What will they think in 2 years time?
'Euro sets date for disaster
with year 2000
By Richard Burnett
of The Sentinel Staff
Published in The Orlando Sentinel, April 22, 1998
Like comets hurtling toward each other, the world's year
2000 problem and Europe's new ''euro'' currency are on a
collision course that could disrupt the world economy,
computer experts said Tuesday.
With the world already pouring billions into solving the
millennium problem, converting computers to the euro can
only fuel higher costs and more confusion, experts said at
a year 2000 conference in Orlando.
The millennium problem -- enabling computers to
distinguish between years 2000 and 1900 -- is the biggest
software project in history, while euro conversion is the
second largest, said Capers Jones, an author and
high-tech executive.
The European Union, including France and Germany,
plans to launch its unified currency -- called the euro --
beginning next year.
''The euro and year 2000 are competing for scarce
software resources,'' he said. ''The timing of the euro
conversion with the year 2000 work is disastrous. It is one
of the worst public policy decisions in human history.''
Jones spoke at the Year 2000 Conference & Expo in
Orlando, one of a series of events focusing on the
millennium problem. Experts fear the year 2000 software
flaw will disrupt the entire Information Age.
Jones is chairman of the conference advisory committee
and president of Software Productivity Research Inc., a
high-tech research firm based in Massachusetts. The
conference ends today at the Orlando Marriott World
Center.
<snip>
But Europe, which already is lagging in its year 2000
computer work, could suffer major economic damage by
simultaneously introducing the euro, Jones said.
Year 2000 could inject errors into computer systems that
calculate the difference between the euro, dollar, franc,
deutsche mark and other currencies.
Banks, government services, investment and retail
systems could shut down, and the economies of France,
Germany and other members of the European Union
could shatter, he said.
''The probable outcome of what will occur when the euro
meets the year 2000 may resemble what happened when
the Titanic met the iceberg,'' Jones said.
While America could probably absorb the euro hit, the
currency conversion still will cost billions of dollars on top
of the ever-ballooning year 2000 bill, he said.
The latest projections put the year 2000 price tag at $674
billion for the United States, Jones said. Estimates are not
available for euro conversion work.
Some attending the conference said Jones' remarks were
right on target.
''He's not alarmist. I think he's telling the brutal truth,''
said Dom Gualtieri, business development director for
Datamatics America Inc., a New York-based computer
consulting firm. ''As critical as the year 2000 problem is, I
believe the euro-dollar and all its ramifications are
hundreds of times greater.''
[Posted 04/21/98 7:21 PM EST]
orlandosentinel.com |
