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Technology Stocks : Year 2000 (Y2K) Embedded Systems & Infrastructure Problem -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Mansfield who wrote (35)	1/31/1998 2:31:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 618

From Cory's Weather report of 1/26/1998: DC Y2K Meeting - 'Next month: the embedded problem.' Look at this Weather report. Cory describes the regular DC Y2K meeting; now attended by 200 people, including Y2K regulars such as Rick Cowles. Topic of next month's DC Y2K meeting according to Cory: 'Next month: the embedded problem.' This DC Y2K meeting is attended by many project managers of Y2K projects in US goverment (as far as I can understand from his reports). Highly visible, IMO Regards, John

To: John Mansfield who wrote (35)	1/31/1998 2:35:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 618

SPG's YEAR 2000 CONFERENCE & EXPO: also on embedded software problems 'Year2000.com Announcement List, Special Mailing, January 26, 1998 This special sponsored mailing to the Year2000.com Announcement List is to forward you a special offer from SPG regarding their Year 2000 Conference & Expos. Is Your Company Ready for the Year 2000? REGISTER NOW...SPG's YEAR 2000 CONFERENCE & EXPO!! NEW YORK, MARCH 18-20, 1998, NEW YORK HILTON AND TOWERS ORLANDO, April 20-22, 1998, MARRIOTT ORLANDO WORLD CENTER SPG's YEAR 2000 Conference & Expo, the largest, most focused, and longest running Year 2000 conference brings together the combined expertise of experienced users, leading industry authorities and Year 2000 solution providers to deliver hands-on strategies for solving your Year 2000 problem. The pre-conference workshops, keynote addresses, multi-track sessions, and cutting edge technology exposition will provide senior level managers and Year 2000 implementation teams in your organization with the information they need to develop and deliver timely solutions. NEW YORK KEYNOTE ADDRESSES FROM LEADING YEAR 2000 EXPERTS: Edward Yardeni, Chief Economist and Managing Director, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell -- Year 2000: Global Economy at Risk Paul Strassmann, President and Publisher, The Information Economics Press -- Pay Now or Pay Later Peter de Jager, President, de Jager & Company Limited -- Moving Towards Zero NEW YORK YEAR 2000 WORKSHOPS: (MARCH 18, 1998: 8:30am - 12:00pm) Year 2000 Implementation Techniques Carl Gehr & Marilyn Frankel, Edge Information Group Solutions to Year 2000 Problems with Infrastructure and Embedded Systems David Hall, Millennium Investment Corporation Year 2000 Strategies From Start to Finish for Small to Mid-size Companies Ann Coffou, Giga Information Group and Stephanie Moore, Giga Advisory Services Safe Year 2000 Use of Desktop Software Patrick O'Beirne, Systems Modelling Limited Establishing and Managing the Year 2000 Program Office Jesse Feiler and Barbara Butler, Philmont Software Mill ORLANDO KEYNOTE ADDRESSES FROM LEADING YEAR 2000 EXPERTS: Paul Strassmann, President and Publisher, The Information Economics Press Pay Now or Pay Later Capers Jones, Chairman, Software Productivity Research The Economic Impact of the Year 2000 Problem Edward Yourdon, Chairman & Co-Founder, Cutter Consortium The Year 2000: The Impact of Government/Social Disruptions on Your Business ORLANDO YEAR 2000 WORKSHOPS: (APRIL 20, 1998: 8:00am - 12:00pm) Year 2000 Implementation Techniques Carl Gehr & Marilyn Frankel, Edge Information Group Solutions to Year 2000 Problems with Infrastructure and Embedded Systems David Hall, Millennium Investment Corporation

To: John Mansfield who wrote (35)	1/31/1998 2:36:00 PM
From: K. M. Strickler	Respond to of 618

Thanks for the 'post'! It will take a while for me to 'chew through' all of the information you have generously posted! Ken

To: John Mansfield who wrote (35)	1/31/1998 2:37:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 618

Some embedded software companies - all participating in y2k embedded software discussions control.com The Automation List ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Web Sites of Participants The following Web sites belong to participants (and their companies) in the Automation List. We provide them here to let you know what other folks on the list are involved in... Action Instruments, actionio.com AEG Schneider Automation, modicon.com Allen-Bradley, ab.com Ariadne, galleta.com AVCA Corporation avcacorp.com Baker Motion Control Systems, bakermotion.com Control Technology Corporation, control.com Ken Crater, control.com Echelon Corporation, lonworks.echelon.com Fisher-Rosemount, frsystems.com John Gabay, li.net Gemini Controls, teleport.com Greg Gogates, fasor.com Industrial Computing Society, ics.org Integrated Designs, compulink.co.uk Doug Jensen, realtime-os.com Motorola SCADA page, mot.com National Instruments, natinst.com Neural Applications Corporation, neural.com The Norwegian Institute of Technology, itk.unit.no OASYS Group Inc., wizdom.com ORSI, orsiweb.com Padilla, Speer, Beardsley, psbpr.com Jim Pinto, actionio.com Charles Puls & Company, abracadabra.com Richmond Automation Design, Inc., ricauto.com SoftPLC Corp., softplc.com Western Reserve Controls, wrcakron.com Wizdom Controls Inc., wizdom.com

