With a census being the most important domestic activity of the federal government, playing a key role in management role in the census proceedings is a huge responsibility which, for the 2010 Census, is being shouldered by Daniel Weinberg, the assistant director for the American Community Survey and Decennial Census.

Weinberg, who is also planning for the 2020 Census wherein a much more substantial use of the Internet will be made to collect data about the US population, began his federal career in 1980 in the planning and evaluation wing of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Moving on to the Census Bureau in 1989, Weinberg initially headed the housing and household economic statistics division of the bureau, and then became the chief economist and head of the Center for Economic Studies, before assuming his current role.

In addition to his present appointment, Weinberg is also overseeing the American Community Survey Office, which collects and produces annual population and housing information.

Having gained immense recognition for improving the measurements of poverty to facilitate more informed decision-making by policymakers, Weinberg, about his role in the decennial census, said that “it is the most important task a government statistician can undertake. The census is key to our democratic society... and to be involved in something that is central to our democracy is pretty exciting.”