Perhaps most of all, government and company officials will be struggling to separate fact from rumor, and a vast number of public and private information networks are being pieced together for the occasion. A recent test of the Government's Y2K Information Coordination Center included telecommunications links to counterparts in 80 countries and 50 states and many numerous emergency management officials. Our major requirement is to put out accurate information, but we have to be timely, too. There has never been anything like this in all of history. Reliable information is crucial for contingency planners, because the computers and human actors they have been worrying most about are those beyond their control.
International businesses say information is particularly hard to come by overseas.
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. But oil companies have said they expect exports as usual from there, the Persian Gulf and Venezuela. Of course, many of the countries least prepared for the computer problem are those most accustomed to coping with disruptions.