The Decennial Response Integration System (DRIS), which will collect and integrate the census information collected from various sources, also is behind schedule, according to GAO. DRIS is on budget but is expected to deliver reduced functionality for the April 2008 dress rehearsal, in which the bureau tests all equipment and business processes needed to carry out the census, requiring more testing later in the process. A third project, called Data Access and Dissemination System II (DADS II), is also behind schedule. The Census Bureau originally planned to award a contract in 2005, but just awarded it in September.
“Delays in functionality mean that the dress rehearsal operational testing will take place without the full complement of systems and functionality that was originally planned,” according to GAO. “However, bureau officials have not finalized their plans for testing all the systems. . . . Without sufficient testing of all systems and their functionality, the bureau increases the risk that costs will increase further, that decennial systems will not perform as expected, or both.”
Been there. Done that.
From Government Executive.