HEARD ON THE BEAT
The Write Stuff: Just in time for the new millennium, the U.S. Census Bureau is getting with the program--the optical scanning program, that is.
For the first time, the Census Bureau will use commercially available scanners to read handwritten data on the tens of millions of forms the government sends out every 10 years. After the scanners take electronic photos of the forms, the images will be processed by software that the Census Bureau promises can recognize an infinite variety of handwritten letters and numbers.
Once the forms have been translated into computer code, census officials will begin their statistical processing and analysis.
Lockheed Martin Mission Systems will develop the system for the Census Bureau, and TRW will establish one of the four questionnaire processing centers in Pomona. Each center will employ between 1,500 and 2,000 workers between March and July 2000, said Ann Gwynn of the Census Bureau’s Data Capture Program.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
