Nextgov Breaking Story: Census Bureau to Scrap Handheld Computers for 2010

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Nextgov.com, an online publication of Government Executive Media Group, reports that Commerce Department Secretary Carlos Gutierrez will testify to a House panel that the Census Bureau will drop plans to use handheld computers to help count Americans for the 2010 census, increasing the cost for the decennial census by as much as $3 billion.

The full testimony, which will be delivered later today to the House Appropriations Committee on Commerce, Justice and Science, is available on http://www.nextgov.com.

The story was broken by Nextgov.com, a new interactive web site serving the federal IT community. According to the Nextgov.com story, in 2006 the Census Bureau awarded a $595 million contract to Harris Corp. to develop more than 525,000 handheld computers that enumerators would use to collect data from Americans who did not send in their census forms. Since awarding the contract, the project has experienced constant setbacks including changing system requirements that led to increased costs and missed deadlines.

Continuous coverage is available on www.nextgov.com. Executive Editor Allan Holmes, who has been following the Census handheld project since its inception in 2006, is available to discuss this developing story.

About Nextgov.com

Nextgov.com is a new federal IT web site and interactive online platform designed to foster a multilayered dialogue between and among federal IT officials, program managers and federal contractors about building the high- performance, results-driven federal agencies of the future. For more information, visit www.nextgov.com.

About Government Executive Media Group

Government Executive Media Group, through its integrated portfolio of print, online and event properties, is the premier source of news and analysis for managers in the federal government. For more information, visit http://www.GovernmentExecutive.com.

Contact: Will Colston 202.266.7423