Beeck Center Georgetown University Beeck Center: Social Impact + Innovation

Digital Census Project

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, our democratic institutions have never been more important, or more vulnerable. The United States Census — a hallmark of democratic operations since 1790 — is no exception. The Census provides our nation’s foundational dataset, the basis upon which so much other data is based, such as congressional apportionment and the distribution of federal funding. It is used in research, algorithms, journalism, business, and infrastructure planning among other things. The Census creates the reality upon which our institutions, our lives, and our futures are built. It is the people’s data: a shared public asset that is becoming increasingly important in a data-driven world.

It is in this context that, for the first time in 2020, millions of U.S. residents will use their phones, computers, tablets, and laptops to respond to the constitutionally mandated survey while hundreds of thousands of federal workers will use handheld electronic devices to conduct the decennial count in real time.

As such, the Beeck Center’s Digital Census Project aimed to help prepare the U.S. for this new reality by calling on leading digital platforms, civil society, media outlets, and local governments to develop and deploy new strategies.. 

Our nation’s first “digital” census presents myriad opportunities for a truly participatory count, but a confluence of new issues threatens to undermine its integrity. As our country gears up to embark on this national modernization effort of enormous consequence—our nation’s largest non-wartime effort—we need new strategies and tactics to navigate our politically charged, digital world. 

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CDSO Toolkit

CDSO Toolkit

In April 2024, the Digital Service Network (DSN) hosted an in-person convening of 23 Chief Digital Service Officers (CDSO).  The convening of CDSOs from governments across the U.S. gathered for two days on Georgetown University’s campus to  share, learn, and strategize about how they work to deliver equitable, accessible, and efficient digital services. The group of CDSO leaders and the DSN team developed our CDSO toolkit for digital service improvement, designed for government digital service teams to replicate in their own organizations, aiming to spark conversations and problem-solving. The sessions also addressed leadership and talent challenges.

Sep. 5, 2024