Emergency.Com Announces 24 Hour Y2K Watch Desk

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This announcement comes from the folks that published Emergency Service Multi-System Disruption and Recovery.

From: C. L. Staten
To: Critt Jarvis
Subject: RE: Information Request
Date: Sunday, October 10, 1999 9:38 PM
Emergencynet News Special Report

07/29/99 - 09:30CDT

Emergency.Com Announces 24 Hour Y2K Watch Desk

By Tom Lorinczi, EmergencyNet News Technical Services Director

Chicago, IL (Emergencynet News) -- In an effort to monitor and report in real time all consequential events that take place during the transition to the year 2000, the Emergency Response & Research Institute (ERRI) today announced that it will make a "Y2K Watch Desk" available on-line on its popular emergency service/national security website http://www.emergency.com.

According to Clark Staten, ERRI Executive Director, the concept was first announced at the Association of Public Communications Officers (APCO)Y2K Readiness Symposium, held at the Galvin Center/Motorola Center, in Shaumburg, IL on May 21, 1999. During that meeting of government officials from all over the country, Staten announced that ERRI, in association with EmergencyNet News correspondents throughout the world, would be monitoring and reporting on all important or emerging events during the period of December 31, 1999 to January 1, 2000.

Staten said that a special "password protected" webpage would be created and used to post all Y2K relevant events -- as they occur -- in real-time. Correspondents and computer technical specialists will provide analysis of any significant events and post their commentary to the special page. ERRI expert will also be paying particular attention to reported computer intrusions, computer viruses, service disruptions and other problems believed to have been caused by the so-called Y2K bug. Additionally, Staten said that ERRI counter-terrorist and law enforcement analysts would be monitoring any public disturbances or other "millennium madness" occurring concurrently with the Year2000 transition. It is believed that both corporate and government officials will want to access the Emergency.com Y2K Watch Desk in order to spot emerging trends and attempt to anticipate potential problems as they occur in other parts of the world.

Steve Macko, EmergencyNet News managing editor, said that the ERRI/Emergencynet News coverage would begin in Australia and cover all events from the international dateline into and through Asia. Then, Macko said, EmergencyNet Mid-East and European correspondents and analysts will take up the watch desk coverage and provide constant updates to the webpage. Finally, as midnight and the new century approaches in the United States, the Watch desk will transition to the EmergencyNet News main watch desk in Chicago. In order to off-set the cost of the extensive coverage, Macko said that it is probable that there will be a registration process and a need for payment of a small fee in order to gain access to the Y2K Watch Desk page.

Emergency Response & Research Institute
EmergencyNet News Service
6348 N. Milwaukee Ave. #312
Chicago, IL 60646, USA
(773) 631-3774 - Voice/Messages
(773) 631-4703 - Fax
webmaster@emergency.com - E-Mail
====================================================================== =====

The actual Y2K Watch Desk will be in operation from 07:00 on 31 Dec until approximately 30 hours later as the time zone moves back into the Pacific ocean. It may continue reporting after that time should events warrant.

====================================================================== =====

-----Original Message-----
From: Critt Jarvis [mailto:critt@critt.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 09, 1999 07:53
To: webmaster@emergency.com
Subject: Information Request

For Tom Lorinczi,

Can you tell me more about "ERRI Announces 24 Hour Y2K Watch Desk".

Is the Y2K Watch Desk operational now?

Regards,

Critt Jarvis
Wilmington, North Carolina

-- Anonymous, October 11, 1999

Answers

Critt, as always, thank you! I've had some inquiries over the past few months regarding places to monitor the transition, and will forward this link to those individuals. Are you aware if the Y2k council's "war room" will be online as well?

-- Anonymous, October 11, 1999

I also would like to know about several places on the web that I could monitor events on 12-31 et. seq. I have signed up as one of the participants on the jrwhipple site - but would like to know of additional places to monitor. Thanks in advance!!

-- Anonymous, October 11, 1999

Rick,

Presently, I do not know which of the Y2K Council endorsed tracking efforts will be online and available to the public. There are several dimensions of threat to consider - physical (infrastructure), social (panic), medical (health and welfare), security (bad guys). Each deserves its own net. Some public, some private.

And all together they make a network of nets.

If you consider the networks already available both on and off the net, I think a highly reliable virtual organization is emerging.

At least that's what I see. And that's where I'm headed.

Now if I just had a server with Oracle on it...

-- Anonymous, October 12, 1999

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