Planning the 2010 Census Second Interim Report (2003) / Chapter Skim
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2. Real Reengineering: Technical Infrastructure and Business Process
2. Real Reengineering: Technical Infrastructure and Business Process
Pages 23-38
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From page 23... ...
Impressive as well is the extent of computing anc! information networks that underlie the census systems to track personnel hires anct fires, monitor caseload, capture anct synthesize data, generate maps, and so on which must function not only at Census Bureau headquarters but also at regional offices, data collection centers, anct over 500 temporary local census offices.
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From page 24... ...
missing aciciresses; · Data Cap tore System (DCS 2000J: check-in anct scanning of completec! questionnaires; · Telephone Questionnaire Assistance/Coverage Edit Follow- Up (TQA/CEFUJ: support for respondents requiring assistance or aciclitional forms, as well as follow-up data collection from respondents by phone; · Internet Data Collection/Internet Questionnaire Assistance (ID C/ IQAJ: support anct management of limitect-scale Internet response to short-form questionnaires; · Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (ACE)
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From page 25... ...
establishing an enterprise architecture for the 2010 census, first by 2An example of the "high risk" nature of system operations: In late 1999, the Commerce Department's Office of Inspector General reviewed one of the constituent information systems of the 2000 census the PAMS/ADAMS system to track personnel hiring and payroll. Based on interactions with the Census Bureau, the report concluded that the Census Bureau "did not follow a well-managed software development system" in creating PAMS/ADAMS, but the bureau was confident that the system would be able to support decennial census operations given "extensive operational use" of the system since the 1998 dress rehearsal.
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From page 26... ...
· Construct the physical technical infrastructure using the reengineered logical architecture as a guide. The finished logical architecture/business process moclel is then usec!
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From page 27... ...
. Baseline: Logical Architecture of the 2000 Census The Census Bureau contracted with the Centech Group, an IT company based in Arlington, Virginia, to develop its baseline for infrastructure reengineering: namely, a business process moclel of the operational flows underlying the 2000 census.
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From page 28... ...
First, it cloes not attempt to assign completion times to any function or process. Hence, the moclel describes forward information flow through a business process but is not meant in any way as a timeline or schedule of the process.
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From page 29... ...
Reengineering Exercise Between August anct October 2002, Census Bureau staff performed a logical architecture reengineering exercise, again contracting with the Centech Group, which issucct the final results in a report (Centech Group, Inc., 2002c)
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From page 30... ...
As part of the exercise, Census Bureau staff clevelopect a list of sixteen architectural principles to guicle the logical architecture as the three selected changes were incorporated into a to-be design. As the contractor report notes, individual architectural principles may, by clesign, oppose each other "optimization for one principle may cause noncompliance with another principle." The hope is to finct alternative architectural flows that best balance the opposing clemancis of the entire set of principles (Centech Group, Inc., 2002c)
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From page 31... ...
Completion of the first phase alone development of a logical architecture moclel for the 2000 decennial census is a major accomplishment and deserves recognition for its potential utility. As the contractor's report notes, the Census Bureau has traditionally put "little emphasis on assessment of the entire 'enct-to-enct' decennial census process" (Centech Group, Inc., 2002a:vii)
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From page 32... ...
And though the effort of using a completely realized logical architecture to build the physical technical architecture will ultimately reduce operational risk in census conduct, the architecturebuilding process is not without risks of its own. In terms of general recommendations as the Census Bureau continues with its architecture work, the panel's suggestions are generally consistent with an earlier National Research Council panel on which members of the current panel also served.
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From page 33... ...
that such a position be created as soon as possible en cl that a well-qualifiecl candidate be hirect to fill the job. Recommendation TI-2: The Census Bureau should create and staff the position of system architect for the decennial census, conducting a search of persons with expertise in modeling business processes and conducting reengineering activities.
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From page 34... ...
But an important role is also outreach, in a sense helping to build commitment to architectural principles by informing other parts of the Census Bureau of modeling results anct demonstrating their usefulness. CHALLENGES IN TRANSITION FROM LOGICAL TO PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE A business process or logical architecture moclel will clefine the activities anct the informational interfaces/clepenclencies required to carry out the 2010 census.
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From page 35... ...
TIGER databases to a moclern database environment. One cited goal of this single objective of the Enhancements Program is implementation of pilot projects to improve the Census Bureau's Capability Maturity Moclel (CMM)
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From page 36... ...
It is important that the Census Bureau concluct prototype testing of this nature, to get some sense of current capabilities and form factors; however, it is likely to be a mistake to ciraw final conclusions on qualities like clesirect MCD weight, size, and memory capacity based on early test results. MCDs are, essentially, relatively simple computing crevices with reliable storage and test input facilities; acictitional features that may be clesirec!
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From page 37... ...
Large organizations that develop rigid internal clivisions over time can benefit from and find refreshing the basic exercise of stepping back and specifying the most basic flows of information, without regard to which division performs a given function or to which directorate it may report. For the Census Bureau, this logical architecture modeling represents a "new, and very clifferent, perspective on decennial census operations," one "basecl on logical groupings of functions Lancl highlighting]
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