Federal Agencies and Embedded systems...
I just returned from a Regional Response Team (RRT) meeting which is a group of state and government agencies that plan responses to various emergencies although one of the main focuses is on oil spills. This meeting had specific reports on Y2K issues, especially embedded systems. They are to have their full reports on embedded system difficulties whether through the agencies or their contractors within the next few months. The main focus was to determine if their primary contractors were fully functional by next fall. (This meeting is open to any interested citizen, but few ever attend. Advanced knowledge of acronyms is required to figure out the proceedings. I was there to make a presentation on oil spill response and bioremediation.)
There are over 14 fed agencies on this team and embedded systems analysis and remediation is now a priority for all of them. Agencies on the RRT are EPA, Coast Guard (primary agencies), justice, interior, GSA, agriculture,(FBI was in attendance but not a regular part of the RRT),defense, FEMA, Energy, NOAA, health and human services, transportation, State, Nuclear Regulatory commission, and treasury. No Doomsday scenarios were discussed but contingency plans were being made. This group does go through tabletop scenarios for various disasters. Most of the agencies reporting seemed to understand the embedded system problem. There was no mention of any private sector contractor. |
