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To: tech who wrote (1503)	12/9/1997 2:34:00 PM
From: tech	Respond to of 3391

Media Want Y2K Sound Bites A Y2K programmer complains that the media are not interested in the Y2K story in any serious way. Until there's a crisis, the story will be relegated to special features and specialized publications. * * * * * * * * * I've spoken to several reporters for various magazines and other major newspapers. The journalistic rage of the day is to get info from a Y2K specialist, and then find a CEO or CIO of some company that will debunk whatever the specialist is saying. It's almost gotten to the point of debunking responses being personal attacks on the credibility of anyone associated with trying to spread the word on Y2K, and I've got business interests which require that I maintain as much credibility as possible. In as much as you know a lot about the subject yourself, I'm sure you're aware that it's not possible to concisely explain Y2K and it's possible ramifications (at least not without coming across like a nut case). It's too technical for the average reporter to understand and accurately portray in a few short columns of ink. But it's very easy to find the CEO or CIO who will say "This guy is full of s***." That's a short, concise, 6 word sentence that blows any credibility related to the Y2K issue (and the specialist) right into the toilet. I'd rather let the web page speak for itself. That way, at least the reporter who wants the info has to dig and understand the situation a little bit before moving on. I'm prepared to defend my views as expressed on the web page, but not necessarily prepared to defend something I might say to a reporter that's taken out of context and ultimately published as fool's gold gospel. Being an ex-politician, I've been there a few times. ;-) Newspaper reporters, like their TV brethren, only want sound bites. Their editors don't want details. You can't explain this thing without details. Which leads me to my two current fears regarding Y2K awareness and remediation: 1. The lawyers are involved, and legal paralysis is going to bring many programs to a standstill in the next few months, 2. The reporting slant is now such that a lot of Y2K specialists won't even talk to reporters, for fear of damaging themselves personally and professionally. So the word stays bottled up, and the majority of the public either thinks it's a load of B.S. or hears nothing at all.

To: tech who wrote (1503)	12/9/1997 2:48:00 PM
From: tech	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3391

Governments in the U.S. Are Way Behind, Summit Meeting Reveals Link: state.pa.us A summit meeting was held in late October in Pennsylvania. Here is how the publshed summary described the meeting: "Each Executive Session was comprised of a group of people representing both states and federal agencies, who worked on the technical and other details for each policy framework. The Summit drew 107 government officials, many of whom were chief information officers. Seventy of the participants represented 42 different states and US territories, while 37 attendees represented 21 federal agencies. In addition, a representative from Canada's Year 2000 task force participated. The sessions were closed to the public." This means that not all states were represented. Also, there are more than 21 Federal agencies that need help with this problem. The results of their survey are frightening. Notice how few agencies are at the implementation stage, let alone testing. Notice also how little of the budget is devoted to the problem: about 20%. This same figure appears in private industry. Remember this application of Pareto's law: "80% of your problems will come from 20% of your operations." Finally, look at how little communication there is with those outside agencies that the repairing agency interacts with: about 20%. Almost everything is devoted to in-house applications. But the problems of imported data and coordination are the big ones. This is a systemic problem. * * * * * * * RESULTS OF THE Y2K EFFORTS STATUS SURVEY Question #1: "With respect to your overall year 2000 effort, how far towards completion is your state or agency?" The mean response was 31.6%, with a range from 2% to 75%. (Exhibit 1 shows the complete distribution of values.) Question #2: "With respect to the year 2000 problem, which of the following stages have the majority of your agencies or departments begun?" The mean responses were: Information gathering: 24% Problem definition: 24% Planning: 24% Analysis: 23% Implementation: 10% Evaluation/testing: 9%. Question #3: "With respect to the year 2000 problem, which of the following stages have the majority of your agencies or departments completed?" The mean responses were: Information gathering: 23% Problem definition: 21% Planning: 17% Analysis: 10% Implementation: 1% Evaluation/testing: 0%. Question #4: "How many dollars do you anticipate your agency will allocate in total toward the year 2000 effort (in million of dollars)?" The mean response was $169.1M, with a range from $1M to $3,000M. (Exhibit 2 shows the complete distribution of values.) Question #5: "What percentage of your total IS budget this year is being allocated toward the year 2000 problem?" The mean response was 18.3%, with a range from 0% to 22.9%. (Exhibit 3 shows the complete distribution of values.) Question #6: "How much of your year 2000 problem a) is internal to your state or agency?, or b) relates to exchanging information with other entities (external)?" The mean responses were: Internal: 79.3% External: 20.7%.