Re: From Today's USA Today: "Getting tough with Year 2000 bug"
Synopsis:
WASHINGTON - The Clinton administration will try to avert a "millennium crisis" in two years by directing more than a dozen federal agencies to divert hundreds of millions of dollars in their budgets to fix the Year 2000 computer problem, an administration official said Thursday. The bug will cause many software programs to run awry after the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1, 2000. That's because the programs recognize dates in two-digit format, so that "97" means 1997. But the programs have no way to distinguish "00" as 2000 instead of 1900. The funds that the agencies will be asked to redirect have already been appropriated by Congress, but the OMB can order that the money go toward other purposes.
Full story:
WASHINGTON - The Clinton administration intends to order more than a dozen federal agencies to redirect hundreds of millions of dollars in their technology budgets to fix the Year 2000 computer problem, an administration official said Thursday.
The Office of Management and Budget plans to order the agencies to "reprogram" their existing technology budgets to direct funds into the Year 2000 fix, an agency official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. These funds were already appropriated by Congress, but the OMB can order the money directed to other purposes.
Many old computer software programs that recognize dates in two digit formats - "97" would represent 1997 - will run awry after the stroke of midnight in the year 2000. That's because these old programs will be unable to distinguish the year 2000 from 1900. The federal government may spend up to $4 billion to avert widespread government computer crashes from what's being called the "millennium crisis."
An OMB review of 24 Cabinet agencies showed that seven had made "insufficient progress" in fixing the Year 2000 problem while nine remained "of concern" and eight had the problem under control, the official said. Details of the review weren't immediately available. The official said a rough estimate was that hundreds of millions of dollars would be redirected to fix the Year 2000 problem.
The OMB's move to drew praise from Rep. Stephen Horn, R-Calif., chairman of a House Government Reform and Oversight subcommittee, who is closely following the Year 2000 problem.
"Reprogramming was the way to get on top of this," Horn said at a press conference. Horn even advocates diverting non-technology funds, if necessary, for the computer overhaul.
Horn unveiled his own analysis of agencies' progress to date, which showed that at their current pace, 10 agencies will finish a Year 2000 conversion of their most critical computer systems on time while 14 will be late.
By The Associated Press
link: usatoday.com
- Jeff |
