EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EDT, MAY 19, 1998 (TUESDAY) Public Information Office CB98-86 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Joel Morrison 301-457-1132 e-mail: jmorrison@geo.census.gov Census Bureau, GeoResearch Announce Partnership The Commerce Department's Census Bureau today announced it has entered into a public/private partnership with GeoResearch Inc. of Bethesda, Md. to improve the Census Bureau's geographic database so it can more efficiently conduct censuses and surveys in the next century. The Census Bureau-GeoResearch Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), signed March 24, provides for the use of GeoResearch's GeoLink software to verify and update information in the Census Bureau's Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) system. GeoLink uses satellite technology to obtain the geographic coordinates of residential addresses and other map features. "Its use should improve the positional accuracy of the digital data in TIGER, which enables the Census Bureau to geocode residential addresses for the decennial censuses and surveys," said Joel Morrison, chief of the Census Bureau's Geography Division. "GeoLink also should reduce the need for Census Bureau staff to have to go into the field before each census to verify the locations of residential addresses." The CRADA, the latest in a series of such agreements, continues a new era of collaboration between the Census Bureau and the private sector. For GeoResearch, the CRADA with the Census Bureau will provide a practical test of GeoLink's geographic data-collection capabilities, giving the company valuable insights into ways the software can be used interactively with TIGER data for other clients. Since the mid-1980s, GeoResearch has performed Global Positioning System (GPS)/ Geographic Information System (GIS) field mapping, data collection and database development for a wide range of customers, including many state and local governments.-X-Editor's Note: The Public Information Office now has a media-access server for embargoed news releases and data sets. It is available to accredited media representatives only. To gain access, please contact us for a username and password. The media-access server's Internet address is http://www.census.gov/dcmd/www/embargo/embargo.html. We would appreciate any comments you may have about the site. The Census Bureau pre-eminent collector and provider of timely, relevant, and quality data about the people and economy of the United States. In over 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.
