Data and Technology Groups Can Improve the 2020 Census Count

With 2020 decennial census fast approaching, communities around the country are mobilizing to reach the goal of counting every person, only once, and in the right place. Organizations with analytic and coding skills can contribute their expertise to help their local planning and outreach efforts succeed. Local data intermediaries, like the members of the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, are natural players to join local collaborations. But more people from civic data and technology groups should get involved, such as Code for America brigades, DataKind and other volunteer groups; researchers from colleges and universities; and private-sector data and tech firms. In this brief, data and tech groups can learn why the decennial census matters to funding and political representation in a community, who has been traditionally undercounted, and practical steps to take to improve local 2020 census efforts. 

For more resources, see the NNIP project: Mobilizing Data-Driven Local Outreach for the 2020 Census.