planning and Testing Activities Are
Making Progress, GAO-06-465T (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 1, 2006).

                                Results in Brief

The Bureau has awarded three of its seven major decennial contracts
consistent with their award dates and is preparing for the award of the
remaining four. The three contracts that have been awarded represent about
$1.3 billion of the $1.9 billion the Bureau expects to eventually award.

           o  In June 2002, the Bureau awarded the Harris Corporation a $209
           million contract to modernize its Master Address
           File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing
           (MAF/TIGER) system, which provides the address list, maps, and
           other geographic support services for the Census and other Bureau
           surveys. Known as the MAF/TIGER Accuracy Improvement Project
           (MTAIP), the contract is currently meeting milestones for project
           deliverables and remains on budget, according to Bureau documents
           we reviewed.

           o  In October 2005, the Bureau awarded the Lockheed Martin
           Corporation a contract for more than $500 million to develop and
           operate the Decennial Response Integration System (DRIS), to
           capture and integrate paper, Internet, and telephone responses to
           the census, in addition to providing assistance to census
           respondents. Progress on DRIS is running 60 to 90 days behind
           schedule because of a bid protest that was later withdrawn. Bureau
           officials are working to revise the contract schedule and believe
           this schedule change will not be a significant setback.

           o  In March 2006, the Bureau awarded the Harris Corporation a
           contract for an estimated $600 million to provide automated
           resources for supporting field data collection, including the
           provision of handheld mobile computing devices used by the
           enumerators. The Bureau had originally intended to award the
           contract, known as Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA), in
           late 2005, but pushed it back so that it could first conduct a
           short field test to evaluate prototypes developed by multiple
           offerors of the mobile computing devices that enumerators are to
           use in their fieldwork. The Bureau then successfully awarded the
           contract consistent with its revised award timeline.

           Of the four contracts that have not yet been awarded, the Bureau
           has pushed back the target award dates of two contracts due to
           changes in its acquisition approach.

           o  The Bureau changed, twice, the award date and scope of a
           contract related to its Data Access and Dissemination System (DADS
           II). Most recently, the Bureau delayed the release of the request
           for proposal (RFP) by 6 months and expanded the contract scope to
           require contractors to acquire an integrated system. Consequently,
           the Bureau is delaying the contract award by 2 months to October
           2006.

           o  The Bureau originally planned to award the 2010 Communications
           contract to advertise and promote the census in October 2006, but
           has decided to award the contract at a later date because it still
           researching various approaches to the acquisition. Bureau
           officials noted that they plan to award this contract during the
           2007 calendar year.

           Bureau officials have stated that the 2010 Communications contract
           is currently on track to award the contract in 2007. Moreover, the
           Bureau expects to award the two remaining contracts-one for
           printing census forms and the other for leasing temporary field
           census offices-on time.

           However, any change in acquisition milestones-coupled with the
           Bureau's tight systems development schedule, and the
           interdependence of decennial systems-could affect its ability to
           develop fully functional and sufficiently mature systems that can
           be demonstrated in concert with other operations during the dress
           rehearsal for the 2010 Census scheduled for 2008. For example,
           aspects of the DADS II contract will not be assessed during the
           dress rehearsal as the Bureau originally intended because of the
           delayed solicitation release and contract award. The 2008 Dress
           Rehearsal will be the Bureau's last opportunity to assess the
           various procedures and systems for the decennial census under as
           near-census-like conditions as possible. During the 1998 Dress
           Rehearsal for the 2000 Census, a number of new features were not
           test-ready, and the Bureau said it could not fully evaluate with
           any degree of assurance how they would affect the census.

           In preparing for these seven contracts to date, the Bureau has
           generally adhered to the leading acquisition planning practices we
           evaluated.

                        1. Planning strategically: The Bureau has documented
                        how major decennial contract operations and its
                        integration will achieve 2010 Census objectives.
                        2. Monitoring the acquisition planning process: To
                        date, the Bureau monitored the acquisition planning
                        process for individual contracts.
                        3. Involving stakeholders: The Bureau has so far
                        involved relevant stakeholders in the acquisition
                        planning process.
                        4. Addressing business process changes: The Bureau
                        has addressed changes to its business processes
                        resulting from its increased reliance on contractors.
                        5. Planning for the acquisition workforce: The Bureau
                        is taking steps to strategically plan for its
                        acquisition workforce, which includes census staff
                        who award or manage contracts.

           However, the Bureau has not completed necessary actions regarding
           certain activities within two of the practices. First, while the
           Bureau has taken steps to plan for the integration of its
           decennial systems, it does not have a schedule for documenting
           what and when information needs to be provided to development
           teams that will integrate all decennial systems. Successful
           systems integration will facilitate the Bureau's ability to
           achieve its goals for a successful enumeration during the 2010
           Census.

           Second, the Bureau does not assess or monitor, at an agencywide
           level, gaps in the skills needed by its decennial acquisition
           workforce. It also has not incorporated the needs of the decennial
           acquisition function in its agency human capital plan or in a plan
           specific to the acquisition workforce. Taking these actions could
           help the Bureau anticipate and address challenges that may be
           faced by the acquisition workforce stemming from demands brought
           on by the Bureau's greater reliance on contractors for conducting
           the 2010 Census.

           We are making three recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce
           in this report. First, we recommend that the Secretary of Commerce
           ensure that the key systems to be developed or provided by
           contractors for the 2010 Census are fully functional and ready to
           be assessed in concert with other operations as part of the 2008
           Dress Rehearsal. To help ensure the successful integration of
           decennial systems, we are also recommending that the Secretary
           direct the Bureau to establish a schedule for the definition of
           interfaces between all decennial systems so that these data can be
           provided on a timely basis to development teams. Third, the
           Secretary should direct the Bureau to devote further attention to
           planning strategically for its decennial acquisition workforce by,
           among other actions, identifying and assessing acquisition
           workforce skill gaps, and involving appropriate
           acquisition-related stakeholders in identifying the needs of the
           acquisition workforce in its workforce plans.

           The Secretary of Commerce provided written comments on a draft of
           this report (see app. II). While Commerce neither agreed nor
           disagreed with our recommendations it described actions the Bureau
           is taking that, to some extent, address our third recommendation
           for the Bureau to devote further attention to decennial
           acquisition workforce planning. We believe that these are
           important first steps. We also believe that fully incorporating
           the key strategic workforce planning principles we describe in our
           report would help the Bureau to better align its acquisition
           workforce with the demands brought on by the Bureau's greater
           reliance on contractors to help carry out the 2010 Census.

