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Digital Transformation of Analytic Processes at the US Census Bureau
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Visualization
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Cement
- Construction & Infrastructure
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Construction Management
- Construction Site Monitoring
Services
- Testing & Certification
- Training
The Challenge
The U.S. Census Bureau, a leading provider of quality data about the economy, has been relying on outdated manual processes and tools for data collection, processing, analysis, and reporting. The Bureau's data is crucial for allocating over $675 billion in federal funding to states, local communities, and businesses. However, the volume, velocity, and veracity of the Bureau's big data have been challenging to manage with legacy systems. Manual surveying and data processing are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and costly. The Bureau was in need of an innovative solution to digitally transform its data collection, analyses, and dissemination processes, particularly for the U.S. Construction Indicator. The goal was to reduce operational costs while improving the accuracy and quality of economic indicators.
About The Customer
The customer in this case study is the U.S. Census Bureau, a part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Bureau is the nation's leading provider of quality data about the economy. It is mandated by law to collect, analyze, and report actionable data about people, places, and the health of the economy to various stakeholders including Congress, the White House Office of Management and Budget, federal, state, and local government agencies, news organizations, businesses, and the public. The Bureau's data, research findings, and key indicators are used for a variety of purposes, such as assessing the health of the U.S. economy, allocating funding for new roads and schools, defining voting districts, providing services for the elderly, locating job training centers, qualifying people for social security, assessing construction spending and activity, and auditing disaster recovery spending.
The Solution
The U.S. Census Bureau Economic Indicators Division, Construction Programs, contracted Reveal Global Consulting to design, build, and deploy modernized, and automated approaches for data collection, analysis, and dissemination. The Bureau wanted an advanced analytics and analytic process automation solution to compile and release worldwide economic indicator data. The solution, developed by Reveal and Alteryx, modernizes construction industry indicators, identifies alternative sources of data to reduce reliance on manually administered surveys, and leverages advanced analytics and automates processes to optimize performance. It uses AI to analyze satellite image data showing construction activity over time. The solution collects, filters, formats, and aggregates unstructured data from numerous Census and third-party sources. The data is ingested into the Alteryx platform, which provides a unified analytic process automation (APA) platform that enables the creation and scheduling of workflows.
Operational Impact
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