To: John Mansfield who wrote (35)	1/31/1998 2:44:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 618

Y2K testing at Schneider Automation modicon.com go to 'year 2000' Year 2000 Test Results 'Test results are complete on part of the "Schneider Automation" Family of Programmable Controllers..... As a manufacturer of industrial electronic automation products, Schneider Automation has initiated an exhaustive, high priority test program to ensure that its systems will operate in an expected manner when the date changes at midnight, December 31, 1999. Schneider Automation has been studying the affect of changes that may take place as a result of date change fields and related logic. Tests to assure that such changes will not incorrectly compute values or adversely impact system designs have been completed on part of the Schneider Automation family of products including the Modicon TSX Quantum. Testing on the remaining Modicon TSX line, the traditional Telemecanique line, and the SY/MAX line are still in progress but should be completed shortly. Test results for each unique implementation of the Real Time Clock function, the response, and the possible application effects are documented below. Users must be aware that some "Modicon" products employ a "2" Digit NOT a "4" digit year field (i.e. 00 vs. 2000). Therefore, users should evaluate / understand their specific applications of the year field and insure that no "Subtract" or "Divide" functions are used that could negatively impact their process. Test Criteria (Sample Test From attached): Testing was conducted to insure that all Hardware and Software product date fields will "Rollover" correctly from: December 31st, 1999 to January 1st, 2000 (both Powered and battery backed)! Each Months rollover verified! Leap year functionality tested (February 29th, 2000)! Set Date functions within the year 2000 and thru 2030! Power Cycles at rollover points! Illegal Set Date values! Test Results: Note: If the product is not listed below it does not employ a "Time of Day" clock and would not be subject to any problems with the Millennium (i.e. 184, 284, 384, 484, 584, etc.) ... Any questions or concerns should be addressed to the Schneider Automation Technical Support Center @ 1-800-468-5342 or 1-508-975-9700 '

To: John Mansfield who wrote (35)	1/31/1998 2:45:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 618

Safety systems face millennium shutdown computerweekly.co.uk 'Safety systems face millennium shutdown There is a 50%-80% chance that all sophisticated, safety-related control systems will fail in the year 2000, damning research from the Health and Safety Executive has revealed. The report, Safety and the year 2000, found that even the most simple safety systems have a 5% chance of failing because of the millennium. Systems most at risk include those which control the sensors that detect fire or gas leaks in big production plants. Many engineering and manufacturing companies depend on these systems, and whole processes may be at risk, the report warned. "But my greatest concern is for small and medium-sized businesses," said Jerry Docherty, managing director of Real Time Engineering, the consultancy that carried out the research on behalf of the executive. "Despite the publicity about the year 2000, I still think some companies are unaware of how serious the problem is. And if they are aware, do they have the technical and financial resources to apply to the problem?" Docherty advises firms that have not yet carried out a year 2000 audit should do so immediately. Safety systems should be addressed first; then real-time systems that control the production plants. Office environment (heating, lighting and air conditioning) and security systems should be the third priority, Docherty added. <Picture> Safety and the year 2000 As functionality increases, so does the potential for Year 2000 failure, and the authors of this report advise that the failure rate rises considerably above 50% for more sophisticated systems (note that these may or may not be safety systems). You can read abstracts and order copies of Safety and the year 2000 from the HSE Bookfinder Web site. '

To: John Mansfield who wrote (35)	1/31/1998 2:48:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 618

UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) hsebooks.co.uk (follow up post): '<snip> The effect on safety In most engineering , production and manufacturing environments, a variety of systems are used to plan, measure, store information, control processes and to keep them safe. These systems are often referred to as 'real time' systems because data (events) are processed as they occur, the results being available immediately. Quite often such systems are linked together by communications networks which means that information is shared and used for different purposes. When such information is both time or date-dependent and important for the safe operation of a process or machine, then safety becomes an issue at year 2000. Also, the correct operation of a safety system which is itself resilient to the 'Year 2000 Problem' may still be affected by the failure of a subsidiary system to which it is linked. The unpalatable fact is that the 'Year 2000 Problem' is a failure which is potentially common to all systems. In the jargon of the control systems world, this is known as a 'common cause' failure, ie it can cause the simultaneous failure of more than one system. In the case of year 2000, the potential exists for a very great many systems to fail at the same time. In summary, the nature of the 'Year 2000 Problem' means that any programmable electronic system within a linked chain of processes may fail and so could affect any safety-related arrangements. Equipment containing embedded systems may fail or give incorrect information. The results of calculations may be erroneous and operators may take inappropriate action, or other dependent safety-related control circuits may respond inappropriately. What can you do now Complete the steps in the decision tree adjacent; the result will indicate the options open to you. Safety at Work and the Law <Picture> Suppliers, employers, the self-employed and consultants have legal obligations. These are set out in general terms in the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) and the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 1992 as amended. Specific legislation, relating to control systems is contained in the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1992 (PUWER). Regulation 5 requires that work equipment must be suitable, by design, construction or adaptation, for its intended purpose. Regulation 18 requires that employers ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the operation of a control system does not pose any additional risk to health or safety. Any hazardous event which may result form a date discontinuity problem in a safety-related control system may therefore contravene this regulation. Duty of designers, manufacturers and suppliers Those who design, manufacture or supply articles for use at work also have a duty to those who use those articles (section 6 of HSWA). This duty extends to the information provided for use. It also extends to the revision of such information if it becomes known that anything gives rise to a risk to health or safety. In other words the law requires designers, manufacturers and suppliers to be pro-active and take reasonably practicable steps to inform their customers of potential problems once they become known. Date-discontinuity problems in the hardware or software of a safety-related control system is such a problem. Manufacturers and suppliers also have more specific duties under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 1992 as amended, for machines that have control systems. In particular a fault in the control circuit logic such as a date discontinuity problem, should not lead to dangerous conditions. Recommendations If you use or provide your employees with PES on which you rely for safety, then the following report will provide you with one method for tackling the 'Year 2000 Problem'. Do not assume that your safety-related control systems are immune to date discontinuity problems: remember it is much better to be safe than sorry. Do not wait for someone to develop a simple 'magic method' which will solve this problem. The consensus of technical opinion is that it would have surfaced by now if it were at all possible. Act now: as far as safety is concerned this is not tomorrow's problem - time, in this case, is most definitely of the essence! Further guidance HSE will issue guidance on this topic in March 1998. This guidance will be free and available from the Internet (address http:/www.open.gov.uk/hse/hsehome.htm) and as a leaflet. The guidance will be based on the material in this report and will give more specific advice on what HSE expects of dutyholders.

To: John Mansfield who wrote (35)	1/31/1998 2:51:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 618

UK unites to beat bug:': Greater focus on embedded systems' computerweekly.co.uk 'UK unites to beat bug Ian Mitchell Infrastructure bodies and the Government are joining forces to help the UK battle through the millennium date crisis. At a ground-breaking meeting in early January, project managers in energy, healthcare, banking and telecoms issued a five-point plan which called on the Government to co-ordinate the national response. This week the Government broadly accepted the group's request, making the UK the first country in the world to adopt an integrated infrastructure policy. The meeting was arranged by Martyn Emery of Corporation 2000 and hosted by Graham Reid, head of BT's millennium programme. It was attended by 17 project leaders from 15 organisations, including Shell, Railtrack, Nuclear Electric and Action 2000. Their five-point agenda includes a demand for a government minister to co-ordinate planning and testing among the infrastructure bodies, spanning public and private sectors. <snip> The five-point plan 1.Minister with responsibility for infrastructure 2.Industrial forum to co-ordinate action on infrastructure 3.Greater focus on embedded systems 4.Contingency planning through 1998/99 and 1999/2000 5.Communication plan Meeting of the great and the good Organisations represented at the first national infrastructure meeting: Action 2000; BBC; BT; Department of Social Security; Electricity Association; Local Government Management Board; Marks & Spencer; Metropolitan Police; NHS Executive; Nuclear Electric; Post Office; Railtrack; Shell Oil; Southern Water; Transco Gas. '

To: John Mansfield who wrote (35)	1/31/1998 2:53:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 618

