The experts say that many emergency response agencies and smaller utilities are not aware of the severity of the problem or simply lack the resources to ensure, for example, that communications systems will work or that water supply will be sufficient to handle a big fire on Jan. 1, 2000. The CSB meeting, held in Washington Dec. 18, was convened in response to a request from the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem. John Koskinen, chairman of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, told the panel that while he expects electric power distribution grids, telecommunications systems and banking networks to function adequately, there are real risks in other areas. Thus, there may be a series of smaller crises, rather than one major one, he said. The greatest risks come from the public over-reacting, Koskinen said.
People panic when they perceive no one is managing the problem.
The need to act is very real, said CSB member Gerry Poje, who noted that the deadlines are certain and immutable. According to Poje, in the chemical industry, one to three percent of an estimated 50 billion embedded chips are subject to Y2K problems, which indicates that as many as 25 million mission-critical systems could have a date problem. Hence, the larger, better-prepared companies have a critical role to play in sharing technical information and experience about how to solve Y2K problems, Koskinen said. Recognizing that defamation and liability issues may arise when companies closely collaborate on Y2K problems, Congress passed a law to specifically address these issues, Koskinen said. The Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act, signed by President Clinton in October, was developed to encourage the disclosure and exchange of information about computer processing problems, solutions, test practices and test results.