Mobility

USDA Agency Taps Tablets for Farm Surveys

How did the National Agricultural Statistics Service prepare survey takers nationwide to use iPads — literally in the field?

USDA's Ramonia Davis, Kevin Harding, Pam Hird, Renee Picanso and Barbara Turtelot

The Agriculture Department was one of the first federal agencies to deploy iPads into a production environment.
NASS developed a training program that prepares its enumerators, many of whom are retired farmers, to use the tablets in just 12 hours.
The program uses unique measures, including storing data in the cloud, to keep its data secure.