Fulcrum Case Studies Census Data

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	Census Data Fulcrum

Census Data

Fulcrum

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Industries	Cities & Municipalities
Applicable Functions	Logistics & Transportation Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Real-Time Location System (RTLS) Remote Asset Management
Services	Data Science Services System Integration
Challenge	Village Earth, a not-for-profit organization, was tasked with conducting a housing needs assessment for five American Indian Tribes in South and North Dakota. The aim was to challenge existing Federal Census data, which often undercounts rural populations due to difficulties in data collection. Many Native American Reservations lack a complete inventory of households, consistent addressing systems, or even marked roads. Additionally, it is common for Tribal members to locate a house or mobile home on their own land without registering it with their Tribe’s housing authority, making it virtually impossible to find using existing records. The technical approach to data collection also presented challenges in terms of efficiency and team management. Issues included quality control monitoring, distribution of work, and data digitization. Read More
About Customer	Village Earth is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization based at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. They have been providing an array of technical support and training to American Indian Tribes for over thirteen years. Village Earth is currently serving as the lead housing unit mapping and survey contractor for the Dakota Housing Needs Assessment (DHNA), a project to challenge existing Federal Census data on five reservations in South and North Dakota. This project also seeks to develop a model data collection, compilation, and submission process that will be authorized and funded by Congress and implemented by tribes and tribal housing entities nationwide. Read More
Solution	Village Earth decided to use Fulcrum, a digital data collection tool running on Android devices, to conduct the household mapping and needs assessment. Fulcrum allowed for the preload of the survey with the locations of households mapped using aerial photos, the ability for field crews to track their location and the location of the pre-loaded households using offline basemaps, and the creation of complex forms to perform data collection offline. Additional features of Fulcrum that were utilized included color-coded map markers, record assignment, parent-child relationships for individual surveys, layers to basemaps, and a web-based management interface. These features allowed for more efficient management of the 50+ member field crew, distributed over two states and five Native American Reservations. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Applicable Industries

Cities & Municipalities

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Real-Time Location System (RTLS)

Remote Asset Management

Services

Data Science Services

System Integration

Challenge

Village Earth, a not-for-profit organization, was tasked with conducting a housing needs assessment for five American Indian Tribes in South and North Dakota. The aim was to challenge existing Federal Census data, which often undercounts rural populations due to difficulties in data collection. Many Native American Reservations lack a complete inventory of households, consistent addressing systems, or even marked roads. Additionally, it is common for Tribal members to locate a house or mobile home on their own land without registering it with their Tribe’s housing authority, making it virtually impossible to find using existing records. The technical approach to data collection also presented challenges in terms of efficiency and team management. Issues included quality control monitoring, distribution of work, and data digitization.

About Customer

Village Earth is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization based at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. They have been providing an array of technical support and training to American Indian Tribes for over thirteen years. Village Earth is currently serving as the lead housing unit mapping and survey contractor for the Dakota Housing Needs Assessment (DHNA), a project to challenge existing Federal Census data on five reservations in South and North Dakota. This project also seeks to develop a model data collection, compilation, and submission process that will be authorized and funded by Congress and implemented by tribes and tribal housing entities nationwide.

Solution

Village Earth decided to use Fulcrum, a digital data collection tool running on Android devices, to conduct the household mapping and needs assessment. Fulcrum allowed for the preload of the survey with the locations of households mapped using aerial photos, the ability for field crews to track their location and the location of the pre-loaded households using offline basemaps, and the creation of complex forms to perform data collection offline. Additional features of Fulcrum that were utilized included color-coded map markers, record assignment, parent-child relationships for individual surveys, layers to basemaps, and a web-based management interface. These features allowed for more efficient management of the 50+ member field crew, distributed over two states and five Native American Reservations.

Impact #1	Improved data quality: The use of Fulcrum resulted in higher-quality data compared to traditional paper surveys.
Impact #2	Increased efficiency: The features of Fulcrum, such as record assignment and color-coded map markers, allowed for more efficient management of the field crew.
Impact #3	Cost savings: Digital data collection using Fulcrum was less costly than other available technologies.

Impact #1

Improved data quality: The use of Fulcrum resulted in higher-quality data compared to traditional paper surveys.

Impact #2

Increased efficiency: The features of Fulcrum, such as record assignment and color-coded map markers, allowed for more efficient management of the field crew.

Impact #3

Cost savings: Digital data collection using Fulcrum was less costly than other available technologies.

Benefit #1	81% increase in the HUD recognized population (from 15,861 to 28,787)
Benefit #2	31% increase in the number of (American Indian/Alaska Native) AIAN households with less than 30% median family income
Benefit #3	62% increase in the number of AIAN households between 30% and 50% median family income

Benefit #1

81% increase in the HUD recognized population (from 15,861 to 28,787)

Benefit #2

31% increase in the number of (American Indian/Alaska Native) AIAN households with less than 30% median family income

Benefit #3

62% increase in the number of AIAN households between 30% and 50% median family income

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Overview

Census Data

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit