http://www.canoe.ca/TechNews9906/01_y2k.html

Tuesday, June 1, 1999

Private and public sector slipping on Y2K By JENNIFER DITCHBURN -- The Canadian Press

OTTAWA (CP) -- Canadian businesses and governments are having trouble meeting self-imposed deadlines to ready their computers for the year 2000, says a new federal report.

The Commons industry committee singled out slippage on Y2K remediation plans as one of the biggest problems facing Canada's efforts to beat the bug.

Delays in many industries could cause major disruptions, the committee said.

Some of the dozens of witnesses that appeared before the committee admitted they were being thrown off schedule because of unforeseen problems, such as finding imbedded computer chips unexpectedly and having to check them out.

"We're just concerned that some of the large companies that were leading the pack have come forward and say their dates are delayed by three or four months," said committee chairwoman Susan Whelan.

"We know there are other companies out there that haven't set a date, so we're a little concerned that some of them need to get right on track right now."

The MPs recommended that more be done to encourage organizations to keep up their efforts.

It also urged Ottawa to engage in a little slippage of its own, by extending the deadline on a tax break offered to businesses that need to replace their computers and software to deal with the year 2000 problem.

For the first time, the committee also examined the voluntary sector, composed of approximately 175,000 organizations.

It found that non-profit agencies are at a distinct disadvantage because they lack the financial and human resources to fix computer equipment that is often outdated and more glitch-prone.

"Financially it's always an issue when you have to take 286s, 386s, and 486s and make them 2000 compatible," said Joanne Cooper, executive director of the Volunteer Centre of Toronto.

"It means you have to buy new equipment and there's no money in the system to pay for that."

The non-profit sector is not eligible for year 2000-related tax breaks, but the committee is recommending that federal and provincial governments make more resources available to them.

The industry committee has been one of the only agencies consistently monitoring the country's progress on the year 2000 issue and making its findings public.

It has repeatedly pointed to the health sector as a cause of concern. Statistics Canada recently reported that only 42 per cent of hospitals and care homes expect to have all their critical systems ready by August.

Witnesses told MPs that part of the problem with tackling the millennium bug is compiling information on all the diverse elements of the health-care sector, then sharing a small pool of skilled computer consultants.

The committee also identified stockpiling of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals as a potential problem, since health-care organizations and consumers alike could contribute to shortages.

It recommended the federal government decide whether it should engage in stockpiling itself, and if yes, determine a policy for allocating the products.

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), June 02, 1999

Answers

How could anyone be thrown off schedule on a software or firmware maintenace project?

Seriously, this is about what many of us expect will happen. Projects with optimistic schedules will slip. Even those with fairly realistic schedules may slip. Project scope will increase.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), June 02, 1999.