COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT (CRADA) COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT (CRADA) In order to conduct Census 2000 and future censuses and surveys the Census Bureau is developing the Master Address File, or MAF. The Bureau is developing the MAF from the U.S. Postal Service's Delivery Sequence File, or DSF. The Bureau must continually update the MAF because housing units are both created and destroyed. The Census Bureau has also created and is maintaining the TIGER (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) database. Each address in the MAF is linked to the appropriate street segment side in the TIGER database. Thus, each MAF address is spatially located. TIGER is of invaluable benefit to this Nation's businesses, as well as to the academic and public sector communities. TIGER was the first nationwide spatial database containing not only all of the streets and streams of the Nation, but also all of the governmental unit boundaries used by the Census Bureau to tabulate Census data. The Bureau would like to explore working in partnership with the private sector to conduct joint research, using both available Bureau technology and non-Federal expertise, to update the MAF and the TIGER database with information not contained in the DSF. The Bureau believes that companies in the private sector are carrying on research on the best methodology to maintain a national address list, and that this research is similar to the research being conducted at the Census Bureau. The Census Bureau further believes that several companies maintain address lists containing addresses not on the DSF. The Bureau is interested in discussing cooperative research efforts, under the auspices of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement ("CRADA"), with qualified private companies involved in address list updating. Accordingly, the Census Bureau's Cooperative Research Laboratory invites proposals from interested parties regarding the possibility of entering into a CRADA to conduct joint research into address list updating and spatially locating those addresses, including verification techniques, removal of duplicates, standardization, and assurances of comprehensiveness. The Census Bureau will be willing to enter into a CRADA with all qualified partners. All CRADAs will be undertaken pursuant to the Federal Technology Transfer Act, 15 U.S.C. 3710a, which allows Federal laboratories to enter into cooperative research agreements with qualified parties. Under this law, the Census Bureau may provide personnel, service, facilities, equipment or other resources with or without reimbursement, but not funds. For further information, contact Bob LaMacchia, (301) 457-1022, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC 20233-0001, e-mail: rlamacchia@geo.census.gov.

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