IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOVEMBER 18, 1996 (MONDAY) Public Information Office CB96-194 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Geographic Data Technology Tonya McMurray Joel Morrison 800-331-7881 x1160 301-457-1133 e-mail: tonyam@gdt1.com CENSUS BUREAU, GEOGRAPHIC DATA TECHNOLOGY LAUNCH NEW GEOGRAPHIC DATA INITIATIVE The Department of Commerce's Census Bureau and Geographic Data Technology, Inc. (GDT) of Lebanon, N.H., a leading business geographics provider, today announced a new public/private partnership to collect and electronically share basic geographic information needed to maintain the spatial data infrastructure of the United States. The development of this Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), the first for the Census Bureau, inaugurates a new era of cooperation and collaboration between business and government. "This is a wonderful opportunity for the private sector and federal government to work in partnership to produce a better product and reduce the reporting burden on the local governments," said Martha Farnsworth Riche, Census Bureau director . "We look forward to similar agreements in other areas in the near future." The agreement will allow the Census Bureau to update information on new streets, street names and address ranges to keep its Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding Referencing (TIGER) database current. TIGER is an integral component in the creation of an address list to be used in Census 2000 and in other Census Bureau survey activities. GDT maintains a current and comprehensive spatial database that incorporates street and address data as well as census and postal geography. "GDT and the Census Bureau use similar methods to update and maintain our databases," said Donald Cooke, president and founder of GDT. "This agreement allows us to take advantage of the strengths of each organization to streamline the data acquisition process. The ultimate result will be better data for everyone." With almost 50 years combined expertise in the development of digital map databases, the Census Bureau and GDT will work together to create a comprehensive, consolidated approach to public/private partnerships for maintaining the key framework of spatial data sets necessary to enhance commercial and government operations. The CRADA involves three activities: - Joint research into how best to collect address data from local sources. - Development of an efficient electronic data exchange system to enable the Census Bureau and GDT to share geographic files received from local governments. - Joint testing of commercially available software to improve databases. Geographic Data Technology, Inc., founded in 1980, was a pioneer in the development of cartographic data for business use and provides cartographic data to all major GIS and desktop mapping vendors. Picture available upon request.-X-The Census Bureau--preeminent 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.
