oecd.org
The Year 2000 Problem:
Impacts and Actions
This report was developed in response to a request at the 1998 Council meeting at Ministerial level that the
OECD "promote global awareness of the Year 2000 problem and its potential economic impact," and report to
the Ottawa ministerial conference on electronic commerce of 7-9 October. The report, co-ordinated by the
OECD's Public Management Service (PUMA), includes a review of economy-wide and sectoral impacts carried
out by the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI), and a PUMA-written chapter on
governments' role and actions, based primarily on responses to a questionnaire received from countries in June
and July. The report was reviewed, updated and accepted under written procedure in early September by the
PUMA Committee and the government "Year 2000 contacts" listed in this report. It is being published under the
authority of the Secretary General.
The Secretariat wishes to acknowledge the support of OECD Member countries, who provided information on
government assessments and actions that was essential for development of this report. Also gratefully
acknowledged are the contributions of Vladimir Lopez-Bassols (DSTI), primary author of Part I of this report,
Sandra Prerost, who contributed to sections on small-and-medium-sized enterprises and the health care sector;
Jian Pak, who provided valuable research assistance; and Daniel Blume, author of Part II and all remaining
sections of the report. This report also would not have been possible without the support of a grant from the UK.
This report will be distributed at the OECD Ministerial Conference on Electronic Commerce in Ottawa,
7-9 October, and at the Global Year 2000 Summit to be held in London, 15-16 October.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
Scope of the Problem
Scope of OECD Report
Methodology and Constraints
PART I: ECONOMY-WIDE IMPACTS OF THE YEAR 2000 PROBLEM
Current Status: Survey Evidence at The Firm Level
Recent surveys
Private sources
Government surveys
Status by sectors
Energy
Telecommunications
Financial services
Transportation
Health care
SMEs
Government sector
Other sectors
Global/international initiatives
Economy-wide Effects
Country surveys
Overall impact
Figure 1.1 United States OMB budget for Y2K repairs
Figure 1.2 Impact of Y2K on final demand in the Netherlands by sector, 2000
Table 1.1 Status of Y2K readiness by region and firm size, January 1997
Table 1.2 Y2K private sector readiness status by country
Table 1.3 Y2K exposure and compliance by sector
Table 1.4 Nuclear energy generation, 1997
Table 1.5 Y2K status of international telecom carriers, March 1998
Table 1.6 Government Estimated Budget Costs for Y2K
Table 1.7 Macroeconomic effects of Y2K on the Netherlands' economy
Annex Table 1. Estimates of Y2K fix costs
PART II: GOVERNMENTS' ROLE AND ACTIONS
Governments' Assessment of the Year 2000 Problem
Policies and Priorities for Addressing the Problem
The role of government
Economy-wide priorities.
Institutions for Co-ordinating Action and Awareness
Public Management Approaches to Effective Implementation
Reporting on preparations and compliance
Budgeting and human resource strategies
Regulatory strategies
Information disclosure and liability issues
Contingency planning
Table 2.1 Sample of government Y2K priorities by sector
Table 2.2 National Co-ordinating Bodies
Table 2.3 Results of selected OECD Member country reporting on Y2K preparations
CONCLUSIONS AND ONGOING CONCERNS
ANNEXES
ANNEX A: National and International Governmental Web Sites on the Year 2000 Problem
ANNEX B: Government Contact Points
ANNEX C: Questions to National Governments Regarding the "Year 2000 Problem"
ANNEX D: International Recommendations for Government Action
Joint Year 2000 Council
World Information Technology and Services Alliance
International Council for Information Technology in Government Administration
ANNEX E: The OECD Internal Year 2000 Initiative
REFERENCES
ACRONYMS |
