This Y2K puppy toy has just a *few* chewy morsels to ponder. More perception management on a global scale? Or just a system for flashing... red, yellow or green lights?

Diane

15 September 1999

Interview: Kind on Monitoring Y2K Millennium Bug

(Retired general heads Information Coordination Center)(1930)

http://www.usia.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/latest&f=99091501.glt&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml

The U.S. government has established a White-House based organization to collect and coordinate information on the Y2K millennium computer problem during the last week of December and in the days following.

The goal of this organization, according to its head, retired Army Lt. Gen. Peter A Kind, is to collect and organize information on the situation within the United States and worldwide as the millennium rollover occurs, and to provide this information to agencies and decision-makers in Washington, as necessary.

The National Y2K Information Coordination Center (ICC), Kind says, is a temporary organization that will be most active in the last few days of December and during the days in early January when individuals, organizations and nations will finally discover whether their computers and computer-dependent machinery function properly.

Kind was interviewed by USIA Staff Writer Paul Malamud in the Washington offices of the ICC.

Question: Why has the U.S. government set up the Information Coordination Center?

Kind: The ICC was set up to provide the federal government with a central point for gathering, analyzing and summarizing the information on system operations during the year 2000 data rollover.

Q: And how long do you plan to operate?

A: From the 28th of December through the millennium until we are confident that any Y2K-related disruptions have stabilized.

Q: Who is this information for?

A: We'll be supporting Y2K interagency working groups and decision-makers within the federal government, and we'll also provide information to the public and others who are working with us on this problem. We plan to share in a way that's helpful to all.

Q: Is this the organization that international journalists or citizens should contact to voice their concerns or request information?

A: The first place they should go is to their own national authorities or Y2K coordinators and information centers. We will have a Web site, and we will be releasing our information to the media, as appropriate, so that those things that are of general interest become available, expeditiously.

Q: Will you be gathering information on Y2K just within the United States, or from elsewhere in the world?

A: Our principal focus is the domestic scene, but we live in a global economy, and we are very interested in what happens in other countries as midnight, December 31, comes to each, and we are interested in what happens as people go back to work around the world after New Year's day, in the various time zones and countries.

Q: How do you plan to obtain this information?

A: The Information Coordination Center itself has a small staff and will be assisted during the date rollover period by representatives from various U.S. federal agencies. Our information will come from a number of sources, in particular from U.S. government organizations that are already set up to deal with such events and emergencies. We certainly are interested in information that will flow from the International Y2K Cooperation Center, in media reports from around the world, and other international sources. The ICC itself is not deploying people around the world -- we don't have sufficient numbers of staff to do that.

Q: Why is it necessary for the U.S. government to gather and coordinate information during the date rollover period?

A: The American government and the American people are concerned about the impact of Y2K internationally. We have global economic interests. The millennium changeover will occur first outside the United States, due to the location of the international dateline, and we're interested in knowing how our partners in the Pacific are being affected by Y2K, both in terms of their own safety and security, and for what we can learn in the hours preceding the date change in this country.

Hopefully, we will be reassured that things are going reasonably well, but in the event of Y2K-related problems, we will have time to learn what can be done to alleviate the impact and assist affected citizens.

Q: Is your organization responsible for providing active assistance, either abroad or in this country?

A: No. Primarily, we are an information coordination center. Our goal is to receive information from many sources and to make it available to those engaged in responding to the problem. Any response actions taken by the United States government will be managed through the normal agencies and organizations.

Q: What is the Joint Public Information Center (JPIC), and what is its relationship to the ICC?

A: We will have a Joint Public Information Center within the ICC that will be staffed by people from various U.S. government public affairs offices to provide a coordinated picture of events to the press, or refer reporters to other federal agencies for more specific information. The JPIC will be located in Washington.

Q: Is the ICC affiliated with the United Nations-established International Y2K Cooperation Center?

A: No. As you say, they were established by the United Nations, and by the World Bank. We think they are a wonderful organization, and they have been very useful already in sharing information about the problem internationally. Of course, we are very interested in information from them during the rollover date.

Q: If another nation wishes to establish an information coordination center, how would you recommend they go about it? Specifically, how would you describe the structure of the ICC?

A: Our first principle is to use existing government agencies and reporting channels to the extent that they can provide us with information about the effects of Y2K during the rollover period. Our function will be to organize and assemble that information, and then share that back with them, and with others. We are trying to make sure the information is provided on a timely basis through these channels, without any delays.

Rather than hire a large staff here at the ICC for a period of weeks or months, we are asking other federal agencies to detail staffers who will help us gather and assemble information in their area of expertise. The advantage of this is that, based on the information they gather as year 2000 rolls around, they will be in a good position to alert their own federal agencies to actions that may need to be taken.

Q: How are you going to deal with all of the information?

A: Certainly, there's going to be a lot going on in the days preceding and following January 1, 2000, but the way to deal with a lot of information is, first, to plan for it in advance, second, have an organized system to receive status reports and updates as frequently as needed, and third, have experts to deal with the data, so they get right to the heart of the matter.

In coordination with other federal agencies, we've formulated a standardized reporting system so we can receive information quickly and conveniently, most of it through distributed computer systems. This is the system that will support the decision-makers.

Q: Apparently, such automated information reporting systems are based on "templates." Can you explain what these are?