           The Constitution vests Congress with the authority to conduct the
           decennial census in such manner as it determines, and Congress in
           turn has granted the Secretary of Commerce (and by delegation, the
           Director of the Census Bureau) considerable latitude in carrying
           out the census. In counting the nation's population, it is
           important for the Bureau to stay on schedule, as the Secretary of
           Commerce is statutorily required to (1) conduct the census on
           April 1 of the decennial year, (2) report the state population
           counts to the President for purposes of congressional
           apportionment by December 31 of the decennial year, and (3) send
           population tabulations to the states for purposes of redistricting
           no later than 1 year after the April 1 census date. To meet these
           mandated reporting requirements, census activities need to take
           place at specific times and in the proper sequence. As Census Day
           approaches, the tolerance for any operational delays or changes
           becomes increasingly small.

           Throughout its history, the Bureau has mostly relied on its
           in-house capabilities to conduct the decennial census.5 However,
           the 2000 Census marked the first time the Bureau relied on
           contractors to perform a large number of major decennial
           activities. For example, the Bureau awarded a data capture
           contract-to scan more than 100 million questionnaires, capture and
           read that data, and send the information to headquarters for
           additional processing-to TRW, and awarded the advertising firm of
           Young & Rubicam a contract to develop an outreach and promotion
           campaign.

           Although the contractors generally performed well,6 Commerce's
           Office of Inspector General identified several shortcomings. For
           example, incomplete quality assurance procedures for the Bureau's
           printing contracts led to one contractor printing and mailing out
           approximately 20 million misaddressed letters informing households
           that the decennial questionnaires would soon follow, resulting in
           unnecessary negative publicity just weeks before the Bureau was to
           send out census forms.

           Further, the Inspector General found that the Bureau did not have
           sufficient program management staff with the training and
           experience to efficiently acquire systems and manage complex,
           high-dollar contracts. As a result, the Bureau incurred higher
           costs than necessary. For example, costs for the data capture
           system increased from a projected $49 million at the time of
           contract award in 1997 to $238 million by the end of the decennial
           because of continually changing and expanding requirements late in
           the decade. The Commerce Office of Inspector General recommended
           that for the 2010 Census, the Bureau would need a sufficient
           number of highly skilled and properly trained personnel dedicated
           to the planning and management of decennial contracts.

           The Bureau has awarded three of its seven major decennial
           contracts on time, and is working to accomplish contract
           milestones for these three and preparing for the award of the
           remaining four contracts. However, the tight systems development
           and testing schedule coupled with the interdependence of decennial
           systems may affect the Bureau's ability to meet its ambitious
           schedule for completing the testing necessary for a successful
           census.

           As shown in table 1, the Bureau has awarded three of its seven
           major decennial contracts on time, and is working to accomplish
           contract milestones for these three and preparing for the award of
           the remaining four contracts. However, the Bureau has pushed back
           the award dates of two of the remaining four contracts because of
           changes in its acquisition approach for the contracts (additional
           detail about each of the seven contracts is presented in apps. III
           through VII). Going forward, it will be important for the Bureau
           to stay on schedule so that key systems can be demonstrated in
           concert with one another as part of the 2008 Dress Rehearsal.

                                   Background

5In conducting the census, the Bureau hires enormous numbers of temporary
employees to conduct field data collection as well as other tasks. For
example, during the 2000 Census, the Bureau hired around 500,000
enumerators.

  The Bureau Has Made Progress on Major Decennial Contracts, but Adherence to
                     Contract Milestones Will Be Essential

The Bureau Has Awarded Three Contracts and Is Working to Achieve Contract
Milestones

6For example, the data capture system exceeded its performance goals for
accuracy, and the advertising campaign blanketed the country with more
than 250 advertisements in 17 languages, which helped boost the response
rate higher than the Bureau had expected.

Table 1: Status of Major Decennial Contracts

Source: GAO analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

The MTAIP contract, for about $209 million, was awarded in June 2002 to
the Harris Corporation (Harris). Harris is to correct in the Bureau's
geographic information system, called the Topologically Integrated
Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) database, the location of
every street, boundary, and other map feature so that coordinates are
aligned with their true geographic locations. Our review of Bureau
documents indicates that Harris is meeting expected schedule and cost
targets for the MTAIP contract. According to Bureau documents, Harris
completed work for 75 counties in fiscal year 2003, as was planned for the
first year of production for the contract. Bureau documents also show that
in fiscal years 2004 and 2005, Harris was both on schedule and within
budget, completing 602 counties in 2004 and 623 counties in 2005.
Similarly, for the first 2 months of fiscal year 2006, Harris was also on
schedule and within budget. Bureau plans call for Harris to finish its
work for all remaining counties by the end of fiscal year 2008.

The DRIS contract was awarded in October 2005 to Lockheed Martin and is
expected to cost more than $500 million. Bureau officials told us that
work on the DRIS contract is slightly behind schedule. The implementation
of the DRIS contract was pushed back by 60 to 90 days, according to Bureau
officials, because of a bid protest that was ultimately withdrawn. Bureau
officials told us they did not expect this change to substantially affect
the contractor's ability to complete the work as planned. DRIS staff are
working to adjust the schedule for the first few months of the contract to
accommodate the change.

The Bureau awarded the FDCA contract to Harris for an estimated cost of
$600 million. Although the award date was consistent with its schedule,
the Bureau had revised the original award date for FDCA from late 2005 to
March 2006 to enable multiple offerors to develop and test prototypes of
the mobile computing device that will be used by enumerators during their
fieldwork. The Bureau held a 3-day field demonstration in January 2006 to
evaluate the prototype, and considered the results as part of the process
for selecting a contractor. Bureau officials with responsibility for FDCA
believe this strategy had multiple advantages. For example, they believe
the development of a prototype prior to contract award increases the
likelihood of having a working device in time for the first operation of
the 2008 Dress Rehearsal.

Of the four remaining contracts, the Bureau has also revised the original
award dates for two but expects to award the contracts for printing and
field office leasing according to its original schedule. The two contracts
for which the Bureau has pushed back the award dates are the DADS II
contract to replace the Bureau's data tabulation and dissemination system
and the 2010 Communications contract to advertise and promote the 2010
Census.

