Note this a long article. I am just posting the first part. Go to the URL to read the entire speech.

31 January 2000

Text: State Department Offers Final Y2K Assessment

(Official testifies before Congress)(1500)

State Department Chief Information Officer (CIO) Fernando Burbano, told members of Congress January 27 that the results of Y2K remediation were positive and many valuable lessons were learned. He said, "The Department of State, along with the rest of the federal government, showed just how powerful and effective we can be when we are singularly focused and committed to solving a problem, and are provided the necessary resources to get the job done."

Addressing the issue of whether too much money was spent on preparing for Y2K, Burbano said, "We should be careful not to confuse the lack of catastrophic disruptions with unnecessary preparations by the federal government."

Y2K-related computer failures are minimal, thus far, he said largely because of the, "United States' government's international outreach and awareness campaign led by the Department of State, Department of Defense, and the President's Council on the Year 2000 Conversion, and in coordination with the United Nations and the World Bank."

Even though no major glitches disrupted vital services, preparing for Y2K forced governments and businesses to realize the importance of their computer systems and cooperation with other businesses and organizations, Burbano said.

Burbano attributed the success of the government's Y2K effort to two primary factors: the participation of congressional oversight organizations and the availability of supplemental funding to pay for the fixes.

Following is the text of Burbano's remarks:

(begin text)

http://www.usia.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/latest&f=00013101.glt&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 31, 2000