Apogen Technologies taps BA Systems’ mobile software engineering and field data collection expertise for the development of Pocket PC-based software used to collect household data for the Decennial US Census. The Census is a Department of Commerce operation executed every ten years to calculate the total population of the country; it is a fundamental component of domestic policy useful for establishing equitable commerce across the Nation. Additionally, it is used to determine the amount of Congressional representation for each state.
The Decennial Census represents the world’s largest manpower force to be deployed outside of war, 500,000 Census enumerators will be dispatched across the Nation collecting household and biographical data for a population in excess of 300 million. The 2010 Census will be the first nationwide tally employing an array of automated technologies spanning GPS, the Internet, and mobile devices to boost the productivity of the operation. In order to guarantee an accurate count, the Census Bureau conducts test runs of the Decennial every two years in selected cities across the Nation. As the prime contractor for the testing effort, Apogen Technologies has trusted BA to contribute its proven applications development capabilities to the testing initiative.
During the next Decennial test, the Bureau’s enumerators will capture household demographic information utilizing Pocket PC devices running Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system. BA is providing engineering expertise for the development of the handheld software used to conduct household interviews, and will be providing technical support to field enumerators during the 2006 test. BA is developing the application software using the C# programming language alongside Microsoft’s .NET Compact Framework. “The .NET Compact Framework allows us to build a reliable solution quickly, cutting the development time by a considerable amount while beating the Census Bureau’s milestones. This gives the Bureau a highly usable tool while providing exceptional value,” said William Mapp, President of BA Systems.
Household interviews conducted during previous operations used a paper-based questionnaire; Apogen and BA eliminate these forms with software, and help the Bureau significantly reduce its execution costs while calculating the Nation’s population faster with greater accuracy. BA is helping speed the effort of porting existing Census interviews to the Pocket PC platform, and is leading the development of the re-interview application, a follow-up tool used for insuring household data accuracy. According to Kenneth Club, Technical Lead of Handheld Computing Development, “BA Systems provided immediate, informed, and quality support to our project when we needed it the most. Their support helped us achieve our target.”
Many of America’s economic and social policies are affected by the Decennial Census population count. Apogen and BA are building software to insure that the Bureau accurately accounts for all Americans in order to make commerce equitable for all citizens across this great Nation.
About Apogen Technologies
Apogen Technologies is a leading provider of technology solutions in the federal marketplace. Apogen, a combination of the words Apogee (the highest point of an orbit) and Genesis, means the height of creation. The name underscores our vision of “Aiming Higher” in providing customers with the right technology solutions. With more than 1,000 employees nationwide, Apogen is ranked number 48 on Washington Technology’s list of Top 100 Federal Prime Contractors and is also listed in the top 10 Department of Homeland Security contractors. For more information, visit http://www.apogentech.com.
About BA Systems
BA Systems is one of the leading developers of custom information systems. Our mission is to help our customers gain and maintain a competitive advantage against their peers. We foster a culture of innovation and creativity, using our expertise in advanced software development and mobile systems to build solutions that help our customers take full advantage of new technologies that simplify their operations. For more information, visit http://www.basystemsllc.com.