The Bureau has twice changed the DADS II award date and contract scope. It
originally planned to establish a new Web-based system that would serve as
a single point for public access to all census data and integrate many
dissemination functions currently spread across multiple Bureau
organizations. The Bureau had planned to award that contract in the fourth
quarter of fiscal year 2005. However, due to fiscal and resource
constraints, the Bureau decided against investing in this integrated
approach and opted instead to rely on contractors to enhance the DADS
system used for the 2000 Census. The Bureau planned to release a RFP for
DADS II on February 27, 2006, and to award the contract in August 2006.

On March 8, 2006, however, the Bureau announced its plan to delay the
release of the RFP by 6 months to gain a clearer sense of budget
priorities before issuing a delegation of procurement authority. The
Bureau also changed its plan to acquire a contractor to maintain and
enhance the system used for the 2000 Census. In its draft RFP for the DADS
II contract, the Bureau noted that because the system used in 2000 was
becoming obsolete, it planned to revert back to its original plan to
acquire an integrated system. The Bureau currently estimates it will delay
the award of the DADS II contract from August to October of 2006.

The Bureau had also originally planned to award the 2010 Communications
contract in October 2006-earlier in the decade than for Census 2000, when
the Bureau awarded its advertising contract in October 1997-but has
decided to do so at a later date because it is still researching various
approaches to the acquisition. Bureau officials told us they plan to award
the contract during the 2007 calendar year. They also told us that the
contract is currently on track.

Tight Time Frames May Affect the Bureau's Ability to Properly Test Key Systems

The tight schedule for systems development and testing schedule coupled
with the interdependence of decennial systems may affect the Bureau's
ability to meet its ambitious time frame for completing the testing
necessary for a successful census. For example, as shown in figure 1, the
FDCA contract-the scope of which will provide handheld mobile computing
devices to be used by enumerators-was awarded in March 2006 to Harris.
This occurred in the midst of the 2006 Census Test7 during which the
Bureau is assessing the use of these devices. Although the Bureau noted
that it provided competitors for the FDCA contract information about the
design, requirements, and specifications for the 2006 test in its RFP,
Harris will have only a short time to incorporate performance information
from the 2006 test into the development of new mobile computing devices,
as these devices need to be ready by April 2007 for the address canvassing
operation of the 2008 Dress Rehearsal. The dress rehearsal will be the
Bureau's last opportunity to assess the various procedures and systems for
the decennial census under as near-census-like conditions as possible.

7The Bureau's testing and development program for the 2010 Census included
field tests in Georgia and New York during its 2004 Census Test, as well
as ongoing field tests in Texas and South Dakota for the 2006 Census Test.
In 2008, the Bureau plans to hold a dress rehearsal in California and
North Carolina, which is to be a demonstration of the operations and
systems planned for 2010.

Figure 1: The Bureau's Testing and Development Schedule and Contract
Activities Overlap

Moreover, several of the Bureau's key decennial systems-both those
developed by contractors and those developed by the Bureau itself-will
need to exchange data (or interface) with each other to carry out
decennial operations, as illustrated in figure 2. The decennial system is
comprised of many systems that must work in concert and rely on one
another. Because of these interdependencies, these various systems need to
stay on schedule during the development phase. For example, data collected
by the mobile computing devices supplied under the FDCA contract need to
be processed by the data capture system provided by the DRIS contractor to
be consistent with data from other sources, such as the Internet or
telephone.

Figure 2: Decennial Contracts and Other Census Systems Will Need to Work
in Concert with One Another

More broadly, the principal census-taking activities and systems need to
be sufficiently mature so they can be demonstrated in concert with one
another as part of the 2008 Dress Rehearsal. Based on the Bureau's past
experience, a true dress rehearsal-which requires the Bureau to specify
all design features by 2007-is critical for meeting the Bureau's goals and
objectives. We previously reported that during the 1998 Dress Rehearsal
for the 2000 Census, a number of new features were not test-ready; as a
result, the Bureau said it could not fully evaluate with any degree of
assurance how they would affect the census.8 These late design changes and
hastily developed untested systems resulted in additional costs to that
census.

For the 2010 Census, changes to the acquisition milestones of both the
FDCA and DADS II contracts affected the testing programs for both of those
systems. For example, as the Commerce Office of Inspector General
concluded in a recent report,9 delaying FDCA time frames reduced the
amount of time after contract award to complete the remainder of the work
needed to prepare for, and begin, the dress rehearsal. Moreover, pushing
back the award date resulted in a missed opportunity for the FDCA
contractor to observe the real-time use of the mobile computing devices
for address canvassing in 2005 as part of the 2006 test. According to the
Inspector General, observations of the 2006 Test could have provided the
contractor with a level of understanding of key census-taking operations
that would have been difficult to obtain in any other fashion.

Additionally, the DADS II system will not be developed in time to be fully
tested during the 2008 Dress Rehearsal, partly due to the delay in its
acquisition milestones. Moreover, because the Bureau moved the release
date for the RFP from February to August 2006 and plans to award the
contract in October 2006, the time frame the Bureau now has to prepare for
awarding the contract has been compressed from 6 to 2 months. In 2 months,
the Bureau has to (consistent with planning activities leading up to
contract award by governments acquiring systems) prepare for and evaluate
responses, conduct supporting negotiations, and recommend a contract
award, among other activities involved in selecting a contractor.

8GAO, 2010 Census: Basic Design Has Potential, but Remaining Challenges
Need Prompt Resolution, GAO-05-9 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 12, 2005).

9U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, FDCA Program
for 2010 Census Is Progressing, but Key Management and Acquisition
Activities Need to be Completed, OSE-17368 (Washington, D.C.: August
2005).

 The Bureau Is Generally Following Five Leading Acquisition Planning Practices,
                but Continued Management Focus Will Be Critical

In planning its major acquisitions for the 2010 Census, the Bureau has
generally adhered to the five leading practices for acquisition planning
we selected (see fig. 3).

Figure 3: Selected Leading Practices for Acquisition Planning

However, additional efforts are needed within two of these practices in
the Bureau's activities leading up to contract award. As part of its
strategic planning process (practice 1), the Bureau needs to complete its
plan for integrating its major decennial systems. Further, in planning for
its decennial acquisition workforce (practice 5), the Bureau needs to
fully implement key principles of strategic workforce planning. In the
years ahead, it will be important for Bureau management to follow these
leading practices to successfully plan for and award its remaining
contracts for the development of mission-critical systems to support
activities for the 2010 Census.

