Census Bureau has an IT glitch

The inspector general for the Commerce Department reported last week that the software system used to schedule, deploy and pay census workers is not working as planned. In short--as USA Today put it--the software system for the 2010 census that is about to be fully launched is "behind schedule and full of defects, and it will have to be scaled back to ensure an accurate count of the U.S. population."

The inspector general said the inquiry found that "system development and testing have fallen substantially behind schedule, resulting in less functionality and an increased likelihood of field staff's encountering technical problems during operations." That's not good news, as the system is supposed to handle the paperwork and payroll data for some half-million census takers who will be deployed for follow-up visits to residents who do not return the census forms that will be sent by mail next month to some 130 million households.

If a fix is not found soon, it could greatly increase costs, delays and inaccuracies.

For more on census data foul-ups:
- see this USA Today article
- read the IG report on the Census

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