SiteScape Inc., a provider of Web-based collaboration software and services, announced recently that the United States Census Bureau has purchased and installed SiteScape Enterprise Forum to improve project management and allow employees to communicate and share information more efficiently. The Census Bureau, which collects and publishes statistical data about the economy and people of the United States, plans to use the software to facilitate a variety of projects across the agency and in partnership with other federal agencies.

"We wanted a central location to create and store information related to various projects," Lisa Thompson, Internet Technology Architect at the Census Bureau. "We chose SiteScape Forum because it is easy to install, customize, and manage with no client installation necessary, and it has an easy-to-use web-based user interface." According to Thompson, SiteScape Forum's threaded discussions, document management, shared calendars, e-mail notifications, workflow, instant messaging and the search capability are important for projects such as Census surveys and technical evaluations.

"Forum provides a discussion area for the planning and development of a project; users can review information about projects in a logical order in one place, and the information can be accessed anywhere from an Internet browser using an appropriate user account," said Thompson. "Another benefit is that we don't have to worry about e-mailing discussions about a project to a user; this provides greater security, and makes it easier to communicate among the project team members."

Currently, the software is being used by staff from several divisions within the Bureau, including programmers from the Information Technology Department and statisticians from the Economic Department. Users are dispersed throughout several different buildings and federal agencies. The Bureau has also been using SiteScape Forum to manage a Computer Security Survey project with the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the survey will collect information from several companies on computer-related crimes.

"Eventually, we hope to roll this software out to other parts of the agency that are considering collaborative tools," said Thompson. "We also envision using SiteScape as a knowledge management tool where users can share ideas and reference information on specific topics or projects, such as programming techniques, Bureau Web design practices, troubleshooting issues for hardware and software installations, and survey development. For example, in the near future, the Information Technology area could use this as a way to share information and discuss issues regarding new technologies."

The mission of the U.S. Census Bureau, a part of the United States Department of Commerce, is to be the preeminent collector and provider of timely, relevant, and quality data about the people and economy of the United States.