Challenges and Opportunities with Data Collection for Economic Programs

Shirin A. Ahmed, U.S. Census Bureau

The Economic Programs Directorate conducts important programs that measure and profile the United States economy. These programs include the conduct of an Economic Census and Census of Governments every 5 years; more than 75 annual, quarterly and monthly programs that cover a variety of industries and topics; and monthly comprehensive Foreign Trade Statistics from administratively based customs records.

Ms. Ahmed’s presentation will focus on the future vision of data collection for the Economic Census and surveys that target the outputs and activities of U.S. businesses. This vision encompasses moving to an all-electronic collection environment with better tools, outreach and customer-relationship support to business respondents. Ms. Ahmed will discuss the research and testing conducted at the U.S. Census Bureau to achieve this long-term vision in time for the 2017 Economic Census.