Thank you for your interest in doing business with the Census Bureau. Our country has a growing need for quality data to manage the increasing complexities of its people, places, and economy. U.S. companies have the capabilities to help us succeed.

As we head toward the 2030 Census, in addition to ongoing surveys such as the American Community Survey, there will be more business opportunities for vendors to support the mission of the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Cloud – The Census Bureau desires to adopt nimble cloud services to supplement, or perhaps replace, the traditional build-out of dedicated infrastructure in a data center. The Census Bureau is seeking to adopt a hybrid cloud approach to meet its secure computing and storage needs.
• Internet – Crowdsourcing – The Census Bureau is seeking creative solutions to its complex challenges of collecting data from citizens and businesses across the country, primarily to derive more value from the thousands of statistical estimates it produces. We continue to look to crowdsourcing to bring more value and recognition to the Census Bureau brand, increase transparency and public trust in the Census Bureau, and expand our engagement with the public.
• Shared Services - Historically, Census Bureau programs have designed and developed independent systems for executing the Census Bureau’s 100+ censuses and surveys. Today, the Census Bureau is committed to shared services as a means to harness the benefits of enterprise-wide solutions over duplicative, single-use solutions for operations and technology.

The Research and Methodology Directorate performs research into innovative methods and products, and established methodologies in support of collaborative research that leads to new products and processes.  Some major activities underway are:

• Modernizing the Production of Economic and Social Statistics – Includes Research of Big Data, Adaptive Survey Design and Administrative Records
• Innovative Data Products – Develop and maintain production of many innovative data products resulting from research efforts on business and employment dynamics thru Longitudinal Employer Household Dynamics and Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS)
• New Tools for Data Dissemination and Access – Supports dissemination applications and tools such as DataWeb, Census API, QWI Explorer, OnTheMap for Emergency Management and BDS Visualizations. 
• Statistical Research Program – conducts a broad program of research that impact bureau-wide programs