For 
Report
By Jason Roberts
Many people don’t know what Y2K stands for, it represents the Millennium. The Y2K bug all started in the 1950’s because it was logical to use only two digits to represent the year in a date found in a program or data file. Information storage and memory were expensive at the time. It simply made economic sense to use the shortest date field possible. Since dates were used extensively throughout computer programs, abbreviating the year to just two digits did help to keep the programs and data files condensed. Programmers didn’t anticipate the problems this would cause in the Year 2000. They probably never believed that the applications still would be used in the turn of the century.
Everyone from chief executives to home computer users struggle to understand and tackle the Year 2000 technology problem. Today the Internet can provide information ranging from bug-squashing software to the Y2K status of major corporations.
Many people ask the question, how could the Year 2000 impact government services? Dates are used in many government computer systems to make date-based calculations. As a result, the broad range or government programs could be affected such as; tax processing, driver’s license renewals, payments provided by social benefits programs, student loan repayments, and even municipal sewer systems.
The Y2K bug could affect businesses in many ways. According to an analysis prepared for Business Week magazine, back in March of 1999, it was predicted that the National economic growth rate would be 0.3 percentage points lower in 1999. This is because companies will divert resources to address the Year 2000 computer glitch. Business Week also reports that the Year 2000 will touch businesses in other ways, causing higher inflation, and lower productivity growth. Another study shows that two-out-of-three large companies still lacked detailed Y2K action plans. As a result, some experts expected that hundreds of thousands of people could become unemployed and a mild recession could be triggered.
The public could be directly impacted by Y2K if the government services are disrupted or companies go out of business. Jobs could be lost, then state and federal programs could be temporarly stopped. Another problem, however is the use of embedded chips, which are used in computers? Computer chips that, are in many devices we use everyday such as security systems, heating, and air conditioning equipment, and even fax machines. These items are all date sensitive and when the Year 2000 arrives some of them could malfunction.
All organizations should contact their service providers to ensure that all critical support systems are not vulnerable to Year 2000 shutdowns. Some organizations are not responding quickly to the Y2K modifications. The cost of making Year 2000 modifications isn't cheap, and companies will gain no special customer service advantages over their competitors by making Year 2000 changes. The only advantage is that they will be able to stay in business. Other software development projects that would boost companies profitability will have to wait to allow time for making Year 2000 conversions. In addition, some firms are wishfully waiting for a "Silver bullet" which is a simple software solution that will quickly and inexpensively make all their required computer corrections. Most of the computer experts discount the likelihood of any single software program being developed to eliminate all occurrences of the Year 2000 "bug." Some companies will continue to procrastinate in making their needed Year 2000 fixes.
The Y2K problem is simple to understand. The two missing digits can cause computers to malfunction or produce erroneous dates, and it can be a very difficult, and time consuming process to fix. In one computer program alone there are thousands of lines of code. In each line of code, each one needs to be checked for Y2K compliance. A computer board has a programming controller with an embedded date-sensitive chip. There are over 50 billion of these chips in operation worldwide. While only 1-5% will be affected, we don’t know which ones, so we need to check and test them to make sure that its Y2K compliant.
Unfortunately, there are no magic pills and there is no way to substitute for the hard work of assessing your systems, and developing plans and allocating time and resources to fix it. Time is running out and many organizations will not be able to fix the problems, in time.
Most appliances in your home will not be affected by the Y2K because they use a clock instead of a calendar function. The automobile industry also reports that most of the computers used in cars and trucks do not have date related function.
A personal PC can be affected by Y2K just like larger mainframe systems and networks. The three areas of concern would be the hardware, software, and applications and files that have already been created.
KYW News has recently reported that the city of Philadelphia has failed to meet its September 30th deadline to be Y2K compliant. I am sure there are many other major cities facing the same situation.
I personally do not think that there will be many Y2K problems, but I know that on December 31, 1999 I will be on my computer, to see what happens at the start of the new Millennium.
Here Are Some Year 2000 Images:
Work Cited
http://www.pa2k.org/html/faq.shtml
Solving the Year
2000 Technology Challenge Frequently Asked Questions
KYW 3 (CBS)
Created by Jason on Sunday, October 10, 1999 at 5:32 PM
©1999