President Obama has nominated John H. Thompson to head the U.S. Census Bureau. Thompson, a resident of the District of Columbia, is president and CEO of NORC, a private sector research organization. The Census Project, which represents census stakeholders, applauded Obama’s decision on Friday and encouraged the Senate to quickly confirm Thompson “so that the bureau can continue serious planning for Census 2020.” “John Thompson has solid senior-level Census Bureau experience,” the group said. “He will make an excellent Census Bureau director.” The position of census director has been vacant since August 2012. Read more here.
Introducing: Project Open Data
Technology evolves rapidly, and it can be challenging for policy and its implementation to evolve at the same pace. President Obama launched the Administration’s new Open Data Policy and Executive Order aimed at ensuring that data released by the government will be as accessible and useful as possible. To make sure this tech-focused policy can keep up with the speed of innovation, the Office of Science and Technology Policy created Project Open Data. Project Open Data is an online, public repository intended to foster collaboration and promote the continual improvement of the Open Data Policy. The project is published on GitHub, an open source platform that allows communities of developers to collaboratively share and enhance code. The resources and plug-and-play tools in Project Open Data can help accelerate the adoption of open data practices. Read more here.
Making Mobile Government a Reality
At the May 2012 launch of the President’s Digital Government Strategy, only 35% of U.S. adults owned a smartphone. On the one year anniversary of the Strategy, that number was nearly 50%. To keep pace with the rapid adoption of mobile devices and the breakneck speed of mobile innovation, President Obama charged agencies with releasing flagship mobile services and making data available in developer-friendly formats to accelerate the production of services and mobile applications. Twelve months after the President’s call for change, there has been great progress bringing mobile government to citizens’ fingertips. On the one-year anniversary of the Digital Government Strategy, agencies announced the release of hundreds of new mobile services, datasets, and APIs, providing unprecedented public access to government data. Read more here.
Sonja Steptoe Appointed as Census Bureau’s Associate Director for Communications
Sonja Steptoe, previously the deputy director of public affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce, has been appointed by the Obama Administration as the Census Bureau’s associate director for communications. Her term began May 27. “Sonja brings an impressive background to her new post,” said Census Bureau acting director Thomas Mesenbourg. “She is an award-winning author, journalist and public affairs leader in both the public and private sectors.” Read more here.
Lessons from North of the Border: Why a Voluntary ACS Could Wipe Some States Off the Map
What if we took a survey and no one answered? Or, to be more realistic, only two-thirds of us did? That’s what happened north of the border recently. The Canadian Parliament decided to do away with the nation’s mandatory long-form survey and replace it with the voluntary National Household Survey (NHS). Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported the results of the first NHS, conducted in 2011, this week. Instead of the 94 percent response rate achieved with the 2006 mandatory long form, only 68 percent of households returned the voluntary survey. Instead of having reliable data for 97 percent of the country, only three-quarters of Canada’s localities will have a picture of their socio-economic conditions. Read more here.
Digital Government Strategy Brings Big Changes to the Commerce Department
The Department of Commerce has made some big strides in providing better information to citizens in a timely manner through multiple formats and increasing access to services on mobile devices. The goal is to make citizen services and information available anywhere, anytime, and on any device, and in formats that facilitate additional use by public developers and entrepreneurs. To help keep pace with the rapid deployment of mobile technology, Commerce is working hard to ensure their services and data are available to citizens in whatever format and on whatever device they prefer. Read more here.
NOAA’s Latest Mobile App Provides Free Nautical Charts for Recreational Boating
As recreational boaters gear up for a summer of fun on coastal waters and the Great Lakes, Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is testing MyNOAACharts, a new mobile application that allows users to download NOAA nautical charts and editions of the U.S. Coast Pilot. The app, which is only designed for Android tablets for the testing period, was released on May 20th. MyNOAACharts, which can be used on land and on the water, has GPS built-in capabilities that allow users find their positions on a NOAA nautical chart. They can zoom in any specific location with a touch of the finger, or zoom out for the big picture to plan their day of sailing. Read more here.
Big Data, Analytics and a New Era of Efficiency in Government
Data analytics offer us unprecedented opportunities to improve the effectiveness of government. The key to these opportunities is “big data,” the ever-growing volume of information created and captured by the modern digitized world, from cloud-based systems to sensors to smart devices. New data-mining techniques allow governments to break through legacy-system barriers that seemed insurmountable only a couple of years ago. We soon will see new solutions in every area of government, from how public agencies hire, train and promote, to how performance is measured, how problems are identified and preempted, and how personalized services are delivered. Read more here.
Notable Data Publications
Each week, the APDU Data Update identifies recent statistical data releases of interest to APDU members.
Did you work on a great report that you want your colleagues to know about? Just email us and we’ll include it here.
Calls for Comment
APDU maintains a list of open calls for comment on proposed federal data collections. We periodically alert APDU members to newly added calls for comment. Over the last several weeks, calls for comment on the following proposed data collections were published in the Federal Register (with due date):
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Report on Occupational Employment and Wages (July 19, 2013)
