Reengineering the 2010 Census Risks and Challenges (2004) / Chapter Skim
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6 Technical Infrastructure and Business Process
6 Technical Infrastructure and Business Process
Pages 169-192
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From page 169... ...
Included in this technical infrastructure are subsystems to track personnel hires and fires? monitor caseload and make enumerator assignments, capture and synthesize data, generate maps, and myriad other functions, which must function not only at Census Bureau headquarters but also at regional offices, data collection centers, and hundreds of temporary local census offices.
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From page 170... ...
"Operationally, most agree that this decennial census was a success participation was higher than
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From page 171... ...
Full use of logical architecture modeling has the potential to greatly reduce risk in system development and ensure that the various information subsystems of the census communicate effectively with each other. In this chapter, we examine this modeling effort as well as the Bureau's broader effort to develop its technical infrastruc~The "high risk" nature of system operations is illustrated in the following example.
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From page 172... ...
6-A TOWARD A "BUSINESS PROCESS" OF THE DECENNIAL CENSUS Past experience with reengineering and upgrading information technology operations within corporations and government agencies suggests that the most prudent and productive approach is to proceed in well-thought-out stages or steps: . Define a "logical architecture" A first step is to articulate the set of activities and functions currently performed by the organization and the informational dependencies among them.
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From page 173... ...
The finished logical architecture/business process mode] is then used as the template and specification for a new physical technical infrastructure the actual network of hardware and software systems assembled to carry out the organization's work.
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From page 174... ...
The logical architecture models developed by the Census Bureau under this contract adhere to the Integration Definition for Function Modeling (IDEFO) language, a method that has been adopted as a federal standard for representing organizational functions and flows.3 IDEFO models use simple graphical structures to organize information.
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From page 175... ...
Properly executed, a logical architecture does not define the specific computing platform or database structure to be used, and it certainly does not presume to dictate the specific variables or records to be saved in particular databases. However, the logical architecture can provide a template for the physical trappings; the diagrammed flows and constraints of the mode!
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From page 176... ...
As part of the exercise, Census Bureau staff developed a list of sixteen principles to guide the logical architecture as the three 4Here, "data center" refers to a designated point to handle sorting and reIormatting tasks. Use of the term should not be confused with the Census Bureau's state data centers, which are part of the apparatus for data and analysis outreach to users.
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From page 177... ...
In the Bureau's exercise, two of the architectural principles are "consider the needs of the respondent" and "facilitate counting everyone once, only once, and in the right place." These principles can be weighed against each other by the degree to which they contribute to overall goals of the enumeration. They can also be used to evaluate competing "to-be" logical architecture models.
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From page 178... ...
And though the effort of using a completely realized logical architecture to build the physical technical architecture will ultimately reduce operational risk in census conduct, the architecture-building process is not without risks of its own. In terms of general recommendations as the Census Bureau continues with its architecture work, the panel's suggestions are generally consistent with those of an earlier National Research Council pane]
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From page 179... ...
. The approach of enterprise or logical architecture modeling Is to concentrate on function and information flow rather than on preexisting work conditions, though indeed the finished result of modeling may suggest more efficient ways to structure operational workload.
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From page 180... ...
We urge that the decennial census architecture and MAF/TIGER database redesign teams not work in isolation from each other; rather, their activities should be coordinated through regular interaction between the appointed system architects. The development of PCDs and other field systems is also a sufficiently major piece of the broader 2010 census architecture that we believe appointment of a subsystem architect could be beneficial.
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From page 181... ...
6-B.4 Cautionary Note: Breadth and Difficulty of Task 181 We wish to make clear our view that it is both important and appropriate that the Census Bureau is pursuing enterprise architecture modeling of the decennial census. Proper execution of this modeling will facilitate the testing and evaluation of alternative system structures in the abstract, adding rigor to the development of census hardware and software support systems and reducing overall operational risk.
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From page 182... ...
It must be recognized that all information systems employed during the decennial census are parts of the overall technical infrastructure that is necessary to support the census. But technical infrastructure "integration" cannot mean just providing a means for moving information back and forth among information subsystems all systems are "integrated" by that limited definition.
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From page 183... ...
6-C THE ARCHITECTURE OF CRUCIAL SUBSYSTEMS: THE TIGER REDESIGN Before we list additional comments and recommendations on the emerging technical infrastructure plans, we think it is useful to devote some attention to a specific, major piece of that larger puzzle. Objective Two of the MAF/TIGER Enhancements Program is to convert the current database structure underlying the Master Address File and the TIGER geographic database to a modern processing environment.
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From page 184... ...
In those early discussions, the conversion was characterized as a fairly easy step: a new database structure would be identified and new support software would be written (and tested and certified error free)
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From page 185... ...
Another potentially serious risk lies in the ability of selected commercial off-the-shelf software to meet requirements. The Census Bureau has already indicated that it has chosen to implement the core of the new MAF/TIGER system using Oracle Spatial database tools.
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From page 186... ...
A hybrid that is continually operable and capable is preferable to the development and implementation en masse of a completely new database structure, which could easily be jeopardized and rendered a complete loss by changes in budget or resources. As we noted in Section 6-B.3, we are encouraged by the designation of a system architect for the MAF/TIGER database redesign, and strongly urge that this person's work be done in conjunction with a system architect for the decennial census as a whole.
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From page 187... ...
Consistent with recommendations we make in the next section regarding software engineering approaches, we strongly encourage the Bureau to develop a small review team of experienced computer scientists and software developers to monitor and facilitate the Bureau's move into this new development paradigm. Our final comment on the MAF/TIGER database redesign Is that we believe it could present a unique opportunity to build ties to the software development community.
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From page 188... ...
Recommendation 6.3: As part of the MAF/TIGER redesign, the Census Bureau should consider ways to make its application Cole for mapping, geoco~ling, digital exchange, map editing, and other functions openly available in order to facilitate continued ties to and improvement in geographic information systems software applications and to tap the feedback of the broader computer science/software development community. 6-D CHALLENGES IN TRANSITION FROM LOGICAL TO PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE A business process or logical architecture mode!
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From page 189... ...
6-D.2 Enterprise Architecture as Learning Too} and Guide to Organizational Change The end goal of business process or logical architecture reengineering is the production of a smoothly functioning finished physical architecture an amalgam of people, software, computer systems, and telecommunications systems. Given this
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From page 190... ...
As indicated above, IDEFO logical architecture models emphasize function and process independent of labor and departmental boundaries within an organization. Large organizations that develop rigid internal divisions over time can benefit fromand find refreshing the exercise of stepping back and specifying basic flows of information, without the need to consider which division performs a given function or to which directorate it may report.
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From page 191... ...
Allowing one of these paths improving software engineering capability or designing system architecture to proceed in isolation from the other could be a critical and costly error if time and resources elapse without both contributing jointly to census objectives. Recommendlation 6.4: The Census Bureau should generally improve its software engineering processes and should pursue its goal of raising its Capability Maturity Mode} score in software development.
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From page 192... ...
Recommendation 6.5: The Census Bureau should evaluate and improve its protocols for hardware and software testing, drawing on expertise from the computer science and software development communities. Rigorous hardware and software testing should be factored into census operational schedules, in ad~lition to the field testing performed in the 2006 proof-of-concept test, the 2008 dress rehearsal, or such other formal census tests as may arise.
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