This week, I received my 2010 US Census form. It’s the second mailing I’ve received. The first was a helpful notification that the actual form would be coming soon.
With the intent to help the process along by completing the form right then, I did a quick search of the Census.gov site to find the online version of the form, only to discover this shocking revelation:
Can I fill the form out online?
No, not this time. We are experimenting with Internet response options for the future
In 2000, with the Internets still relatively new, lack of an online option was tolerable. In 2010 however, this lapse makes for a perfect example of how our Federal government is missing opportunities to create knowledge worker jobs, cut costs and leverage technology to improve efficiency.
The rationale for an online census survey are obvious: save on printing and postage, cut down on paper, save fuel for distribution, provide nearly-instantaneous results, make it easier for citizens to complete, and increase the completion rate. So obvious in fact, that since 2006 Canada, Australia and New Zealand have all had an online option.
For a single-person household, the form consists of 10 questions. Yes, 10 checkbox and fill-in-the-block questions. There are 7 additional questions for each person in the household.
It should be evident to every reader of Big Government that the technology to enable a significant number of the 305 million US citizens to complete the form online is not only readily available, but could be developed and deployed at incredibly reasonable costs.
While building such a form now would be pointless in terms of e-enabling the 2010 Census, I suspect that a few good web developers over the course of a weekend could show just how easy and fast an eCensus would be. Such a demonstration might prove news worthy enough to shed light on one of the ways the US government is failing to leverage available technology to decrease spending and create more jobs for knowledge workers.
The fact that we are so far behind the curve with the census is especially worrisome as we face an increasingly federalized healthcare system, and an IRS in need of drastic reform. If the solution is to apply some Kiwi ingenuity to the problem, then so be it.
If you’re curious just how much the 2010 US Census is costing you, here’s the napkin math:
- $14 billion – the estimated life cycle cost of the 2010 US Census
- 305 million – the current population of the US
- $45.90 – the cost of the 2010 Census for each American
- $101.45 – Your portion of the cost if you are one of the 138 MM who actually files taxes
Consider this an open invitation to join up with a few good web developers to put the form online one Saturday – just to prove a point.
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