From Rick Cowles well known site on utilities: 'the proposed GL is much stronger than the industry anticipated' The following is from Rick Cowles; y2k expert on utilities: 'EUY2K NEWS AND VIEWS The "Drudge Report" of Y2k Issues Recent Industry Events and Breaking News 01/28/1998 - FLASH!!! The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a draft Generic Letter on 01/27/1998 regarding nuclear plants and the Year 2000 problem. There is a 30 day comment period for the Generic Letter (GL), after which time the letter will be formalized. In its current form, the proposed GL is much stronger than the industry anticipated, and will no doubt cause a great deal of consternation within the nuclear power community. When this website was first placed online in mid-1997, one of the first topical areas addressed was the nuclear end of the electric industry - and from the beginning, I've cautioned the industry to pay attention to the increasing pitch and volume of the Y2k words emminating from One White Flint North (NRC Headquarters). My concern then, and now, is that the industry as a whole is NOT correctly reading the political tea leaves inside the Washington, D.C. beltway. There was and is no question that the NRC's ultimate response to the Y2k issue will indeed be strong (see the "Nuclear Industry Insider View" for more details). There are several reasons, backed by strong evidence: The NRC is under intense pressure from congress and the GAO to hold nuclear licensees accountable for prudent operation, and that accountability extends specifically to Y2k issues. Reps. Morella, Horn, and Sen. Moynihan have specifically requested a continuing dialog with the NRC Commissioners on Y2k issues in the nuclear industry. The federal Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is allocating significant resources during 1998 to audit and evaluate NRC's response to Y2k, both internally and with NRC's licensees. At the risk of being redundant, to gauge the NRC's eventual response to Y2k, the industry needs to understand the intense pressure that the NRC is feeling on the issue. To paraphrase an NRC staffer at the October, 1997 NEI/NRC joint meeting: "We've come under increasing criticism from GAO, and have developed a very low threshold of pain. And if we feel Y2k pain, you can be sure the industry will feel the pain." Twenty percent of the domestic U.S. electric production capacity is vested in nuclear technology. The reserve generating capacity does not exist in several regions of the country to replace nuclear generation should NRC mandate shutdown of "non-Y2k ready" power plants. Finally (and quite frankly), I grow weary of taking heat for bearing a message that hasn't been heard in the past and isn't likely to be heard now. I spent five years in a nuclear licensing / regulation environment interpreting the regulatory tarot cards, and so have a bit more than passing knowledge of the process and players. It's time for the nuclear industry leadership contingent to quit throwing bricks at the messenger, and to get serious about mitigating the ultimate NRC Y2k response. '

To: John Mansfield who wrote (35)	1/31/1998 2:56:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 618

EPRI Electrical Power Research Institute Y2K site - long post epriweb.com 'Mitigating the Millennium Bug Microprocessors are incorporated into much of the equipment that drives mission-critical corporate operations and communications. Some chips may have a problem with the rollover to the Year 2000. But which ones? Under what conditions? EPRI has initiated a "Year 2000 Issues for Embedded Systems" project to complement the efforts already underway by many companies. The program acts as a focal point for collection, synthesis, and discussion of practical information to address potential consequences. We invite you to read the program description and become a project member Created by electric utilities in 1973, EPRI is one of America's oldest and largest research consortia with some 700 worldwide members. Though the Year 2000 program is geared initially to the needs of the electric power industry, companies in other industries are invited to participate as well. EPRI Year 2000 Issues for Embedded Systems Program Objectives facilitate information exchange via: industry-wide web site with extensive knowledge base information sharing with other industries quarterly workshops for program participants seminars and conferences "quick response to inquiry" identify industry "lessons learned" identify potential R&D opportunities identify training opportunities provide collaboration with other industry and government organizations assist in developing contingency planning <snip> The Power Of The Chip epriweb.com <Picture: chips>Chips - ubiquitous chips - control everything from the spark advance in an automobile to massive utility systems. Globally, there are more than a billion chips in service today. Many of the chips currently being used may have a potential problem with the rollover to the year 2000 and other high-risk dates. Consequently, industries around the world are racing the clock to meet this unprecedented challenge of the Information Age. Numerous companies have already initiated Year 2000 programs, but most of those programs focus on software-related issues. Embedded systems - the microprocessors and chips that keep our modern society running - have not received as much attention. Logic and computation errors by date-sensitive embedded systems could have an incredible range of impacts - from compromised power quality to the complete failure of power generation and delivery systems, breakdowns in industrial equipment and processes, and unprecedented losses in customer services. Because of the characteristic interconnectivity of the Information Age, Year 2000 problems experienced by major suppliers, vendors, and customers could also affect crucial business and infrastructure functions. Because embedded systems perform mission-critical functions in all parts of utility operations, communications, and business, it is important, particularly for infrastructure industries, to recognize the linkages upstream and downstream of their own operations. Failure to address the problem in one part of the larger system can have repercussions elsewhere. Year 2000 compliance may prove critical to market retention and, perhaps, survival in some competitive, service-oriented sectors.