Software defects threaten 2010 census rollout

Growing problems with the Census Bureau's software for processing some of the paperwork associated with the decennial count have left the agency scrambling to test and fix errors, witnesses told a Senate panel on Tuesday.

"Census has encountered major hardware and software issues affecting system performance that have prompted Census officials to call in executives and senior technical troubleshooters from the companies that provide [paper-based operations control system] hardware and software components," Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser said in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management.

The administrative software to be used for the census' processing operations, known as PBOCS, has 80 critical defects, according to a Commerce IG report released last week. A Dec. 15 audit found 26 errors. The report also found the system to be 19 days behind on its development schedule and 21 days behind in testing.

The paper processing system is high risk because of its short development time and absolute deadline for deployment, said Census Director Robert Groves. The bureau planned to use handheld computers for the 2010 count, but technical concerns, along with scheduling and cost issues, forced officials to drop the devices in favor of a paper-based system.

A Government Accountability Office report released during the hearing cited slow speeds, limited functionality and problems generating progress and performance reports as key challenges for PBOCS.

The compressed testing period is of particular concern, Zinser said, adding that some errors might not come to light until the system is used in field operations. The IG office is concerned that software errors are increasing and performance is not at peak levels as the agency prepares to launch non-response follow-up operations to collect information from households that don't return census forms.

Auditors also found significant problems with the payroll processing system when they tested it in December 2009.

GAO in March 2008 designated Census a high-risk area in part due to information technology challenges. But Robert Goldenkoff, GAO's director of strategic issues, commended the bureau for taking steps to improve management functions, including the appointment of a decennial census testing officer to oversee operations.

Groves said he is confident the bureau's computer networks can handle the traffic expected this spring.

The IG's office also plans to monitor controls for information confidentiality and the effectiveness of the bureau's systems for detecting and responding to cyberattacks.