This is not a wire story (yet), so I'm pasting it here for future reference. The story links go cold very quickly at this paper, so I'll skip the hotlink.

Several new, and surprisingly grave comments from DeJaeger. Overall, a very well done piece, I thought. Dodd's comment re: CT's dependence on foreign trade did nothing to make my monday better...

Will 2000 Be A Date With Disaster?

By JOHN M. MORAN

This story ran in the Hartford Courant August 16, 1999

Less than five months before the calendar changes to 2000, experts are increasingly worried that many foreign countries are losing the race to ready their computers for the Y2K bug.

Interviews with government and private experts suggest that significant sectors of the world community are still scrambling to ensure vital computer systems won't fall victim to the year 2000 problem.

``For the rest of the world, it's largely a question of how bad will it be when it fails,'' said Peter de Jager, a computer expert who's been tracking the Y2K issue for years.

A string of recent news reports suggests the problems may be serious:

* In Japan, the country's biggest railway says it may stop the trains just before midnight on New Year's Eve because passengers could be stranded if computers malfunction.

* Also in Japan, a government report says more than a thousand types of medical equipment could malfunction because of the Y2K bug.

* In Thailand, the military says it will shut down all weapons systems that haven't been Y2K-certified in an effort to head off a possible disaster.

* In Europe, concern is rising about the possible effects of the Y2K bug on the vast system for delivering government checks to the continent's retired and needy citizens.

* In Russia, the prime minister has ordered government officials and ministries to report on their preparedness for Y2K. The decision came weeks after the Russian government admitted that only one- third of its most crucial computer systems were known to be Y2K ready.

Interest in global Y2K readiness is rising because of fears that major disruptions overseas could hurt the U.S. economy, particularly import- export-oriented states such as Connecticut.

The Y2K fear is that because so many computer programs were originally written to identify years only by their final two digits, there will be chaos when the date changes to Jan. 1, 2000. Computers could read the date as 1900, causing shutdowns in services.

``With less than six months to go before the Y2K date change, the global picture that is slowly emerging is cause for concern,'' said Jacquelyn L. Williams-Bridgers, inspector general of the Department of State, during recent congressional hearings.

``Our assessments suggest that the global community is likely to experience varying degrees of Y2K- related failures in every sector, in every region and at every economic level,'' she said.

Smaller and less-developed countries are generally regarded as the most vulnerable to glitches that could affect power supplies, telecommunication services, health care institutions and financial services.

But even large nations, such as Russia and China - encompassing billions of people - are thought to be unprepared for the Y2K deadline.

Western Europe is seen to be in far better shape. Yet even there, worries abound that some European countries have been so preoccupied with the conversion to a European currency that they've lagged in Y2K preparation.

There is a veritable army of people working on the problem worldwide. But time is quickly running out on those who got a late start.

As de Jager put it, ``There comes a point in time when all I can offer is, `It's too late.' ''

A State Department survey of 161 nations found about half to be at ``medium to high risk of having Y2K-related failures in their telecommunications, energy and/or transportation sectors.''

Financial services and water utilities fared better in the survey, which found 2 of every 3 countries having a low risk of problems in those sectors.

Among the high-risk areas identified in the State Department survey were Eastern European countries formerly aligned with the Soviet Union, as well as newly independent states in the Baltics and elsewhere.

``Increasingly, the Y2K story is going to be the international one,'' said Bruce McConnell, director of the International Y2K Cooperation Center.

``I'm not in the end-of-the-world school, but I think there are some possible problems that could last for weeks or months, particularly in business systems,'' McConnell said.

Here in the United States, by contrast, the picture appears considerably brighter.

An Aug. 5 report from the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion was optimistic that the vast majority of the nation's key systems will enter the new year without difficulty.

``Based on the most recent data, I believe Americans can be confident that a number of vital industries - including banking, power, telecommunications and air transportation - are now well-positioned to make a successful transition to the new millennium,'' said council Chairman John A. Koskinen.

Concerns remain in areas such as local government, health care, education and small business. But on the whole, it's expected that any date-related failures will be limited in scope and impact.

Nevertheless, the stakes in Y2K remain high for U.S. citizens, who are more dependent than they might realize on global trade.

The United States remains the world's biggest customer for imported goods, having purchased $870 billion worth of merchandise from the world community in 1997, the latest year for which figures were available. That figure was up 63 percent from five years earlier.

The result is that - from the clothes on their backs to the gadgets in their homes to the cars in their driveways - Americans are surrounded by products that have been manufactured elsewhere in the world.

Consequently, any interruption in the global trade market because of financial or transportation problems is likely to pinch U.S. citizens.

What's more, many Americans also work for corporations that do business overseas. Other Americans work for the U.S. subsidiaries of companies that have their headquarters overseas.

Some say that effect could be particularly acute in a state such as Connecticut. U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., co-chairman of the Senate's Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem, is among those who are concerned.