The Bureau Has Developed a Strategic Plan Linked to Program Goals but Needs to
Fully Address Systems Integration

Leading results-oriented organizations that rely on acquisitions to
accomplish their missions use strategic plans to align the activities of
individual contractors with the organizations' overall objectives. Linking
an organization's acquisition activities to specific program goals is
particularly important for the census, where various systems have to work
seamlessly and in the right sequence. For example, the National Academy of
Sciences reported that during the 2000 Census, weaknesses in the Bureau's
strategic planning for major systems developed by contractors led to a
patchwork of information systems that were costly, complex, and high risk.

For the 2010 Census, the Bureau has developed a strategic plan linking
some activities to be performed by contractors to the Bureau's program
goals. To enhance its planning process and improve systems efficiency, the
Bureau is developing a 2010 Census Architecture, which is a blueprint of
its business process, data, applications and interfaces, and the
technologies needed to efficiently conduct the census. This architecture
will also serve as the basis on which the Bureau and its contractors will
build systems necessary to complete the 2010 Census. The National Academy
of Sciences has endorsed the Bureau's development of the 2010 Census
Architecture and noted that its full use has the potential to greatly
reduce risk in system development and enable the various information
subsystems of the census to communicate effectively with each other.

Within this architecture, the Bureau has several documents that detail its
plans to produce a census that achieves its program goals for the
reengineered 2010 Census. Although these documents do not specifically
identify contracts, they do link activities that will be performed by
contractors to achieving specific program goals. For example, the 2010
Baseline Design specifies that automation and use of mobile computing
devices-to be provided by the FDCA contractor-will significantly reduce
the amount of paper used in the field. It will also cut down on the large
number of staff and the office space required to handle that paper,
thereby also reducing the cost of the census. Likewise, in a budget
document submitted to the Office of Management and Budget, the Bureau also
links contracted activities to decreased workload and costs.

The Bureau is planning for the integration of DRIS, FDCA, DADS II, and its
other information technology systems. Successful systems integration
involves almost every aspect of the project and reaches from the very
beginning through the maintenance phase of a system's life cycle. To
facilitate this planning, the Bureau will use the 2010 Census Architecture
to coordinate technical planning for systems integration. As part of this
architecture, the Bureau has developed the Physical Architecture, which
specifically identifies which systems need to exchange data or interface
with one another. Contractors will be required to follow this document as
they develop interoperable systems. Bureau officials stated that they plan
to finalize the Physical Architecture by the spring of 2006.

As the Bureau continues its testing and development for the 2010 Census,
it will be important for it to fully develop and carry out its plan to
integrate its decennial systems. The Bureau has taken the responsibility
of managing systems integration itself. Therefore, it needs to provide
each contractor with the information needed to enable the systems they
develop to work in concert with other decennial systems. Bureau officials
indicate that they intend to define these information needs after all
major information technology contracts have been awarded and will
implement a joint effort with the Bureau's contractors and in-house
developers to integrate its systems development schedules at that time.

However, the Bureau has not yet established a schedule for defining this
information that needs to be shared with contractors or other census teams
for their development of decennial systems. To successfully provide this
information on schedule so as to ensure the successful integration of
decennial systems, the Bureau-in its role as the systems integrator-should
establish a schedule to define interfaces between all decennial systems so
that the interface information can be provided on a timely basis to
development teams. Consistent with the leading acquisition planning
practice of strategically planning for contracts, the successful
integration of decennial systems is a key factor in the Bureau's ability
to meet its internal milestones. This integration will decrease the chance
for unanticipated cost increases as well as technical and programmatic
risks.

To Date, the Bureau Has Monitored the Acquisition Planning Process for
Individual Contracts

Agencies relying on contractors should monitor planning activities leading
up to contract award so that appropriate corrective actions can be taken
if the process begins to deviate from plan. These planning activities
involve (1) planning for and performing the actions necessary to develop
and issue a solicitation package, (2) preparing for the evaluation of
responses, (3) conducting an evaluation, (4) conducting supporting
negotiations, and (5) making recommendations for award of the contract.
Without appropriate monitoring of acquisition planning, agencies run the
risk of delaying contract award and other contract milestones, which can
result in acquisitions becoming more costly than necessary.

The Bureau has monitored activities leading up to contract award for the
three major contracts it has awarded and is monitoring its acquisition
planning for the remaining four major contracts. For two of its awarded
contracts-MTAIP and DRIS-the Bureau has established acquisition project
schedules and processes, while also tracking whether its acquisition
activities are performed on time through the maintenance, review, and
inspection of detailed contract files. The Bureau was relatively close to
meeting the dates specified in its contracts' revised planning schedules
for the issuance of the MTAIP and DRIS RFPs and subsequent award of those
contracts. The Bureau has also been monitoring the planning process for
the award of its remaining major decennial contracts.

Continued monitoring of contractor performance after contract award will
also factor heavily into the success of major decennial contracts. For
example, in our March 2006 testimony10 focusing on the DRIS and FDCA
contracts, we noted that several plans needed for post-award contract
monitoring for the two contracts, such as detailed performance measures
for tracking the contractor or the Bureau's own internal progress, were
not yet developed. While the Bureau does not have a policy requiring such
plans to be completed prior to contract award, not having them in place
could limit the Bureau's ability to determine when performance deviates
from expectations and could increase the risk of delays in identifying
problems with the project and taking appropriate corrective actions.

The Bureau Has So Far Involved Relevant Stakeholders in the Acquisition Planning
Process

In our previous work,11 we found that engaging relevant stakeholders12 and
empowering them to coordinate acquisition actions help agencies to better
define their needs and to identify, select, and manage providers of goods
and services. For the inputs of stakeholders to be useful during the
acquisition planning phase, careful selection of relevant stakeholders is
necessary. A plan for stakeholder involvement should include a list of
relevant stakeholders, the roles and responsibilities of the relevant
stakeholders, and a schedule for stakeholder involvement. The Bureau, in
its evaluations of the 2000 Census, reported that it could have had
greater involvement from internal division stakeholders in its planning
process. Likewise, the Commerce Office of Inspector General found that
inadequate stakeholder participation-namely, the lack of coordination
between the General Services Administration (GSA), the contractors GSA
managed, and Bureau staff-resulted in many wasted hours of government
employee time and increased contractor cost on the contract involving the
opening of over 500 local offices during the 2000 Census.

10 GAO-06-444T .

11GAO, Framework for Assessing the Acquisition Function at Federal
Agencies, GAO-05-218G (Washington, D.C.: September 2005).

12Relevant stakeholders include representatives from program offices,
contract officials, financial managers, human capital officials, and
information technology officials.