A: A template in this instance is a kind of standardized form or check-off list that enables someone reporting through computer communications, or by fax, or even by telephone, to report information in an organized fashion. In creating a reporting template, we ask ourselves what information is crucial, and how it can be reported clearly and concisely. For instance, we know everybody is concerned with electric power grids, telecommunications grids, and similar elements of infrastructure -- so they are all listed on the template. We ask for an assessment of their status from the reporting party, and we ask them to express the assessment in terms of "green," "yellow" or "red." Green means things are more or less normal; yellow means caution -- some infrastructure disruption that impairs functions like transportation and may reduce economic capacity; red signals an area of high concern where there are major emergencies such as a shortage of fire fighting equipment or danger to life. The template also contains a section for remarks explaining issues in more detail.

Q: Are you giving these template forms just to U.S. organizations and officials, or distributing them internationally?

A: The templates are adapted to each organization that uses them, but they follow the same format being used by the International Y2K Center. The format is easily adapted internally. We have some coordination with equivalent organizations in other countries, but we are more or less counting on them to do the work involved, as I don't have the staff to send abroad to offer assistance. If any organization around the world wishes to offer Y2K-related information, we need to understand from them first what the crucial elements of concern are. The people doing that are in the best position to outline the key variables in their particular organization, industry or economic sector, and how they measure their own ability to function. With mutual discussion, we can refine these concepts.

Q: Are you concerned that people may become overly concerned about ordinary problems as the date rollover occurs, and feel they're due to Y2K even when they aren't?

A: To some degree. We kind of expect that a lot of things will be reported as Y2K-related failures that are actually unrelated to this problem. Naturally, we're hoping that those who do report to us will be able to distinguish between incidents and system failures that are Y2K-related and those that are not. If there is a problem, and it's not known whether it's Y2K-related or not, then it's of interest to have it reported expeditiously and followed by another report later on when more is known about it. It often takes a while to clarify what the real cause of a system failure is.

[Is cause more important than effect?]

Q: There have been reports in the press of U.S. government organizations that exist or are being formed to monitor and respond to attacks on the Internet, or similar criminal activity. Once Y2K is over, will your organization form the core of such a force?

A: No. We have been established by an executive order to be the central point for analyzing information for the millennium rollover. My staff and I will be disestablished early in the year 2000.

Q: Are you expecting serious problems on January 1, 2000?

A: I don't think anyone really knows what's going to happen. If someone tells you what will happen with certainty, then they aren't credible. The reason we're doing the things that we are is that there is a potential here. We think we've followed good remediation and testing procedures here in the federal government, and we hope that's been done in other organizations, in industries, in other nations. It's prudent to be prepared. We're prepared to collect the information, assess it and try and recognize the early trends. These could be good as well as bad, and we're hoping they're good.

The essence of the problem is time compression. Multiple sectors could be affected in a short period of time. Normally, when you have a disaster it affects only one organization sector or geographical area. The potential here is for multiple effects. As time goes on, the more work gets done, the more testing gets done, things look better. And we shall continue checking and testing, but it's still appropriate to have the capability to monitor the situation when the time comes and to provide clear reports to decision-makers, the press and citizens throughout the world.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 15, 1999

Answers

"It is prudent to be prepared"

There, they warned us.

Thanks Diane

-- BB (peace2u@bellatlantic.net), September 15, 1999.

They are planning on green (working), yellow (caution), and red (problem) to signify various status levels. I modestly submit that they should add an additional level - black = when the system is dead.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), September 15, 1999.

Q: And how long do you plan to operate?

A: From the 28th of December through the millennium until we are confident that any Y2K-related disruptions have stabilized.

This is a pretty blunt statement. We will operate untill Y2K-related dsiruptions have stabilized. Sounds like they are expecting real trouble. This is not in line with Go-Spin-um. How did this guy get the "authority" to break the party line.

Got Water?

-- Helium (heliumavid@yahoo.com), September 15, 1999.

They could save money and staff time just by surfing this forum. Whatever happens will show up here, and if the Web is down, so is the National Y2K ICC.

I suppose it would be mildly amusing to compare what is posted on the government site with what is posted here. If I have electricity, that is.

(Thinking positively and negatively.)

-- Margaret J (janssm@aol.com), September 15, 1999.

I may just be tired (it is 2:30 am), but the one that I riveted on was the 'we plan to filter the information for public consumption even after the roll-over':

Q: Are you concerned that people may become overly concerned about ordinary problems as the date rollover occurs, and feel they're due to Y2K even when they aren't?

A: To some degree. We kind of expect that a lot of things will be reported as Y2K-related failures that are actually unrelated to this problem. Naturally, we're hoping that those who do report to us will be able to distinguish between incidents and system failures that are Y2K-related and those that are not. If there is a problem, and it's not known whether it's Y2K-related or not, then it's of interest to have it reported expeditiously and followed by another report later on when more is known about it. It often takes a while to clarify what the real cause of a system failure is.

-- Shelia (Shelia@active-stream.com), September 16, 1999.

Yes, I kind'a thought there were some "interesting" embedded statements in this one.

IF the net is still functional, guess we'll still be watching for... "what's real" and what's "spin."

I can just hear them now...

"Oh that wasn't a Y2K problem... even though... (insert any area/ country)... the whole Eastern seaboard experienced an extended blackout... that was caused by cyberterrorism (or terrorism)... blah, blah, blah..."

When you're in the middle of the effect... the cause is of little relevance.

Just... be prepared... for anything. And expect the unexpected.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 16, 1999.