[EU] 'EU experts trade ideas on millennium bug
'Full story
EU experts trade ideas on millennium bug
08:44 a.m. May 08, 1998 Eastern
By Lyndsay Griffiths
LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - Millennium bug experts from across
the European Union met on Friday to swap ideas on preventing
computer chaos when the new century dawns.
...
Seeking to head off such chaos, British junior trade minister Barbara
Roche summoned European Union member states to thrash out
solutions to the millennium bug.
''This conference is about sharing our experiences to ensure that
each member state's awareness, activities and other preparations
are as effective as possible,'' Roche told reporters at the start of the
conference. ''We are absolutely determined to put our full weight
and authority behind this.''
If nothing is done, computers that read only the last two digits of any
year could fail to carry out the most basic functions in 2000, be it
heating hospitals, paying staff or delivering goods.
Roche conceded EU states were tackling the problem in different
ways and with varying levels of effectiveness, but said it was vital
everyone pulled together so EU trading was not disrupted come the
year 2000.
''No country can tackle the bug in isolation. A failure in one part of
the EU could have potentially serious knock-on effects elsewhere,''
said Roche, who convened the meeting as part of Britain's rotating
presidency of the EU.
The issue is also due to be discussed at a Group of Eight summit in
Britain later this month.
Britain and the Netherlands are considered at the forefront of EU
efforts to head off potential computer chaos in the corporate sector,
with small and medium-sized firms considered most at risk.
''We aim to share problems and knowledge,'' said Don Cruickshank,
Britain's so-called Bug Tsar.
''In a global economy, the financial health of one nation or one
international business impinges upon all the others. Nowhere is this
interconnectedness more apparent than in the challenge of the
millennium bug,'' he said.
Washington has said many nations are woefully ill-prepared and do
not yet recognise the turmoil that could hit everything from power
grids to air traffic control.
The Central Intelligence Agency has said Canada, Britain and
Australia were in the best shape but still lagged the United States by
about six months. The rest of Western Europe, led by the
Scandinavians, came next, with Asia and Latin America facing the
most problems. |
