Census Bureau wants support for its questionnaire software ahead of 2020
As it gears up for its decennial tally of the nation’s population, the Census Bureau is looking for contractor support to maintain the software it uses to develop resident surveys.
The bureau issued a sources sought solicitation on Monday calling for potential contractors to oversee the maintenance support of two software packages — its Generalized Instrument Design System (GIDS) and its Surveyor computer program.
The GIDS software has used a Census Bureau metadata repository to help develop the questions used on various paper and electronic surveys since 2002, while Surveyor provides users with downloadable software to submit information.
The Census Bureau said it would be looking for a contractor to “investigate problems with the existing GIDS and Surveyor software and fix the problems as directed by the program manager, provide consultation on the GIDS and Surveyor software and respond to the program manager’s requests.”
The solicitation comes as the Census Bureau works to incorporate new technologies in the field ahead of the 2020 count.
Industry stakeholders have until noon EST on July 17 to submit information about their capabilities for the project.
