U.S. To Issue Report Cards On Others' Y2K Readiness

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

U.S. To Issue Report Cards On Others' Y2K Readiness

Updated 12:45 PM ET September 13, 1999

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will issue report cards Tuesday grading other countries' readiness for the Year 2000 computer problem.

The State Department is adding the Y2K assessments -- a brief paragraph or two for as many as 196 countries -- to the "information sheets" put out by its Bureau of Consular Affairs.

The consular information sheets are designed to protect the health and safety of U.S. citizens abroad. They are a primary source of information for travel agents and independent travelers.

Department officials are aware that the Y2K updates are a diplomatic hot potato because, as one put it, "no one likes to get a bad report card." Negative U.S. assessments, some governments may fear, could hurt tourism and shake investor confidence.

"We are reporting to the American people -- that's our obligation," Bonnie Cohen, undersecretary for management at the State Department, told reporters last week.

The Y2K issue concerns possible mix-ups in automated systems when 1999 turns into 2000. Ill-prepared computers may shut down or spew bad data based on "00" in old two-digit date fields, possibly disrupting essential services such as telecommunications, aviation and health services.

Advance copies of the U.S. report cards have been provided to other countries in the past month. Cohen ducked when asked whether any were unhappy with the U.S. write-ups.

"Well, we've had active dialogues," she said. She added that United States, which already grades other countries' human rights and religious freedom records, expected to be graded on Y2K readiness by Canada and Britain and perhaps others.

The U.S. Y2K assessments are based primarily on reporting by U.S. diplomats, supplemented by work in Washington, State Department officials said. They said Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Britain were to publish parallel advisories for their citizens in the coming days.

U.S. consular information sheets can be accessed though the Bureau of Consular Affairs home page at http://travel.state.gov. The Y2K assessments were due to be available online at an unspecified time late Tuesday.

======================================= end

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), September 13, 1999

Answers

Thanks, Ray. I've been looking for this information!

-- Lynn Ratcliffe (mcgrew@ntr.net), September 13, 1999.

U.S. State Department Travel Advisory: "Don't!"

-- Dave (aaa@aaa.com), September 13, 1999.

Also see this thread:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001OpS

"Y2K Global Warning: Russia, China, Japan, Italy Top List Of Countries To Watch (Federal Computer Week)"

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), September 13, 1999.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