For some decennial contracts, the Bureau developed plans that include a
list of relevant stakeholders, their roles and responsibilities, and
schedules of when the involvement of each is needed. For example, the
project management plan for the FDCA contract includes a strategy to
communicate between internal and external stakeholders and the different
management and technical teams that will provide oversight of the FDCA
contract. It also details specific roles and responsibilities for
individuals within project teams that will support the management and
technical activities for the FDCA contract. In another example, the
charter for the DRIS acquisition review team details the composition of
the team, membership responsibilities, and guidelines in reviewing the
acquisition of the system.

After contract award, Bureau attention to stakeholder involvement will
remain important. For example, each participant's role in
post-contract-award activities should be clearly defined and shared among
stakeholders for each contract. We noted in our testimony evaluating the
Bureau's progress on the DRIS contract13 that in at least one case, the
Bureau has not yet obtained written stakeholder buy-in on a project plan
for managing the contract.

13 GAO-06-444T .

The Bureau Has Implemented Actions to Address Changes in Business Processes
Resulting from Its Increasing Reliance on Contractors

An agency's increased reliance on contractors may result in changes to its
business processes that can adversely affect staff and the performance of
the contractor. For example, a 2003 IBM study14 found that during the 2000
Census, some Bureau employees felt threatened by the presence of
contractors because they believed that their roles and responsibilities
had been taken away from them. Additionally, the Bureau did not have
established processes to transfer knowledge and information from Bureau
personnel to contractors. This lack of effective communication created
tensions and engendered a less-than-constructive working relationship
between contractors and Bureau staff, according to IBM. Moreover, the
study found that because Bureau employees did not know how to properly
define contractual requirements and deliverables, there were cost
overruns.

For the 2010 Census, the Bureau has planned several needed changes to its
business processes. For example, to improve how it defines contractual
requirements and deliverables, project teams led by the Bureau's Decennial
Management Division are to oversee the development and management of
requirements for particular operations and associated contracts. The teams
will also work in conjunction with contractors to facilitate the
understanding and execution of system requirements.

14IBM Business Consulting Services, Management Evaluation of Census 2000
(Washington, D.C.: Oct. 8, 2003).

To improve communication between Bureau and contractor staff, Bureau
officials are relying on the 2010 Census Architecture to provide a formal
means of sharing processes and requirements with contractors. Other Bureau
officials have observed that the sharing of 2010 Census Architecture work
products with contractors that has occurred to date has already resulted
in improvements: the Bureau received better proposals from potential
contractors, better conveyed its systems needs to contractors during the
RFP phase, and had a means to provide answers to contractors' inquiries
about systems specifications.

The Bureau Has Taken Steps to Plan for Its Decennial Acquisition Workforce, but
Needs to Fully Incorporate Key Strategic Workforce Planning Principles

Agencies that rely heavily on acquisitions to accomplish their missions
stand to benefit greatly by planning strategically for their acquisition
workforces. In a previous report, we noted that this planning should
include developing a strategic workforce plan that defines the
capabilities that will be needed by the acquisition workforce in the
future, as well as strategies that can help this workforce meet these
capabilities.15 During the 2000 Census, the Bureau experienced some
difficulty managing its contracts because of a lack of skilled acquisition
and contract-management personnel.

For example, the Commerce Office of Inspector General reported that,
because the Bureau's Decennial Systems and Contracts Management Office
lacked staff with the experience needed to manage large-scale contracts,
the Bureau did not prepare a written contract surveillance and management
plan when it awarded a contract to a firm to help respondents complete
their census questionnaires over the telephone. (Surveillance and
management plans describe the responsibilities, roles, and interactions
among the program office, contracting officer, and contractor.) Although
the Department of Commerce, in commenting on a draft of this report, noted
that the Bureau carried out these surveillance and management activities
without a written plan, a written plan would have provided greater
assurance that the contracts were (1) executed successfully, (2) not
changed without authorization, and (3) that the contractor performs as
expected. For the 2010 Census, the Bureau continues to face acquisition
workforce challenges.

15 GAO-05-218G .

Senior officials told us that the agency lacks and has trouble recruiting
qualified acquisition personnel with the necessary experience and skills
to award and oversee complex contracts. Additionally, the Bureau has not
strengthened the monitoring of its mission-critical workforce more closely
and at a higher level, as we noted in a June 2005 report.16 (According to
a Commerce planning document, the Bureau considers its decennial
acquisition workforce to be mission-critical.) For example, the Bureau did
not identify its decennial acquisition workforce in its overall human
capital management plan, nor did it solicit the input of the Acquisition
Division in developing that plan. An April 2005 Office of Management and
Budget policy letter to federal departments and agencies underscores the
importance of this type of planning by requiring high-level acquisition
officials to provide substantial input to their agency's human capital
strategic plans regarding the acquisition workforce.17

We have previously identified five key principles that strategic workforce
planning should address: (1) involving top management, employees, and
other stakeholders in developing and implementing the workforce plan; (2)
determining critical skills and competencies needed to achieve
programmatic results; (3) developing strategies tailored to address gaps
in critical skills and competencies; (4) building the capability needed to
address administrative, educational, and other requirements important to
support workforce strategies; and (5) monitoring and evaluating the
agency's progress toward its human capital goals.18

16GAO, Human Capital: Selected Agencies Have Opportunities to Enhance
Existing Succession Planning and Management Efforts, GAO-05-585
(Washington, D.C.: June 30, 2005).

17Office of Management and Budget, Developing and Managing the Acquisition
Workforce, Policy Letter 05-01 (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 15, 2005).

The Bureau has incorporated some key strategic workforce planning
principles in planning for its acquisition workforce,19 but primarily at a
division level. Divisions within the Bureau that have responsibility for
acquisition-related staff have independently implemented certain strategic
workforce planning actions, including working to determine the critical
skills and competencies needed to award and manage decennial contracts and
developing strategies to have adequate skilled staff in place in time for
the decennial. For example, as part of its workforce planning, the
Decennial Systems and Contracts Management Office retained a contractor to
conduct a study of what grades, competencies, and skills were needed to
effectively manage the DRIS contract. Bureau divisions are also turning to
formal training to enhance the capabilities of their staff. For instance,
the Decennial Management Division is requiring some of its employees to
take project management or contracting officer's technical representative
training. Likewise, the Decennial Systems and Contracts Management Office
has trained some of its staff in program management as well as in the
development of enterprise architecture.