``This could have a real impact on our own local economy,'' said Dodd, whose committee has been holding hearings on international Y2K readiness. ``We're the most dependent state in the U.S., on a per capita basis, on foreign trade.''

Dodd said that an estimated 1,300 Connecticut companies employing 120,000 people do business overseas to the tune of $8 billion a year.

Among them is Danbury-based Praxair, a global supplier of industrial gases operating in some 43 nations worldwide. Charlie Krichbaum, the company's director of Y2K global projects, said the company has worked hard to minimize the potential for disruptions.

But he concedes that there's only so much the company can control. ``It really requires that you put in place good contingency plans,'' said Krichbaum, who expects there may be short-term power outages in some of the countries where Praxair has operations.

Other companies, including manufacturers who rely on components made by foreign suppliers, are reportedly stocking up on spare parts in advance of the new year to help ensure their operations are not disrupted.

Edward J. Stockton, a former state economic development commissioner and now a private economist, agreed that how the world greets the Y2K problem could echo strongly in Connecticut.

``We're just so much in the middle of the whole international economy,'' Stockton said. ``If there is a big international problem, Connecticut is going to be impacted probably more than any other state.''

But another economist, William McEachern at the University of Connecticut, thinks that the state's largest corporations have protected themselves against the worst of what Y2K may have to offer.

``I think this international trade angle can be over emphasized,'' he said. ``It's hard to see that our big companies are behind the eight ball on this.''

Despite fears about international preparedness, analysts at Stamford- based Gartner Group say they are guardedly optimistic about the international progress on Y2K.

But Dale Vecchio, a Gartner Group research director, cautions that most of the assessments of Y2K progress are self-reported by corporations and governments.

``We have seen in the first half of 1999 some tremendous reported progress in almost all industries and all geographies . . . and frankly, we're a bit skeptical about it,'' Vecchio said.

-- Lewis (aslanshow@yahoo.com), August 16, 1999

Answers

Good Post, Lewis. Funny how we are reading about all other countries are going to have difficulties but the US will be okay.

-- Linda A. (adahi@muhlon.com), August 16, 1999.

We don't need no stinkin' shoes (clothes, coffee, sugar, oil...).

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWAyne@aol.com), August 16, 1999.

This bell just rang:

Friday August 13, 1:38 pm Eastern Time

Company Press Release

ADVISORY/MEDIA ALERT: GartnerGroup's Symposium/ITxpo `99

GartnerGroup Year 2000 Update Teleconference

GartnerGroup's Symposium/ITxpo `99: GartnerGroup Year 2000 World Status, The Final Countdown Time: Tuesday, August 17, 1 pm Eastern, 10 am Pacific

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- WHAT: Gartner Group, Inc. (NYSE: IT - news) with fewer than 150 days to go before the century date change, what are the remaining risks associated with Y2K? What countries, industries and activities will most be affected by Y2K related problems? What will cause future failures and when are they anticipated? Last, what are the recommended actions that companies and managers should consider going forward in the weeks ahead?

The teleconference will serve as a sneak peak of new research and technology tracks to be debuted at the upcoming GartnerGroup Symposium/ITxpo 99 conference to be held October 11-15 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. A question-and-answer session will follow.

WHO: Lou Marcoccio, Research Director, Gartner Group, Inc.

WHEN: Tuesday, August 17, 1 pm Eastern, 10 am Pacific

TO REGISTER FOR TELECONFERENCE: Contact Cindy Olson at TSI Communications for GartnerGroup at 212-320-2230, or e-mail your name, publication, and full contact information to colson@tsicomm.com. We will provide call-in numbers, passwords and background materials Tuesday morning.

VIDEO NEWS RELEASE AVAILABLE AT 2:00 PM EST

-- flb (fben4077@yahoo.com), August 14, 1999

(Thanks for the heads up flb, BTW)

From todays Hartford courant article:

"Despite fears about international preparedness, analysts at Stamford- based Gartner Group say they are guardedly optimistic about the international progress on Y2K.

But Dale Vecchio, a Gartner Group research director, cautions that most of the assessments of Y2K progress are self-reported by corporations and governments.

``We have seen in the first half of 1999 some tremendous reported progress in almost all industries and all geographies . . . and frankly, we're a bit skeptical about it,'' Vecchio said. "

That's funny, so am I...

-- Lewis (aslanshow@yahoo.com), August 16, 1999.

Yepppp, a real shame about those foreign countries. Good thing that we don't depend on them for anything. Good thing that the technology that we use for our power plants is nothing like theirs. Good thing that our banks don't have anything to do with the rest of the world. Good thing that our economy is purely domestic. Good thing that we are us and they are them. Good thing. Yepppp.

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.com), August 16, 1999.

Good Post, Lewis. Funny how we are reading about all other countries are going to have difficulties but the UK will be okay.

-- Rob Somerville (merville@globalnet.co.uk), August 18, 1999.