Europe: Millennium Bug On Agenda Of G8 Summit
rferl.org
Europe: Millennium Bug On Agenda Of G8 Summit
By Stuart Parrott
London, 10 February 1998 (RFE/RL) -- The danger posed by the Millennium Bug, which threatens to cause computers to malfunction from 2000 unless remedial action is taken, is to be put on the formal agenda of the next G8 summit in Britain in May.
The decision to place the issue before leaders of the eight top industrialized nations was reportedly taken in talks last week between President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Experts say the Millennium Bug could trigger a global recession because it could cause a breakdown in industries such as power, railways and telecommunications, and cause chaos to financial transactions including payment of pensions and welfare benefits.
The problem originates in the 1960s when programmers, trying to save costly computer memory, stored years as two, rather than four, digits -- 98 rather than 1998, and 00 rather than 2000.
When the digital clock hits midnight on December 31, 1999, it will confront a year coded as 00 -- and many computers around the world will assume the year is 1900, causing widespread chaos.
There are fears that airline computers, traffic lights, hospital equipment and safety systems will not function properly.
The problems have already begun. In the U.S., a supermarket chain rejected a supply of tinned beef because the sell-by date was past 2000; in France, shops are having difficulties with bank and credit cards with expiry dates falling in 2000.
Blair has put the problem high on the agenda of Britain's six-month presidency of the EU, saying he is "shocked" at the lack of preventive measures by small and medium-sized businesses, and that the problem "is larger and more urgent than people realize."
He is reported to have agreed with Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok that the problem should be discussed in depth at a "roundtable conference" of European industrial leaders in Britain in May. '
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