| EURIM Briefing No: 24 February 1999 EURIM is the Parliament/Industry group concerned with the Information Society Handling the IT Implications of Year 2000 and EMU Summary and Additional Recommendations The recommendations in EURIM Briefing 20, The IT Implications of the Convergence of Year 2000 and EMU , remain valid but time has moved on. Risk and expense increase daily with the continued lack of information on actual Year 2000 date problems and their solutions. Action to remove legal obstacles to the sharing of "best information" is long overdue, and essential if SMEs are to get the help they need in time. Similarly, the lack of information on national rules and timetables for EMU is leading to "rationalisation" among those able to offer software and services. The lack of a decision in the UK whether or not sterling will enter the EMU at some stage is adding directly to business costs. The growth of prioritisation between systems which are essential to corporate survival, those which give competitive advantage and those which can be sacrificed, has led to a sharp fall in IT spend other than where failure to handle Y2K or EMU would have serious effects. Demand for skills to handle the Y2K problems found with current desktop and client-server systems has yet to peak. Most IT suppliers are competing harder for staff to fulfil existing commitments than for new business. Those who have not yet secured the resources they need for Y2K and EMU are in growing trouble. There is now widespread publicity for the need to ensure continuity of critical infrastructure systems, including telecoms, electricity, transport, and healthcare. The initial Y2K testing for some of these is already completed, but others involve loops of interdependence and issues of priority setting which only Governments can resolve. Some involve "generic" contingency planning to handle the consequences of prolonged holiday periods, massive crowds and traffic chaos - with the capacity to overload systems that have no Y2K date problems. | |
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