Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Mansfield who wrote (867)	1/11/1998 7:51:00 PM
From: BM	Respond to of 9818

"We're running out of time, folks" BY CHRIS COBB The Ottawa Citizen (Jan 3/98) Millennium angst, a condition caused by a computer bug, has yet to grip the general population, but former bank executive with a bleak view of the future says powerful corporations could crumble at the end of 1999 if they don't shape up. Shattered economies, mass unemployment and a future snatched from our children were among the dramatic spectres raised yesterday by Joe Boivin, who has formed the Global Millennium Foundation which, he says, is committed to leading Canada into a bug-free next century. Mr. Boivin wants the federal government to organize an international conference on millennium awareness in the style of last month's multinational conference on the environment in Kyoto, Japan. The former director of the CIBC's millennium business strategy hopes to receive charity status for his foundation, which will allow him to issue tax receipts to donors. He has also started a parallel personal business which will sell millennium-related advice. The millennium bug, which Mr. Boivin says will definitely ravish some businesses and economies across the world, is the frightening potential of some computer systems to begin confusing the year 2000 for l900 after midnight Dec. 31, 1999. There was no such angst at the turn of the last century when the only communications equipment in need of overhaul were pen nibs and typewriter ribbons -- neither of which threatened the world with financial ruin. "We're running out of time, folks," said Mr. Boivin, who accuses Canada's industry leaders of not doing enough to solve what he calls "the Year 2000 problem." "Unless we create a global solution," he said at a Parliament Hill news conference, "our jobs, and the futures of our children, are in jeopardy." Mr. Boivin says only Canada's banks have done a good job preparing for 2000 and theirs is the mode everyone else should be using. The federal government isn't doing a bad job, but hasn't done enough and some companies have barely thought about the bug. Mr. Boivin, 54, threw down the gauntlet yesterday and challenger too of the country's largest employers to reveal how much they are spending to prepare for the millennium. He said he doesn't expect those companies to ignore him but, if they do, he will expose them to public ridicule. "Anyone who isn't going to issue those numbers by the end of January should be deemed a threat to the Canadian economy and should be looked upon as a questionable investment," he says. Global Millennium Foundation isn't about money, insisted Mr. Boivin, who told reporters he gave up a comfortable banker's lifestyle in Toronto and used his own money to start the 2000 project. Mr. Boivin says he has several hundred volunteers working in industry -- some openly and others secretly. This, he hinted, is why he is so well acquainted with the state of industry's millennium preparedness. "In Canada, most businesses know there's a problem, but they are not taking it seriously enough," he added.

To: John Mansfield who wrote (867)	1/11/1998 7:56:00 PM
From: BM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

Kearney warns Year 2000 problem will close companies The Toronto Globe and Mail (Jan 7/98) Hold on to your office chair: The year 2000 computer problem will hit with the force of an earthquake, and when it's over, some companies won't be standing, a consulting firm warns. A.T. Kearney predicts in its 1998 outlook that some companies will cease to operate rather than make a substantial investment to immunize their systems against the year 2000. "We shall soon see just how dependent our lives have become on computing," the international consulting firm says in its 1998 Outlook on Global Business Environment and Industry Trends. But the shakeout will present an opportunity for companies whose computer systems survive the year 2000 test, it says. They will become stronger by acquiring. products, customers and employees from businesses that lacked the will or the resources to fix their systems in time. Without a costly overhaul, computers will be baffled by the year 2000, interpreting the last two digits as the year 1900 or some random date. A.T. Kearney predicts that the U.S. government will begin a "non-military draft" of specialized programmers to fix Department of Defense computers to and avoid a potential security threat. In Canada, some companies may not know what hit them. 'Statistics Canada says 60 per cent of businesses he are doing nothing to prepare their systems and only 10 per cent have a formal plan in place.

To: John Mansfield who wrote (867)	1/12/1998 2:39:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

Dutch opposition against Italy as EMU participant? In an article of 'Der Spiegel' of this week, it is mentioned that the Dutch minister of finance has mentioned strong opposition against Italy as a member of the EMU. He is quoted to have said that the Netherlands will not participate when Italy will participate. This has got the Germans and French governments deeply worried. There is apparently not enough trust in future budget cuts by the Italian government, and their ability to sustain the 'Maastricht' criteria for becoming a member of the monetary union. 'Der Spiegel' is one of the most influential weeklies of Germany. My remark: Also, governments of both Great Brittain (not becoming a member next year) and the Netherlands are furthest in y2k awareness and setting up proper government action. Pure coincidence!? Regards, John