U.S. Census Bureau Counts on SAS, Wins Enterprise Computing Award

Business Wire, April 23, 2001

Business Editors/High Tech Writers

LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 2001

SAS(R) data warehousing and mining help federal agency keep count

SAS Institute, the market leader in e-intelligence and data warehousing, today presented the 10th annual Enterprise Computing Award to the U.S. Census Bureau, which recently completed the decennial census using SAS' cutting-edge data mining technology.

The award was presented during the opening session of the 26th annual SAS(R) Users Group International (SUGI) conference.

With more than 5,000 permanent employees in 30 divisions, the Census Bureau uses SAS for tasks such as cost monitoring, keeping U.S. unemployment statistics and conducting the census. "It's doing work for the decennial census and a hundred-plus surveys and censuses that we do," said Bob Bateman, the bureau's assistant division chief for information systems. "There's probably not one division of all 30 in the Census Bureau that doesn't use SAS to some degree."

The willingness of SAS to develop new technology provides the foundation for the successful relationship between SAS and the Census Bureau, Bateman said. "What it allowed us to do was to bring together a common set of tools across all platforms for us to grow with into the future," he said. "That ability to leverage existing technology investments, to know that SAS software will be there today and tomorrow, gives us the stability we need to better produce the goods that the Census Bureau is responsible for."

With the help of SAS, the Census Bureau developed the Census 2000 Cost and Progress (C&P) System, which allows data mining through a desktop application. This system lets census workers efficiently organize operations like budget and deadline tracking, as well as presentations to Congress about progress on census projects.

"During the height of the census we spent about $20 million a day. We always knew precisely where we stood because of the cost-in-progress system we built using SAS," said Rick Swartz, chief information officer and associate director for information technology at the Census Bureau.

Additionally, the structure of SAS data warehousing programs gives the bureau flexibility to present information to a wide array of government agencies and private citizens. Swartz said, "Our mission and SAS's unique ability to manage and glean information from raw data is a pretty good match. In fact, it's an excellent match. It continues to astound me how well our two organizations are matched and how we leverage that. SAS gives us the ability to know what that information is and make informed decisions."

About Enterprise Computing Awards

The Enterprise Computing Awards are given annually to organizations that best illustrate the use of SAS software to meet business goals. Winners demonstrate productivity gains, cost or time savings, or otherwise show achievement of organization or business goals. Awards are given in two categories - commercial and government applications. The 2001 awards were presented during the opening session of SUGI 26 in Long Beach, Calif., where more than 3,000 SAS customers from around the world are attending the conference this week.

About the U.S. Census

The U.S. Census, first conducted in 1790 with a staff of only 17, now tries to account for an estimated 280 million Americans every 10 years. The Census Bureau also completes household and economic surveys that are analyzed quarterly and yearly. The Census Bureau includes 12 regional offices, 5000 employees and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

About SAS

SAS is the world leader in e-intelligence software and services, enabling its customers to turn raw data -- including the vast quantity generated by e-business -- into usable knowledge. Software from SAS, the world's largest privately held software company, is used at more than 35,000 business, government and university sites in 110 countries.

SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. (R)indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.