At an agencywide level, the Bureau has taken some initial steps to
identify the skills and competencies needed to manage contracts, but more
could be done. For example, in the Bureau's strategic human capital plan,
the Bureau acknowledges that project and contract management are among the
new skills required for its staff for the reengineering of the 2010
Census. To build the capacity to help staff obtain these and other skills,
the Bureau has established a Project Management Master's Certificate
Program and an Information Technology Master's Certificate Program, and
has developed competency guides as well. According to Commerce, these
certificate programs, initiated in 1998, are a way to develop the
management and leadership skills needed in mid-to-senior level career
employees to successfully oversee Bureau operations well beyond the 2010
Census.

18GAO, Human Capital: Key Principles for Effective Strategic Workforce
Planning, GAO-04-39 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 11, 2003).

19The Bureau defines its acquisition workforce broadly, including in its
definition both Acquisition Division employees, such as contracting
officers and contract specialists, and employees in other divisions that
play a significant role in acquisitions, such as contracting officer
technical representatives, program managers, and individuals responsible
for defining contract requirements.

However, the Bureau still lacks an agencywide approach to strategically
planning for its acquisition workforce. First, as we previously noted,20
the Bureau does not assess or monitor gaps in numbers by mission-critical
occupation at an agencywide level. Instead, it focuses on "building
infrastructure" by recruiting and developing competencies. The Bureau
delegates decisions to line managers to fill vacancies, and believes there
is no need to assess workers by mission-critical categories. In not
performing this agencywide assessment, the Bureau cannot monitor its
mission-critical occupations related to acquisitions more closely and at a
higher level within the agency. As a result, it may not know overall if it
has the acquisition-related competencies it needs in place agencywide to
be prepared for conducting the 2010 Census as efficiently or effectively
as possible.

Second, the Bureau has not identified the needs of its decennial
acquisition workforce in its agencywide human capital management, nor has
it developed a separate plan specific to the acquisition workforce that
identifies these needs. Further, according to Bureau officials in the
Acquisition Division, their input was not sought in the development of the
Bureau's existing human capital management plan.

This lack of high-level attention to the decennial acquisition workforce
in the Bureau's strategic human capital planning process is notable,
especially in light of the Bureau's challenges of recruiting qualified
acquisition personnel. It will be important for the Bureau to address the
needs of its acquisition workforce in its agencywide human capital
management plan or a separate plan and to involve the Acquisition Division
in this planning effort. Taking these actions would help facilitate a
better alignment between the acquisition workforce and the demands brought
on by the Bureau's greater reliance on contractors for the successful
conduct of the 2010 Census.

                                   Conclusion

As the 2010 Census approaches, the Bureau faces the challenge of managing
its extensive network of contractors to perform mission-critical
operations. The Bureau is well aware that early planning, testing, and
development will help facilitate a successful decennial census.
Acquisition planning plays a key role in that process and provides a road
map the Bureau can use to manage its contracts to increase the likelihood
of timely deliverables at reasonable cost.

20 GAO-05-585 .

Overall, progress on the seven major decennial contracts is moving
forward. Still, as Census Day 2010 draws closer, it will become
increasingly difficult for the Bureau to make up any time lost to delays.
Already, aspects of the Bureau's DADS II system will not be assessed in
the dress rehearsal because of a change in the contract's acquisition
milestones, while changes to FDCA time frames have reduced the amount of
time the Bureau will have to complete the work needed to prepare for, and
begin the dress rehearsal.

Further, to help the contractors stay on track, Bureau officials will need
to document a schedule for when information needs to be exchanged between
contractors and census teams working to develop these interoperable
systems for the 2010 Census. The Bureau also needs to pay attention to
strategically-and at an agencywide level-managing the human capital
planning for its acquisition workforce.

                      Recommendations for Executive Action

To help the Bureau improve the management of the 2010 Census, we recommend
that the Secretary of Commerce direct the Bureau to take the following
three actions:

           o  Ensure that the key systems to be developed or provided by
           contractors for the 2010 Census are fully functional and ready to
           be assessed in concert with other operations as part of the 2008
           Dress Rehearsal.

           o  Establish a schedule for the definition of interfaces between
           all decennial systems so that these data can be provided on a
           timely basis to development teams.

           o  Devote further attention to planning strategically for its
           decennial acquisition workforce by (1) assessing, at a higher
           level within the agency, whether it has the acquisition-related
           skills needed to conduct the 2010 Census by developing strategies
           to identify and address gaps, monitoring and evaluating progress
           toward closing gaps, and adjusting strategies accordingly; and (2)
           identifying the needs of the acquisition workforce in its human
           capital management plan or another acquisition-specific workforce
           plan and involving appropriate stakeholders in this planning
           effort.

           In written comments on a draft of this report, Commerce neither
           agreed nor disagreed with our recommendations. Commerce commented
           on aspects of our principal findings and our third recommendation
           regarding its planning for the decennial acquisition workforce.
           Its comments included some technical corrections and suggestions
           where additional context was needed, and we revised the report to
           reflect these comments as appropriate. Commerce's comments are
           reprinted in their entirety in appendix II.

           Commerce did comment on our first principal finding concerning the
           Bureau's readiness for the 2008 Dress Rehearsal. This finding led
           to our first recommendation for the Bureau to ensure that its key
           systems are fully functional and ready to be assessed in concert
           with other operations during the dress rehearsal. Commerce noted
           that the Bureau provided competitors for the FDCA contract
           information about the design, requirements, and specifications for
           the 2006 Test in its RFP (we have now added this information to
           our report). Commerce also noted that the Bureau will be sharing
           preliminary results from the 2006 Test with Harris-the firm that
           was awarded the contract-as soon as the results are available.
           However, the Bureau did not specify when this might be. Moreover,
           as we discussed in the report, the mobile computing devices will
           need to be ready by April 2007, when the Bureau is to use them for
           the address canvassing operation for the 2008 Dress Rehearsal.
           Consequently, the contractor will have around a year, perhaps
           less, to study the results of the 2006 Test; assess what worked
           and what improvements, if any, are needed; and develop and test
           any solutions in time to be included in the devices that will be
           used in 2007.

           For our second principal finding that the Bureau does not have a
           schedule for defining what and when information needs to be
           provided to development teams to better integrate the systems they
           develop, Commerce did not comment on our recommendation for the
           Bureau to develop such a schedule, but stated that it was not
           clear how the Bureau could have had such a schedule prior to
           awarding the contracts. Commerce further noted that the Bureau
           plans to implement a joint effort with its contractors and
           in-house developers to integrate its development schedules. Our
           report acknowledged that the Bureau intended to define these
           information needs after it awards the major information technology
           contracts. We believe that establishing a schedule defining the
           interfaces between all decennial systems as soon as practical is
           critical because it allows the Bureau to better manage the process
           and hold various components accountable to a schedule and thus
           help ensure the successful integration of decennial systems.

