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

To: Ken Salaets who wrote (2667)	10/7/1998 4:28:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 9818

I emailed the following letter to leading German politicians and leading magazines and newspapers. __________________ Dear Sirs, I am sending you this message because I am very worried about the current low level of awareness about the year2000 computer problem in Germany (Jahr-2000 Problem in German) and its possible consequences on German society. The problem may well be a threat to the complete infrastructure and society: - transportation - energy - hospitals - public and private telephone exchanges - production facilities - IT systems in small business and local governments In the link below a study from 'Ernst and Young' for the UK government of Tony Blair can be read how the UK government may prepare for coming disruptions. It appears to me that up till now no such actions have been done by the German government. Regards. John Mansfield _________________________ Millennium Infrastructure Project reports to government in UK : open.gov.uk The project above was undertaken by the Central IT Unit, which appears to be responsible directly to the UK Cabinet Office. The report itself was undertaken by Ernst & Young, and they were briefed to "identify the main processes which make up the country's essential services infrastructure, the interdependencies between the processes, and the potential outcomes of process failures". Among the gems herein, are: Critical failures in the Magistrates- and Crown- Courts system (essentially, the criminal courts as opposed to the civil courts): Impact will be civil disorder inside one week, affecting parts of the UK or majorly impacting localities. Critical failures in the maintenance of public order (essentially, the Police): Impact will be loss of life and civil disorder inside 24 hours, affecting the entire country. Commercial inefficiency would be seen inside 7 days. Critical failures in social provision, apparently including the NHS (Natl Health). Loss of life and civil disorder possible at local levels inside a month. Critical failures in dealing with Deaths: Note: EVERY dependancy, except two, are marked as 'Critical'. One is "Provide oil". The other is "Perform religeous services". Critical failures would lead to regional public health problems inside a month. Critical failures in emergency services: Loss of life: Inside 24 hours, affecting regions Civil disorder: Inside 7 days, affecting regions National economy: visible inside 1 month, affecting regions Public Health: Inside 7 days, affecting regions Personal hardship: Inside one week, affecting entire country. Civil disorder: Inside a month, affecting entire country (with a note that public perception may require this to be modified to inside a week) The above is advice to the UK government, and not necessarily what the goverment expects. The report seems to look at the effect of failures on critical dependancies in the national infrastructure, and their effects. Find the original report at: open.gov.uk Regards, John

To: Ken Salaets who wrote (2667)	10/7/1998 6:40:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

' Hospitals Stare Down Millennium by Spencer E. Ante 3:00 p.m. 6.Oct.98.PDT Minutes into the new millennium, life-support equipment begins to power down in Chicago trauma wards, and emergency rooms go dark in Los Angeles. A group of Year 2000 experts came together Tuesday in Washington to figure out how to prevent such a grim scenario from unfolding. "Hospital systems are extraordinarily complex and interconnected," said Wilkey Green, the minority staff director of the Senate's special Year 2000 committee and one of the meeting's speakers. "Our concern is that these systems be made compliant." Hospitals are potential Y2K minefields. They rely on hundreds of biomedical devices, including pacemakers, cardiac defibrillators, and magnetic image resonance systems. And any equipment that requires date or time calculations can rely on embedded computer chips susceptible to the millennium bug. Other systems at risk include patient record and billing systems -- including Medicare and Medicaid -- admission and discharge software systems, and physical building controls, such as automatic doors and climate control. "Perhaps more than any other institution, it is essential that hospitals are prepared to meet the challenges posed by the Year 2000 computer problem," said John Koskinen, President Clinton's point man on the millennium bug. "Y2K failures in the most basic systems could have serious repercussions for patient care." Committee co-chairman Senator Christopher Dodd was particularly critical of the medical-equipment manufacturers that have not informed hospitals of their progress towards making their devices Y2K compliant. A 29 July report by the Veterans Health Administration reported that of the nation's 1,409 medical-equipment manufacturers, 47 percent said their products were not susceptible to the millenium bug. But the health administration still hasn't received information from almost a quarter of those companies. And a recent Food and Drug Administration survey mailed to 16,000 manufacturers received only a 12 percent response rate. "That is unacceptable," said Dodd (D-Connecticut). "Hospitals need to have that information if they are to be successful in preparing for the Year 2000." On the other hand, an informal survey by the American Hospital Association suggests that the health-care industry may be making more progress than it's given credit. The study found that 89 percent of 800 hospitals that responded have inventoried existing equipment, and 76 percent have surveyed vendors to determine whether equipment is Y2K compliant. The president's council launched the Health Care Working Group to turn up the Y2K heat in the industry. Chairman Kevin Thurm, deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said the group has representatives from major federal health care agencies. Even if the larger hospitals are prepared to handle Y2K, some experts expressed concern about the ability of rural hospitals to root out the millenium bug. "Senator Dodd visited an urban, well-funded hospital recently and found that dialysis machines that they had bought several years ago at US$15,000 a pop had to be replaced," said staff member Green. "What does this mean for rural, underfunded hospitals?" wired.com

To: Ken Salaets who wrote (2667)	10/7/1998 7:14:00 PM
From: Tech Master	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

Please tell Bill it is time to make Y2K a major issue or the US and the world is going to suffer from a lack of leadership on Y2K. Regards, A very concerned citizen.

To: Ken Salaets who wrote (2667)	10/11/1998 12:09:00 AM
From: C.K. Houston	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 9818

'Starting next year, date and data corrections will dominate the software industry, said Jones, and the repairs will cost $5 trillion over the years 1999 to 2050. He predicted these problems, along with Y2K, will damage the software industry for a generation.' usatoday.com USA TODAY Contributed by John Mansfield ____________________________________________________________ Bill to Bring Technology Workers to U.S. Dies A bill that would have increased the number of United States visas granted to foreign high-technology workers died in the Senate Friday, with backers of the bill warning its demise could have dire Consequences as the computer industry tries to deal with the year 2000 millennium bug. nytimes.com NEW YORK TIMES Contributed by Josef Svejk ____________________________________________________________ AARGH Cheryl