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

To: John Mansfield who wrote (4772)	3/18/1999 12:59:00 PM
From: flatsville	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9818

A preview of March 31-- link @: <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/biztech/articles/18millennium.html"></A> =============================================== March 18, 1999 Government Raises Estimate of Y2K Cost By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON -- The government raised its estimate on Wednesday by $400 million, to $6.8 billion, for fixing the Year 2000 computer problem among federal agencies, and said costs are expected to rise again. And with only weeks before its self-imposed deadline of March 31 to have all its most important 6,399 computer systems fixed, it said only four out of five of those systems have been repaired, replaced or never were vulnerable. In a 57-page report from the Office of Management and Budget made available late Wednesday on the Internet, the government said three of its 24 largest agencies are making inadequate progress -- the Transportation Department, Health and Human Services and the Agency for International Development. Work at the Agency for International Development, one of the worst agencies for repairs, slowed after a computer failed testing that officials believed had already been fixed. The government predicted that five of the agency's seven most important computers would not be fixed by the March 31 deadline. The report said the $400 million increase to fix all systems government-wide was anticipated, and blamed the rise in agencies finding that some computer systems need to be reworked after initial repairs. "To the extent that agencies encounter additional difficulties through testing ... costs are likely to rise," the report said. Many computers originally programmed to recognize only the last two digits of a year will not work properly beginning Jan. 1, 2000, when machines will assume it is 1900. Some computers can be reprogrammed, but many devices have embedded microchips that must be physically replaced. The latest report said agencies are facing few problems because of these embedded chips, which aren't typically used for systems operating federal programs. "This area does not appear to be of great concern," it said. The government also said it doesn't expect to experience problems in its federal buildings, some of which feature computer-controlled elevators and heating and security systems. "No catastrophic Y2K building system potential failures have been identified," the report said, adding that "nearly all such systems allow for manual override." Five of the largest 24 federal agencies have completed work already: Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Small Business Administration and Social Security Administration.