           In its comments related to our third finding and recommendation
           for the Bureau to assess the decennial acquisition workforce at a
           higher level within the agency, Commerce described the actions the
           Bureau is taking consistent with this recommendation. For example,
           Commerce reported that high-level Bureau officials will be
           regularly briefed on the status of each decennial acquisition.
           Commerce also detailed the steps the Bureau is taking with
           stakeholders to plan for the needs of the Bureau's
           acquisition-related workforce as part of its human capital
           management plan. Commerce noted that this plan includes input from
           managers who represent each Bureau directorate.

           These are important first steps toward addressing our third
           recommendation. While the Bureau has begun working closely with
           stakeholders to plan for the decennial acquisition workforce as
           part of its human capital management plan, it has not yet begun
           incorporating that information into the plan. As we stated in our
           report, documenting its decennial acquisition workforce needs in
           the Bureau's strategic human capital plan would help facilitate a
           better alignment between the acquisition workforce and the demands
           brought on by the Bureau's greater reliance on contractors for the
           successful conduct of the 2010 Census.

           In addition, Commerce commented on information in our report that
           was obtained from our March 2006 testimony and a 2002 Commerce
           Office of Inspector General study. Specifically, our report notes
           that in March 2006, we testified that neither the FDCA nor DRIS
           contract project offices had the full set of capabilities they
           need to effectively manage those acquisitions.21 Commerce
           commented that full project management offices were not needed to
           carry out the Bureau's initial acquisitions and will be staffed in
           time to effectively manage the contracts. As discussed in the
           testimony and noted in our report, a full set of
           capabilities-including the institution of requirements management
           or risk management processes-are significant factors in successful
           systems acquisitions and development programs. Having these
           capabilities in place will also improve the likelihood of meeting
           cost and schedule estimates as well as performance requirements.
           Regarding the Inspector General's study, we noted that the
           Inspector General found that the cost of the data capture system
           for the 2000 Census increased almost fivefold by the end of that
           decennial cycle because of continually changing and expanding
           requirements late in the decade, and the Inspector General
           recommended that for 2010, the Bureau would need a sufficient
           number of trained personnel dedicated to the planning and
           management of decennial contracts. In its comments, Commerce noted
           that the issue of changing and expanding requirements must be
           addressed by program management, and that the Bureau, in its
           preparations for the 2010 Census, is following practices for
           rigorous requirements management.

           We are sending copies of this report to the Secretary of Commerce,
           Commerce Office of Inspector General, the Director of the U.S.
           Census Bureau and other interested congressional committees. We
           will make copies available to others upon request. This report
           will also be available at no charge on GAO's Web site at
           http://www.gao.gov .

           If you or your staff have any questions concerning this report,
           please contact me on (202) 512-6806 or by email at
           [email protected] . Contact points for our Offices of Congressional
           Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this
           report. GAO staff who made major contributions to this report are
           listed in appendix VIII.

           Brenda S. Farrell Acting Director Strategic Issues

           Our objectives for this report were to (1) determine the status of
           the U.S. Census Bureau's (Bureau) major contracts related to the
           2010 Census, and (2) evaluate the extent to which the Bureau is
           using selected leading practices to manage its acquisition
           planning process for the decennial census. To address our first
           objective, we reviewed documents related to major 2010 Census
           acquisitions, including acquisition plans, requests for proposals
           (RFP), finalized contracts, and budget requests to the Office of
           Management and Budget. We also reviewed the Bureau's strategic
           planning documents, such as its 2010 Census Management Plan, 2010
           Census Architecture, and 2010 Baseline Design for Reengineering
           the Decennial Census.

           Additionally, we interviewed Bureau officials about the status of
           and future plans for the major contracts for the 2010 Census (as
           defined by Bureau officials). Those officials include those from
           the Decennial Management Division, which is responsible for
           implementing the decennial census; the Decennial Systems and
           Contracts Management Office, which manages selected system
           contracts supporting the decennial census; and the Acquisition
           Division, which carries out acquisition activities, including
           setting up and signing contracts, for other Bureau offices.
           Further, we interviewed an official from the Decennial Information
           Technology and Geographic Systems division.

           For the second objective, we identified selected leading
           acquisition planning practices used in the federal government from
           a variety of sources. Sources included our own guidance, reports,
           and testimonies on the acquisition function1 as well as external
           works, such as the Capability Maturity Model(R) Integration
           (CMMISM)2 model. The CMMISM model was developed by Carnegie Mellon
           University's Software Engineering Institute, recognized for its
           expertise in software and system processes. The CMMISM model
           includes criteria to evaluate, improve, and manage system and
           software development processes. We adapted these CMMISM criteria
           to evaluate system and software development issues during
           acquisition planning for the four information technology contracts
           (Field Data Collection Automation, Decennial Response Integration
           System, MAF/TIGER Accuracy Improvement Project, and Data Access
           and Dissemination System II). From these, we selected five leading
           practices based on the acquisition-related challenges the Bureau
           faced during Census 2000. The five leading practices we selected
           focused on management oversight of the Bureau's acquisition
           planning process, not on the Bureau's acquisition strategy for
           specific contracts or compliance with the Federal Acquisition
           Regulation.

           To evaluate the extent to which the Bureau followed these leading
           practices, we reviewed relevant Bureau documents, such as
           acquisition plans, strategic planning documents, RFPs, finalized
           contracts, and budget requests to the Office of Management and
           Budget; observed some acquisition-related events at the Bureau,
           including Bureau presentations for potential bidders and contract
           monitoring meetings; and interviewed knowledgeable Bureau
           officials about acquisition planning. We focused on the Bureau's
           activities to date in planning for its major decennial contracts.
           Because the Bureau is still planning most of these acquisitions,
           our review presents findings about current status and plans as
           reported by Bureau officials or as supported by Bureau documents.
           We conducted our work from July 2005 through March 2006 in
           accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

           Brenda S. Farrell (202) 512-6806 or [email protected]

           In addition to the contact named above, Robert Goldenkoff,
           Assistant Director; Betty Clark; Shirley Hwang; Anne
           McDonough-Hughes; and Brendan St. Amant made key contributions to
           the report. Tim DiNapoli, Richard Donaldson, Richard Hung, John
           Krump, Donna Miller, and Amy Rosewarne provided significant
           technical support.

