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Resource Library
Developing Digital Solutions to Get COVID-19 Diagnostic Data to Public Health Officials, Key Stakeholders
In the midst of a global pandemic, diagnostic results from COVID-19 testing are crucial for decision-making at all levels, from school boards and doctors to employers and local government officials.
However, diagnostic devices particularly from rapid at-home, over-the-counter testing and COVID-19 test results have not yet been paired with digital software tools to easily transmit the information.
Through a product development cycle called a “sprint”, 12 technology teams created digital products to transmit COVID-19 diagnostics data efficiently, securely, and accurately.
To focus on this national challenge, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau, facilitated a COVID-19 TOPx tech sprint to help develop innovative digital solutions for data capture, harmonization and reporting from COVID-19 tests.
Through a product development cycle called a “sprint”, 12 technology teams created digital products to transmit COVID-19 diagnostics data efficiently, securely, and accurately.
The goal is to provide key stakeholders — including federal, state, local and tribal governments, patients, healthcare providers, employers, schools and consumers — easy access to diagnostic data.
Participating teams were selected from the HHS COVID-19 At-Anywhere Diagnostics Design-a-thon, an open innovation technology design sprint open to the public.
Nearly 1,000 participants from government, industry, academia, and non-profit organizations worked to develop digital health tools to automatically capture and wirelessly transmit data from at-anywhere COVID-19 diagnostic tests.
What Is TOPx?
TOPx is modeled on The Opportunity Project (TOP), which brings together technology experts, government officials, and communities to rapidly generate and prototype digital products — powered by federal open data — that solve real-world problems for communities across the country.
TOPx Toolkit provides an adaptable resource for federal agencies, developed by the Census Bureau’s Census Open Innovation Labs (COIL), that enables federal agencies to conduct their own virtual technology development sprints to address key national challenges.
A traditional TOP sprint focuses on challenges identified by multiple federal agencies and facilitated by COIL. In contrast, a TOPx sprint allows federal agencies to use the TOP model on their own, using the TOPx playbook.
Agencies can follow a step-by-step guide and run sprints on their own to engage the public, industry, academia, civic and social sectors in creating data-driven solutions with real-world impact.
Sprint Teams Find Solutions to Problems
For the HHS and Census Bureau effort, teams were asked to focus on helping:
- State and local public health authorities track and understand COVID-19 diagnostic data from populations and communities.
- Stakeholders outside of health care make key operational decisions from diagnostic data.
- Consumers and businesses manage point-of-care testing data outside lab settings.
Products Developed by Sprint Teams
Here are some examples:
- Lifepoint consolidates COVID-19 diagnostics test data from laboratories, centralizing and sharing results with federal and state health authorities, providers, employers, schools and other organizations. It allows users to make operational decisions using this data.
- UDoTest integrates with rapid COVID-19 tests to allow representatives of large employers or organizations to request a test and track their results. Diagnostics data can then be shared with employer systems and health agencies. The team also focused more broadly on patient test data management and is considering use beyond just COVID-19.
- Net Medical Xpress Solutions, Inc collects, coordinates and transmits COVID-19 test data to local, state, and federal authorities. This team specializes in managing information from custom data fields to address the fact that many state and local governments are collecting data (such as gender identity) based on local needs not required in national data.
These technology products are a small sample of the dozens of tools that have been created through this intersection of federal agencies, technologists, non-profits and advocacy voices from communities that are most impacted by these national challenges.
Learn more about these and other products on May 25 at the upcoming COVID-19 TOPx Virtual Solutions Showcase Day.
More about TOP
To date, more than 1,500 individuals, 30 federal agencies, and hundreds of organizations have participated in TOP, leading to 135 new open data tools including apps, websites, mapping tools, data visualizations, games, and more.
Now, with the TOPx and Product Development toolkits, the TOP model can be used by any organization or individual to develop data-driven technology and elevate community voices in response to some of our country’s most pressing challenges.
Join us May 25 as we showcase these amazing tools virtually on Zoom. RSVP at TOPx HHS Showcase.
Sign up for emails to stay in the loop and learn more about upcoming sprints in 2021. Questions? Contact Census Open Innovation Labs.
Haley Ashcom Miller is the lead communications strategist for Census Open Innovation Labs (COIL).
