Lon Erickson will represent the Department of Corrections on the Information Policy Council. Dale Jarrell, MnSCU, mentioned they are in the process of changing their student information systems and consolidating 8 computer centers into 4 regions by early 1999. Electronic Government Services meeting will immediately follow the IPC meeting. Julie Finch, Attorney General's Office, gave a presentation on year 2000 issues. She stressed agencies and businesses should do extensive testing to see if their systems accommodate the year 2000 without failure, or faulty data being created.
Agencies can reduce their liability risk by having a contingency plan and disaster recovery plan.
Various industry analyst groups, such as Gartner Group, predict that only 50-60 percent of businesses will be ready for year 2000. The large accounting firms have stated that they will audit for year 2000 problems. If year 2000 problems are required to be disclosed under SEC rules, corporate officers and directors may be held personally liable for failure to disclose. Because the risks to the private sector are substantial, it is likely that the private sector will hold the private sector to high standards as well. The Office of the Comptroller of Currency stated that all banks must be ready by the end of 1998.