What is Y2K? The Year 2000, or just Y2K, problem affects
mainframe computers, personal computers, local area networks, telecommunications
systems and systems and equipment that use embedded microchip technology,
such as fire alarms, heating and cooling systems, elevators, etc... It is
simply that those who invented the electronic computer chip industry, used
two digits instead of four when they applied dates to the embedded
programs.
Midnight, December 31, 1999 they expect major problems when the computers
internationally move from 12.31.99 to 01.01.00. 00 which could mean
anything, the year 00, 100, 200, 900, 1000, 1100, 1500, 1900. A person born
in 1970 at 00 could suddenly turn 130 years old and be eliminated
from the record because of age, too old to be alive. The computers will
not be able to differentiate the year. People who are dealing with this
problem have no idea what all is involved and what the effects are going
to be. They can't guarantee the lights won't go out on Jan. 1, 2000. One
utility company didn't know how many lines of computer code
it had, making it impossible to know how difficult or time- consuming
its problem will be. We are past the point of asking will there be
interruptions. How severe will they be. These words came from a Senate committee
created to investigate the Year 2000 problem. Cascading power outages
are a possibility. They urged against panic. Some computers can be reprogrammed,
but many devices such as frequency relays and other monitoring equipment
- have embedded microchips that must be physically replaced.
Washington is requiring progress reports and assisting by means of tax breaks.
"An accelerated capital cost allowance of $50,000 will be made immediately
available to firms replacing and updating equipment expected to fail
because of the millennium bug. Companies will be able to deduct
100 percent of eligible year 2000 expenditures the year they make
them." (Tampa Tribune) The State Employees Credit
Union advised people to call manufacturers of equipment which might be affected
to check if they are "Y2K Compliant," if not to begin thinking
about replacing such.
So much of our lives are today electronically dependent. Even pacemakers
could be involved; automobiles, trucks, ATM machines, cash registers,
gas pumps, all computer controlled records, certain
telephones. Believers are hoping they will be able to
leave before Y2K occurs, but we have no guarantees. This problem was
discovered several years ago and everyone thought they would come
up with a fix as usual, but this one hasn't gone away and
will most likely not be solved by a recall with an exchange of a part.
The latest congressional reports look dismal. Newt Gingrich asked for $4
billion additional dollars to dole out to get a handle on this problem
but was told that they could not add another appropriation bill since only
13 bills are allowed which are being passed right now for the next
fiscal year. Legally they cannot not add to the numbers without due process.
Adam Kaplan, Editor, Westgaard Year 2000, entitled, "Horn Issues New
Federal Government Report Card: Washington Agencies Average D-, F and DOD
[Department of Defense] Receive F's.
"On March 4, 1998 Congressman Steven Horn (R-Ca)
issued this third annual grades for Y2K preparedness among the
federal agencies. He called the executive branch "on the edge of failure,"
and that it was time for everyone "to start sweating" about
the Year 2000 status of the Department of Defense.. Results looked
like this: The Department of Agriculture (D- to B), the Department
of Veterans Affairs (C to A), Commerce and Labor (C to F), State (C
to F) , Defense (C- to F) Health and Human Services (B- to D). The
government at the current pace, will not get fixed in time. The
Global Command Control System failed testing when the date was rolled
over to the year 2000.
Benefit programs, motor vehicle records, and criminal records may be adversely
affected. Key economic sectors that could be seriously impacted if their
systems are not Year 2000 compliant are: information and telecommunications,
banking and finance; health, safety, and emergency services;
transportation; utilities; and manufacturing and small
business. The largely unknown, risks relates to the global
nature of the problem. Gartner Group surveyed 2400 companies in 17 countries
and concluded that 30% of all companies have not started dealing
with the Year 2000 problem.
Michael P. Harden, PhD., President and Chief Executive Officer of Century
Technology Services, Inc. "I appreciate the opportunity
afforded me to present to you, and the American people, what
I believe to be a critical, and perhaps even fatal aspect of
the government's ability to successfully deal with
this massive problem. The issue is the possible
inability of the Federal government to provide, acquire,
or maintain sufficient programming resources to tackle the Year 2000
Problem in the short time remaining before January 1, 2000.
With only 653 days remaining, the prospects of achieving
success appear ever more remote..
Since there aren't enough programmers available to fix
every system that may be affected by the Year 2000.. Programmers
are now demanding and receiving salaries in the six figure
range, with "retention" bonuses to keep them from leaving
for greener pastures elsewhere.. It is estimated computer programmer
salaries will double every six months through the duration of this
problem.. the temptation to leave government to take advantage of
this opportunity is just too good to pass up.. which makes the
task of fixing the problem for the government that much harder.. An estimated
labor needed to fix and test all of the Year 2000- impacted software
was over 700,000 person- years. With less than two years left, there
is no way possible to complete the task for everyone. There is a distinct
possibility that major changes are ahead.
President Clinton recently created a federally controlled Year
2000 Council. Its main role is to assure that federal computers
are prepared for the millennium and also assists state and local government.
Social Security is supposed to be pretty well on
target but the treasury is way behind in solving their problem.
The reason little information is getting out, the banks do not
want people to panic and pull their money out.
Here are some websites for information. The Council
http:// www.y2k. gov still under construction, but sketchy information
is available. Public health http://www.cdc.gov /y2k/y2khome.htm It
serves as an information resource for communications and broadcasting
companies and their customers. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. at (www.fdic.
gov/about/y2k) provides financial institution examinations. It
also has information on congressional testimony, federally approved
software and links to other federal bank regulators' Web sites.
Government Accounting Office at (www.gao.gov/y2kr.htm) provides guides,
reports and testimonies. IRS has a list of f.a.q. about the year 2000
(www.irs. ustreas. gov/prod/ news/y2k/). Others (www.nist. gov/y2k)
(www. usps.gov /dtf/12dtfy2k .htm) (www.sec. gov/news/ home2000.htm)
full of information on how publicly traded companies are doing in fixing
their Year 2000 problems. They have investor information. (www. sba.gov/
y2k/