One incident can change it quickly, but if we stay on this track, the whole thing could end up as a major victory for common sense. The United States government has taken on a major role in preparing for Y2K problems in this country and around the world with committees such as the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion. Managers of both small and large companies have had to hire computer experts to get their computer systems ready.
All assessments describe Russia as the largest nation far behind in preparations.
China by virtue of its size and heavy reliance on pirated software is seen as a higher than average risk. Japan started late but seems to have largely caught up, at least among its larger companies. Several African countries are considered especially risky, although many of these countries are accustomed to dealing with technology-related disruptions on a regular basis. If there are any problems, they could happen within minutes or weeks of midnight December 31. Problems could arise later than that if a machine is turned on for the first time or if a program has to deal with Year 2000 dates for the first time.