March 10, 1998
'Millennium Czar' to Wrestle With Year 2000 Bug
By JERI CLAUSING
ASHINGTON - The federal government's new "millennium czar" starts
work this week on a daunting task: making sure the government and
private sector avert computer chaos at the turn of the century.
John Koskinen came out of retirement Monday to take over as chairman of the
President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, also known as the Y2K Council.
Koskinen retired in 1997 as deputy director of management for the Office of
Management and Budget. But he was talked into coming back to public service to
help the country deal with the looming Year 2000 problem.
One of the first items on his agenda is a Congressional hearing on March 18 where
the General Accounting Office will issue a report on recommendations for dealing
with year 2000 bugs. Massive glitches are expected at the turn of the century when
many computers, which use only the last two digits for dates, will be unable to
distinguish the year 2000 from 1900.
From old mainframe computers used by major corporations, utilities and financial
institutions to household appliances and alarm systems, the millennium is expected
to have a widespread impact on the private sector as well.
The Office of Management and Budget estimates it will cost $2.3 billion to avert
widespread government computer crashes from the "millennium crisis."
Koskinen will oversee not only what the government is doing but will make sure the
public and private sector work together prevent major problems. He is also
responsible for ensuring international coordination.
Next week's hearing by the Government Management, Information and Technology
Subcommittee of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee is just
one of a number that Congress has held on this issue this year.
Both houses have passed and sent to the President a bill that will require federal
banking, thrift and credit union regulators to help financial institutions deal with the
switch.
The proposal, passed by the Senate last week, also would give thrift and credit
union regulators the authority to examine organizations that perform services for a
thrift or credit union - particularly the subcontractors that provide software and
hardware such as automatic teller machines. Bank regulators already have that
authority.
Last month, the GAO reported to Congress that the Federal Aviation
Administration, at its current pace, would be unable to remove all the "year 2000"
bugs from its hundreds of critical computer systems before the turn of the century,
which could jeopardize airline safety, increase costs and delay flights |
