Early action urged to tackle Year 2000 problem

June 25, 1998

Many of the equipment and systems which are used in businesses and daily activities are controlled in one way or the other by embedded microprocessors.

Unless a thorough testing has been done, no-one can be sure whether a particular piece of equipment or system will not fail on 1 January 2000 because of a date problem with the microprocessor.

This was stated by the Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mr K C Kwong, when addressing the prize presentation ceremony of the Hong Kong IT Awards 1998 organised by Sing Tao Daily this (Thursday) evening.

Mr Kwong warned that failure of a critical equipment at an inopportune time could be a matter of life or death for an individual or even for a business. "Also, in the interconnected world of today, failure of one system could have a domino effect on others if proper precautionary measures are not taken to isolate such failures," he added.

The Secretary argued that there was no good excuse for not taking action. "We shall continue to approach major chambers of commerce and professional bodies to seek their assistance in urging their members to take early action to tackle the problem."

"The longer you wait, the more costly the remedies are likely to become. So, the key is : Act Now," he urged.

Within the Government, Mr Kwong said, over 50 per cent of the existing computer systems are already confirmed to be Year 2000-compliant. The remainder are expected to achieve compliance within the first half of 1999.

As regards non-government organisations which are funded or regulated by Government and which provide essential services to the public, good progress has been made. For example, over 90 per cent of the banking institutions and 70 per cent of the insurers are expected to achieve Year 2000 compliance before the end of 1998.

And to promote awareness on a community-wide basis and encourage businesses in the private sector to take early rectification action, the Government is stepping up publicity through the mass media, including TV and radio.

"We have also just set up a dedicated Year 2000 web site (www.year2000.gov.hk) for the dissemination of related information, practices and guidelines," he said.

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