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Just in the nick of time. I guess we can all breath a little easier now that the lights have turned BLUE. Is it me or has the progress made in the last couple of months just been amazing and with little independent comfirmation to boot. I just love a good spin story.

By Steve Gold, Newsbytes. December 04, 1999

Action 2000, the British government-sponsored Y2K agency, says that most of the UK's private and public computer-based systems and services are now okay for the date change at the end of the year.

The announcement, made this morning in the form of a report from Action 2000, quickly brought condemnation from Taskforce 2000, the UK's industry-supported Y2K agency.

Don Cruickshank, Action 2000's director, said that all of the UK companies and public sector organizations making up the UK's critical infrastructure have achieved a 100 percent "blue" color coding under the agency's traffic lights system.

Cruickshank said that this follows a comprehensive program of independent assessment of all 25 critical sectors that make up the UK infrastructure. Recent reports from the financial services sector and transport delivery organizations, he said, show they have now been color coded "blue."

"The results today show that the UK has risen to the challenge of the millennium bug with over 10,000 service providers being independently assessed," he said, adding that British business is in a stronger position as a result of the program of the work undertaken.

"The estimated 20 billion pounds ($32 billion) invested in UK millennium bug preparations has brought together government and industry to work in partnership to tackle the issue and I am confident that the UK infrastructure will suffer no material disruption due to the bug," he said.

Cruickshank warned, however, that there is no room for complacency, as monitoring in all sectors must continue up to and through the millennium date change.

"It's not enough that we have so far met the challenge. We have to ensure that there will be no slippage in the few remaining weeks to the date change," he said.

Robin Guenier, the head of Taskforce 2000, meanwhile, said that the industry-funded agency is skeptical about Action 2000's findings.

"Past skepticism about the interpretation of Action 2000 surveys has always proved justified," he said, adding that this time is unlikely to be any different.

"What we would like to see now (especially regarding the FTSE-500 and 250+ surveys) are the actual detailed figures," he said, adding that, "once again, we are being expected to rely on subjective reassurance we are not getting the plain objective facts."

"With these, people can form their own view," he said.

Guenier warned that there is now very little time left.

"In practice, we all have to wait and see how the consequences of the Y2K date-change unfold over the next six months. And not 32 days as Action 2000 seems to believe," he said.

Action 2000's Web site is at http://www.bug2000.co.uk . Taskforce 2000's Web site is at http://www.taskforce2000.co.uk . --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), December 04, 1999