Story Ideas and Statistics
Press Kit
TOPx COVID-19 Solutions Showcase
TOPx, modeled on The Opportunity Project (TOP), is an innovation program led by Census Open Innovation Labs at the U.S. Census Bureau.
Data Tool
Census COVID-19 Data Hub
This site provides users demographic risk factor variables along with economic data on 20 key industries impacted by Coronavirus.
Census.gov > Topics > Population
The U.S. Census Bureau is the leading source of statistical information about the nation’s people. Our population statistics come from decennial censuses, which count the entire U.S. population every ten years, along with several other surveys.
Newsroom
Press Release
Census Bureau Releases New 2020 Census Data on Age, Sex, Race, Hispanic Origin, Households and Housing
The next round of 2020 Census data are available, adding more detail to the population counts and basic demographic and housing statistics previously released.
Press Release
Datos del Censo del 2020: edad, sexo, origen hispano y más
Nuevos datos del Censo del 2020 sobre edad, sexo, raza, origen hispano, parentesco y vivienda
Press Release
国では、多様化が進み、高年齢化が進んでいます
年齢、性別、人種、ヒスパニック系によるヴィンテージ2021人口推定がご利用いただけます
Videos
Video
Downloading, Exporting, and Sharing 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics Data
Learn how to download, export, and share 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics tables you find in data.census.gov.
Video
Finding 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics Data for Urban and Rural Geographic Components
In this video tutorial, we show you how to access data from the 2020 Census DHC for the urban and rural portions of a geography.
Video
Accessing 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics Data on data.census.gov
In this video tutorial, we show you how to access 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics housing data in data.census.gov.
Data Tables
Table
Nearly a Third Reporting Two or More Races Were Under 18 in 2020: Supplementary Tables
These tables present race by age data from the 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics File (DHC).
Table
The Older Population in the United States: 2021
These are the 2021 detailed tables for the older population in the United States.
Table
The Black Alone or in Combination Population in the U.S. 2021
View and download the Black Alone or in Combination Population in the United States: 2021 tables.
Visualizations
Visualization
U.S. Marriage and Divorce Rates by State: 2011 & 2021
The national marriage rate for 2021 was 14.9 and the national divorce rate for 2021 was 6.9.
Visualization
Age-Sex Pyramid for the United States
Learn about age heaping for males and females in the 1980 to 2020 Censuses.
Visualization
Exploring Age Groups in the 2020 Census
Learn about age, sex, and racial and ethnic diversity for states, counties, and census tracts.
Publications
Publication
Multiple Partner Fertility Research Brief: 2021
This research brief provides an overview of the prevalence of multiple partner fertility in the United States in 2021.
Publication
Age and Sex Composition: 2020
This report presents key findings from the 2020 Census on the age and sex composition of the U.S. population as well as changes between 2010 and 2020.
Publication
The Older Population: 2020
This report describes the older population of the United States in 2020, with comparisons to the 2000 and 2010 Censuses.
Fact Sheets
Fact Sheet
Population Data Available for 2020 Census Race, Ethnicity, and AIAN
The 2020 Census will produce data for approximately 370 racial and ethnic groups and 1,200 AIAN tribes and villages— the most in U.S. Census Bureau history.
Fact Sheet
Which Data Set Is Right for Me?
Key differences between the Decennial Census, Population Estimates Program and the American Community Survey.
Fact Sheet
곧 있게 될 미국 인구 발표
ACS 5-년, 인구 통계 분석, 인구 추산치 및 2020년 센서스 인구조사 발표에서 기대할 수 있는 내용을 설명합니다.
America Counts Story
Can Data and Tech Help Solve Environmental Issues?
The Census Bureau's Opportunity Project celebrates its fifth anniversary with four tech development sprints to create solutions to environmental...
America Counts Story
Data and Technology Making an Impact in Communities
Over the last four years, The Opportunity Project by the Census Open Innovation Labs has created over 100 data tools that address a variety of challenges.
America Counts Story
Census + Open Data = Innovation for the Future
The Census Bureau showcased 14 projects from The Opportunity Project that has transformed the way federal agencies work with the technology industry.
Page Last Revised - March 25, 2022
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