Millennium
bug alert
Paris, 15 May 1998
- The Millennium Bug is such an apocalyptic notion that it is difficult to get
ordinary folk to take it seriously – but they should. The International
Chamber of Commerce is using its worldwide contacts to raise grassroots awareness
in business through a Millennium Bug
Alert.
Big organizations, like the commercial banks, are
making elaborate plans to deal with any potential problems, and that at least
is reassuring. But small and medium-sized businesses are slow in taking counter-measures.
Some governments too need to take action before it is too late.
At a Round Table called in April by the Bank for
International Settlements in Basle, speakers noted that acceptance of the seriousness
of the problem varies considerably across markets and institutions worldwide.
The catalogue of things that could go wrong because
of malfunctioning computers is extensive. Tax demands and payslips are obvious
examples. So are traffic lights, heating systems and travel booking systems.
As the European Commission pointed out in Basle:
"The citizen now depends upon an ever-widening range of services such as
pensions, benefits, health insurance, energy supply and transport. Each of these
services is provided by an extensive and complex set of computer driven systems,
all currently vulnerable to the so-called millennium bug."
Member chambers of commerce of ICC are an excellent
channel for mobilizing tens of thousands of companies who might otherwise find
themselves unprepared to adjust thei
r information systems in time.
In Basle, ICC gave a pledge that it would spread
the word through its worldwide network. It believes that it is now the urgent
responsibility of private sector associations and governments to jolt their
respective constituencies into action before it is too late.
Accordingly ICC has issued a note to its national
committees in 63 countries and to chambers of commerce. It describes how the
world business organization can help through its worldwide chamber network.
Additionally the millennium bug is on the agenda of every specialized commission
of ICC until the end of the century.
Highlights of the Basle Roundtable’s findings
are included in the ICC
Millennium Bug Alert.
ICC
Commission on Telecommunications and Information Technologies
ICC
Commission on Financial Services and Insurance