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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 (37)	1/31/1998 5:15:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 618

But comparatively little has been said about so-called embedded systems globeandmail.com <snip> 'Lots of attention has been paid to the corporate world's need to rewrite millions of lines of computer code so its machines won't convulse when the calendar hits 2000. But comparatively little has been said about so-called embedded systems -- the code built into special-purpose microchips that inhabit just about every modern electronic device. That's why Mr. de Jager, arguably the world's most prominent year 2000 consultant, is brandishing his mythical sword. The list of embedded systems is as broad as modern civilization: power plants, manufacturing facilities, water and sewage systems, medical devices and military equipment. It also includes planes, trains, automobiles, elevators, phones, microwaves, ships, alarm systems and generally anything that goes buzz or beep. Software that runs on mainframe computers gets data from a relatively small number of places. If you can find the qualified personnel, it's just a matter of looking at those sources to make sure dating techniques are correct. But a factory can contain thousands of sensors collecting information, and controlling processes and devices. If some of those sensors shut down or begin feeding bad data into the system, the whole plant could be affected. Sensors or specialized processors feeding real-time factory floor information into data bases, which are highly sensitive to date glitches, could cause major difficulties. How widespread is the potential problem? Technology consultants estimate that more than 90 per cent of the chips manufactured every year go into embedded systems. In 1996, there were four billion chips manufactured, and that number has been rising. In most cases, the only way to fix the embedded systems is to replace them. Mr. de Jager has created Project Damocles on his World Wide Web site (www.year2000.com) to draw attention to this threat. Damocles is the mythical Greek figure who was given the king's seat at a banquet, only to find that there was a sword hanging over his head, suspended by a single hair. He was being taught a lesson about the tenuous nature of power. The sword Mr. de Jager holds is the threat that he will report date-related flaws in embedded systems to attorneys -- presumably to help them establish legal liability -- if the makers of those systems don't fix them.' <snip>

To: John Mansfield who wrote (37)	2/3/1998 11:16:00 AM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 618

A good example of a contingency plan: '... early ID on non-compliant PLC controllers' erols.com '7. early ID on non-compliant PLC controllers for the production line and an aggressive program of rapid replacement.' John ------- <snip>' 'I think the time is now for us to make Y2kCP a major initiative. I wrote to FEMA expressing my concern and I'm working to get groups such as CPSR and the disaster recovery industry to help. As time runs out for IT repair jobs, it becomes more critical and timely to assess the potential Y2k impacts and to prepare plans for coping with them. I am also working to pull together best practices on Y2k contingency planning that I will make available here. A good example of a contingency plan As reported to me by a Y2K consultant,ÿ US Borax Inc. in their US industrial operations assessmentÿ reached the same conclusion on Y2K and contingency planning.ÿ USB had already met many of their Y2K interdependency needs with a professional redundancy engineering approach to contingency planning. Examples- 1. installation of natural gas co-generation turbines for plant power if local power grid not available. 2. pre-positioned 2nd natural gas pipeline terminal from out-of-state provider if local gas utility not available. 3. pre-positioned onsite natural gas storage if 1st\2nd natural gas providers not available. 4. truck-mounted turbine startup generator if power grid not available. 5. onsite wells for required water in mining\extractive production if county water utility not available. 6. onsite hi-volume borax raw ore pre-positioning to meet customer demand if pit mine operations not available. 7. early ID on non-compliant PLC controllers for the production line and an aggressive program of rapid replacement. These contingency measures are tested often, both in simulation and in actual disasters such as earthquake damages which are common to the Mojave desert plant site. The consultant made the point that "US Borax'sÿ level of readiness is the exception to the rule when compared with other companies I've checked for actual capital expense and project completion." <snip>'