AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS:
WEB-BASED YEAR 2000 INFORMATION SHARING
The Year 2000 (Y2K) computer problem is one of this century?s most
critical challenges, and it presents industry associations with an
important opportunity to disseminate vital information across company lines
-- to serve their members and, in turn, the American people.
The President?s Council on Year 2000 Conversion is calling upon such
associations to play a leadership role in the Nation?s efforts to prepare
for the century date change by organizing and reporting, particularly
through the Internet, technical information from their members about how to
solve the Year 2000 problem in their industry. This information sharing
will help not only those who are just beginning to address the problem, but
will also reinforce the work of organizations with more advanced Year 2000
programs.
The most common obstacles to Y2K information sharing are concerns
about legal liability for information shared and general confusion about
how to begin. The Council is committed to removing these obstacles. This
document:
1) discusses the protections provided for information sharing under
the recently enacted ?Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure
Act,? and
2) provides suggestions on how to share Y2K information through
Internet websites.
REMOVING LEGAL OBSTACLES TO INFORMATION SHARING
To increase the number of information technology systems that make a
successful transition to the Year 2000, widespread sharing of information
about experiences with product compliance, system fixes, testing protocols,
and testing results is critical. This key technical information can help
companies to save valuable time and effort.
Unfortunately, many businesses have been reluctant to share their Y2K
experiences with competitors, customers, and suppliers. These businesses
have had concerns about being held liable for providing information in good
faith that, unbeknownst to them, may be incorrect or may not apply to
someone else?s circumstances.
To address that issue, the Administration, Congress, and many industry
groups worked together to produce legislation that would protect firms from
liability claims related to good-faith information sharing about the Y2K
problem.
The ?Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act,? which
President Clinton signed on October 19, 1998, provides protection against
the use in any civil litigation of technical Year 2000 information about an
organization's experiences with product compliance, system fixes, testing
protocols and testing results, when that information is disclosed in good
faith.
In particular, the Act opens doors to information sharing via the
Internet. It includes specific protections for organizations that
republish information from liability claims based on the accuracy of that
information, provided that the organization states it is republishing the
information from third parties, and is not knowingly republishing false
information.
To promote cooperation among firms within the same industry, the Act
also provides a limited, temporary exception to antitrust laws for Year
2000 information sharing among industry competitors. The Act does not
provide immunity from liability for the sale or products that do not
function or the inability of a company to provide services to its
customers. It also does not change the terms of any existing contracts or
warranties.
(Click here for more information on the?Year 2000 Information and Readiness
Disclosure Act?)
BUILDING A Y2K DATABASE ON YOUR WEBSITE
The Internet?s capacity for rapid and interactive communications makes
it an excellent vehicle for Y2K information sharing. Once an industry
association is satisfied that creating a Y2K database will not result in
increased legal liability, the next question is: How do we get started?
To help answer that question, the President?s Council has worked with
several key industry groups that use the Internet to share Y2K information
with their members to develop some suggestions on the considerations that
go into building a Y2K database on an existing site.
These suggestions are not of a technical nature. The Council
recommends that you work with your IT support team to tailor them to the
needs of your organization and its members.
Audience
The first step is to decide who makes up your target audience.
Some target audiences will be comprised of IT department heads for
large corporations, others may be made up of small business owners with
less technical knowledge. Whatever the audience composition, it is always
a good idea to include a statement explaining for whom the database is
intended. You may decide to target multiple audiences and organize
information according to their different interests (e.g., separate paths
leading to general and technical Y2K information).
Information Elements
The next step is to decide what elements will be part of your database
and what sources you will tap to gather that information.
Data
Information critical to Y2K readiness falls into four broad
categories:
general information technology systems (e.g., personal computers
with
standard
software
packages);
industry-specific systems;
embedded microprocessors, or ?chips?; and
test procedures and results.
Sources
This information is available from the following sources:
the vendor of a system, product, or service;
individual reports from industry members; or
other reporting from third parties.
There are numerous ways to organize data -- chronologically,
alphabetically, etc. A common approach is to organize it by vendor
(listed, with links to individual vendor sites) and by product, either by
category (e.g., printers, lighting controllers) or by application (e.g.,
accounting systems, robotics). For common products with no unique industry
adaptations, such as personal computers or printers, the Council recommends
that, as a first step, you link to the vendor?s site, which is usually the
most up-to-date source for information. For more industry-specific
products, services or applications, the Council recommends that you rely on
both vendor-supplied data and member reports.
Links
It is always a good idea to offer users the opportunity to get more
details directly from the source. Direct links to vendor and member sites,
as well as those of other respected organizations, will help users gather
additional information and will ensure that the most current information is
available through your database.
Search Tools
Search engines help users get the maximum benefit from any web site.
Organizations should give serious consideration to incorporating such tools
into their Y2K databases to enable users to quickly identify whether the
database contains information about a vendor, product, or more specific
detail such as a part number or release version.
Work Space
By creating a special ?work space? area associated with a database,
organizations can provide their members with an opportunity to hold
discussions and learn from the experiences of their peers. Work space is
often especially valuable when database postings are centrally controlled
because it can satisfy members? desire to directly exchange with one
another anecdotal information about systems or technologies.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS -- SECURITY, FILTERING, VERIFICATION
Security
The Council is encouraging industry associations to share Y2K
information with as many groups as possible, but it also recognizes that
access decisions will vary.
Several options exist for limiting access to information posted on a
database. Access can be controlled by members-only passwords.
Organizations may also consider granting limited, ?read-only? access to
non-members, while giving broader privileges to members. For example,
selected editorial access can be granted to members so that they may add
their own perspectives to information postings about products. The Council
recommends that, for this option, vendors be given editorial access to
these segments as well, so that they can post replies to information,
update data, or offer other comments.
Content Filtering
Organizations must also determine who can post information on the
database. An industry group may decide to maintain centralized control
over all submissions, or it may invite individual members to post their own
Y2K data and product experiences. The benefit of centralized control is
having the power to decide whether and how material should be posted.
However, centralized control requires a commitment of personnel resources
to review postings and determine compliance with any organizational
policies and guidelines governing content.
Verification
As noted earlier, an organization that decides to republish
information through its database should inform users of this action.
Additionally, an organization should also disclose whether or not it has a
process for verifying the posted information. If an organization does not
have such a process, it should inform users that it is not independently
verifying the information provided through the database.
EXAMPLES: WEB-BASED YEAR 2000 INFORMATION SHARING
The following web pages are excellent examples of how to share Y2K
information through the Internet:
Air Transport Association
www.air-transport.org
Building Owners and Managers Association
www.boma.org
Edison Electric Institute
www.eei.org
Electric Power Research Institute
www.epri.com
Electronic Data Systems Corporation
www.vendor2000.com
Information Technology Association of America
www.itaa.org
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Cooperative Deployment
Network
www.nawgits.com/y2k/
Montgomery County, Maryland Year 2000 Project Office
www.co.mo.md.us/year2000
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