World y2k Center Appeals For More Country Reports

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Thursday August 26 4:31 PM ET

World Y2K Center Appeals For More Country Reports

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.N.-backed clearing house for Year 2000 computer problems appealed Thursday for more countries to disclose their state of readiness.

The International Y2K Cooperation Center issued an initial global report card with results for 72 countries but said it was still waiting to hear from 67 nations.

Another 56 countries have shared information with the center but have not yet said whether it can be made public.

``Full public disclosure of Y2K preparations activities is essential to maintain public confidence in the international marketplace,'' said a statement by Bruce McConnell, director of the World Bank-funded center.

The Year 2000 problem stems from an old programming habit of using just two digits to represent years in dates. Unless fixed, computers may read 00 as 1900 instead of 2000 and either stop working or miscalculate data.

The country reports looking at sectors like energy, transportation and health services can be found on the Internet at www.iy2kcc.org.

The information from national Y2K coordinators lists the month in which the country says it will be 90 percent complete with its remediation efforts.

McConnell said a number of technologically advanced countries such as France, Germany and Canada were not represented in the first readiness report because of a dispute over whether their data fit into the center's format.

``We're working with them to try and accommodate them and come up with a mutually understandable report,'' McConnell said in a telephone interview.

Most countries reporting at this stage said they would be ready by the end of the year in the sectors that also include commerce, finance, government services and customs.

A couple of nations, such as Slovenia in the health area and Bolivia in customs, do not expect to be ready until after the New Year.

But even the United States is cutting it close in the health sector, expecting to be 90 percent ready only by December.

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Looks like the US is capitulating on Health Care !!

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), August 26, 1999

Answers

can you say "massive flight to quality"?

it's already starting...

Mike

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-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), August 26, 1999.


http://www2.iy2kcc.org/SectorStatus/Default.cfm?WhichRegion=NA

-- Brenda Looney (blooney@aol.com), August 26, 1999.

Thanks Brenda, here's a hot link to their home page

International y2k Co-operation Center

Ray

-- Ray (ray@tottacc.com), August 26, 1999.


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