Lockheed finishes census contract on time and under budget

Lockheed Martin Corp. processed 165 million 2010 U.S. Census Bureau forms on schedule and under budget, the company has announced.

Lockheed’s Decennial Response Integration System (DRIS) contract was valued at $500 million when it was awarded in 2005. Lockheed was also the prime contractor that developed the information processing system used during the 2000 census, completing 120 million forms with 98 percent accuracy, the company said at the time.

Under the 2010 census contract, Lockheed led a team responsible for the people, processing, technology and infrastructure needed to receive, capture and standardize census data from U.S. residents, and to provide telephone assistance.

During peak periods, the team was able to process 165 million forms, including as many as 2.5 million forms every 24 hours. The Lockheed team also answered 4.4 million telephone inquiries and made 7.4 million calls.

“In complete partnership with the Census Bureau every step of the way, the DRIS team delivered the data accurately and securely, on schedule and under budget,” Julie Dunlap, director of Lockheed Martin’s Census Practice and program manager for the 2010 Census DRIS, said in a news release dated Nov. 1.

The Census Bureau also achieved savings on the 2010 census, announcing in August that it was returning $1.6 billion due to lower-than-expected operational expenses.

Lockheed Martin, of Bethesda, Md., ranks No. 1 in Washington Technology’s 2010 Top 100 list of federal prime federal contractors.