The first step toward preventing problems in the year 2000, according to the committee, is for people to identify what computers, programs, and electronic lab tools they use. With the inventory information in hand, people can begin to asses whether they need to upgrade or fix their equipment, a process the committee hopes people have already started. People with questions about their software or computers can contact the Information Technology's Help Desk or look up information on the Web. People with questions about lab equipment and customized computers and programs should contact the manufacturer. In either case, emphasizes Alongi, people have to examine their own computers and other equipment.
People have to take individual responsibility.
While the response to the initial inventory was excellent, says David Bradley, manager of the microcomputer support group, he is concerned about the people who have not yet responded and those who might have overlooked equipment such as an old PC that sits in the corner of a lab compiling data or a program written by a graduate student who has long since departed. Once people have inventoried their equipment, assessed whether it is at risk, made plans for repairs, and then have fixed or upgraded it, the final step will be for people to test their own equipment, taking it through a trial run into the next millennium, says Mark Hayford, manager of applications development. The School of Public Health has been following a similar plan, each department looking at its lab equipment, computers, and software while the instructional technology group takes care of the network and related applications. Each department, emphasizes Danny Beaudoin, energy and utilities manager at HSPH, is responsible for evaluating its own computers and lab equipment.