Planned Innovations in the United States 2020 Census

Abstract

In the United States of America, the Census Bureau (USCB) is implementing four major areas of innovation in preparation for the 2020 Census. The first area focuses on the maintenance of our frame of addresses using satellite imagery. The USCB will compare old and new satellite images to identify geographic areas that are stable and will not require in-person field staff updating. The second uses the Internet, including Identified (ID) and Non-Identified (Non-ID) processing, and cloud services to make it easier for people to self-respond. This Non-ID methodology has significant impacts on the way USCB staff execute our advertising campaign and promises to increase our self-response rates. The third uses existing administrative data to reduce cost. USCB will use existing data in many components of the 2020 Census including identification of vacant, non-existent, and occupied living quarters for non-respondents. The last area of innovation leverages technology to make field staff more efficient. Much of the field tasks will be automated including recruiting people, hiring staff, training staff, payroll and expense reporting, case assignments, case management, route optimization, quality control, and communications. The 2020 Census promises to be innovative, and improve over past censuses that relied heavily on paper questionnaires.