FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1998 Public Information Office CB98-188 301-457-3030-/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) e-mail:pio@census.gov Sandra Rowland 301-457-3584 Census Bureau Announces Major Expansion of Data Dissemination on Internet The Commerce Department's Census Bureau today announced a new Internet data-delivery system that will significantly expand user access to the agency's vast data resources as part of the Clinton Administration's initiative to make government more efficient and accessible to the public. The Census Bureau plans to have the system operational by early 1999. "This new system will complement the Census Bureau's existing Internet site by giving the public online access for the first time to our largest data collection programs," said James F. Holmes, acting Census Bureau director. The new system, currently referred to as "American FactFinder," is being built under contract with the Census Bureau by IBM Global Services Corp., principal contractor (responsible for systems integration and user-interface design); and subcontractors Oracle Corp. (relational database design and data warehousing); and Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc. (mapping applications). The first data released via the new system will be preliminary reports from the 1997 Economic Census, 1990 Census of Population and Housing files, American Community Survey test and demonstration data and results of the Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal conducted this year. The full range of Census 2000 data products will become available via the American FactFinder system beginning in January 2001, with the release of the state population totals for reapportionment and the detailed population totals (to the census block level) for redistricting. One objective of the American FactFinder will be to permit users to define custom tabulations, contingent on meeting strict confidentiality protections. The Census Bureau guarantees the confidentiality of individual responses for 72 years. That will not change. Editor's Note: A detailed description of the new system is available at the Census Bureau's public Internet site http://www.census.gov/dads/www/ or from the Census Bureau Home Page click on "Subjects A-Z" and American FactFinder.-X-The Census Bureau pre-eminent collector and provider of timely, relevant and quality data about the people and economy of the United States. In more than 100 surveys annually and 20 censuses a decade, evolving from the first census in 1790, the Census Bureau provides official information about America's people, businesses, industries and institutions.