           2010 Census: Planning and Testing Activities Are Making Progress.
           GAO-06-465T . Washington, D.C.: March 1, 2006.

           Census Bureau: Important Activities for Improving Management of
           Key 2010 Decennial Acquisitions Remain to be Done. GAO-06-444T .
           Washington D.C.: March 1, 2006.

           Data Quality: Improvements to Count Correction Efforts Could
           Produce More Accurate Census Data. GAO-05-463 . Washington, D.C.:
           June 20, 2005.

           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: Basic Design Has Potential, but Remaining Challenges
           Need Prompt Resolution. GAO-05-9 . Washington, D.C.: January 12,
           2005.

           Data Quality: Census Bureau Needs to Accelerate Efforts to Develop
           and Implement Data Quality Review Standards. GAO-05-86 .
           Washington, D.C.: November 17, 2004.

           American Community Survey: Key Unresolved Issues. GAO-05-82 .
           Washington, D.C.: October 8, 2004.

           2010 Census: Cost and Design Issues Need to Be Addressed Soon.
           GAO-04-37 . Washington, D.C.: January 15, 2004.

           Decennial Census: Lessons Learned for Locating and Counting
           Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers. GAO-03-605 . Washington, D.C.:
           July 3, 2003.

           Decennial Census: Methods for Collecting and Reporting Hispanic
           Subgroup Data Need Refinement. GAO-03-228 . Washington, D.C.:
           January 17, 2003.

           Decennial Census: Methods for Collecting and Reporting Data on the
           Homeless and Others without Conventional Housing Need Refinement.
           GAO-03-227 . Washington, D.C.: January 17, 2003.

           Framework for Assessing the Acquisition Function at Federal
           Agencies. GAO-05-218G . Washington, D.C.: September 2005.

           Human Capital: Selected Agencies Have Opportunities to Enhance
           Existing Succession Planning and Management Efforts. GAO-05-585 .
           Washington, D.C.: June 30, 2005.

           Homeland Security: Successes and Challenges in DHS's Efforts to
           Create an Effective Acquisition Organization. GAO-05-179 .
           Washington, D.C.: March 29, 2005.

           Transportation Security Administration: High-Level Attention
           Needed to Strengthen Acquisition Function. GAO-04-544 .
           Washington, D.C.: May 28, 2004.

           Federal Procurement: Spending and Workforce Trends. GAO-03-443 .
           Washington, D.C.: April 30, 2003.

           Acquisition Workforce: Status of Agency Efforts to Address Future
           Needs. GAO-03-55 . Washington, D.C.: December 18, 2002.

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                       Agency Comments and Our Evaluation

21 GAO-06-444T .

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

1See for example, GAO, Framework for Assessing the Acquisition Function at
Federal Agencies, GAO-05-218G (Washington, D.C.: September 2005).

2CMM(R), Capability Maturity Model, and Capability Maturity Modeling are
registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. CMMISM is a service
mark of Carnegie Mellon University.

Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Commerce Appendix II:
Comments from the Department of Commerce

Appendix III: ImproveDetails Appendix III: MAF/TIGER Accuracy Improvement
Project (MTAIP) Contract Details

A Sy Appendix IV: Decennial Response Integration System (DRIS) Contract
Details

AAu Appendix V: Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA) Contract Details

Appendix VI: DSy Appendix VI: Data Access and Dissemination System (DADS
II) Contract Details

AC Appendix VII: Summaries of Major Decennial Contracts Planned for Award
in 2007 or Later

Appendix VIII: A Appendix VIII: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments

                                  GAO Contact

                                Acknowledgments

Related GA Related GAO Products

Selected GAO Reports on the 2010 Decennial Census

Selected GAO Reports on Acquisition Planning

(450419)

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Highlights of GAO-06-277 , a report to congressional committees

May 2006

2010 CENSUS

Census Bureau Generally Follows Selected Leading Acquisition Planning
Practices, but Continued Management Attention Is Needed to Help Ensure
Success

For the 2010 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) is making the most
extensive use of contractors in its history to supply a number of
mission-critical functions and technologies. Because of the critical role
that contractors will play in the 2010 Census, GAO reviewed the Bureau's
acquisition planning process. Specifically GAO's objectives were to (1)
determine the status of the Bureau's major decennial contracts, and (2)
evaluate the extent to which the Bureau is using selected leading
practices to manage its acquisition planning for these contracts.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is recommending to the Secretary of Commerce that the Bureau (1)
ensure that key systems to be provided by contractors are fully functional
and ready to be assessed as part of the dress rehearsal, (2) establish a
schedule for the definition of interfaces between all decennial systems so
that this information can be provided on a timely basis to development
teams, and (3) devote further attention to planning strategically for its
decennial acquisition workforce by, among other actions, identifying and
assessing acquisition workforce skill gaps. In commenting on a draft of
this report, the Secretary neither agreed nor disagreed with the
recommendations but described steps the Bureau is taking that address the
last recommendation.

The Bureau has awarded three of its seven major decennial contracts
consistent with their award date, but has changed the award dates of two
of the remaining contracts (data dissemination and communications) because
of changes in its acquisition approach. Bureau officials noted that the
communications contract is currently on track. Still, changes in contract
milestones-coupled with the Bureau's tight systems development schedule
and interdependence of those systems-could affect the Bureau's ability to
develop fully functional and sufficiently mature systems to be tested in
concert with other operations during the 2008 Dress Rehearsal for the 2010
Census. Already, aspects of the Bureau's data dissemination system will
not be assessed during the dress rehearsal because of changes to
solicitation and contract award dates.

Status of Major Contracts Related to the 2010 Census

Source: GAO analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

To date, the Bureau has generally followed five selected leading practices
for federal acquisition planning that we evaluated. For example, the
Bureau has monitored the acquisition planning process for individual
contracts, involved relevant stakeholders in the planning phase, and
implemented certain actions to its business processes resulting from its
reliance on contractors. However, as part of its strategic planning, the
Bureau does not have a schedule for documenting what and when information
needs to be provided to development teams to integrate all decennial
systems. Additionally, in planning for its decennial acquisition
workforce-which includes staff who award or manage contracts-the Bureau
has not fully implemented key strategic workforce planning principles. For
example, while the Bureau took steps at the division level to plan for its
acquisition workforce, it does not assess or monitor at a high level gaps
in the skills needed by its decennial acquisition workforce. The Bureau
also has not identified the needs of the decennial acquisition workforce
in its human capital management plan and did not involve all relevant
acquisition workforce stakeholders in the development of this plan.
*** End of document. ***