Y2K could become second Asian contagion<\/p>\n
By Jason Gutierrez<\/p>\n
MANILA (AFP): A computer glitch linked to the year 2000 could
\nspread like a contagion similar to the currency crisis that
\nbattered Asia, the World Bank's principal information officer
\nwarned.<\/p>\n
\"Regional cooperation is vital,\" Chit Tharntong told delegates
\nto a global Year 2000, also known as Y2K, conference here.<\/p>\n
\"Failure in one country can as easily spread to another
\ncountry even though it is more prepared.\"<\/p>\n
Rapid regional development over the past decade has been
\naccompanied by \"enormous growth\" in computerization and transfer
\nof technology but not in \"capacity build-up,\" Tharntong said.
\n\"Growth in technology is very Y2K vulnerable,\" he stressed.<\/p>\n
The World Bank has even been forced to come up with strategies
\nto check the rate of compliance of its estimated 300 development
\nprojects in the region to ensure they would not be affected by
\nthe so-called millennium bug.<\/p>\n
Tharntong said the Asian economic crunch which started in July
\n1997 exacerbated the millennium bug problem as it \"minimized
\nresources\" that could have been used in correcting the glitch.<\/p>\n
Among the major obstacles to developing remedial programs were
\n\"incredible bottlenecks\" in project implementation as well as a
\ngeneral lack of awareness of the problem.<\/p>\n
Many firms were also too complacent and were trying to
\n\"reinvent\" solutions to the problem, rather than learning from
\nsound approaches already developed by industry institutions.<\/p>\n
\"There are firms that keep running reports that 70 percent of
\nwork (with regard to Y2K) is done,\" Tharntong said.<\/p>\n
\"Frankly most of the time, I do not know what they mean,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
The millennium bug problem is a \"major project management
\nchallenge,\" that is \"significantly\" under-appreciated in the
\nregion, he said.<\/p>\n
\"In many situations, we are talking about thousands of
\nsuppliers, vendors and people involved in the creation of a
\nproduct that we may overlook something resulting in collateral
\nproblems,\" he said.<\/p>\n
At the same time, he urged the public to consistently question
\ntheir governments about what was being done to counter the
\nproblem.<\/p>\n
\"Confidence is not simply created when senior government
\nofficials get up and declare something (is being done right),\"
\nTharntong said.<\/p>\n
\"We've seen panic rising before and we want to avoid that,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Joe Riley, who heads an information consultancy group in
\nAustralia, also warned that Asia would be severely affected by
\nthe Y2K problem, noting it could affect key sectors from water
\nsystems to electricity.<\/p>\n
\"This is going to affect every man, woman and child in every
\nnation,\" Riley told a press briefing.<\/p>\n
Asian countries should \"start dealing with contingency plans\"
\nto avoid any major catastrophes.<\/p>\n
He said the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand were among
\nAsian countries that are \"least prepared\" having begun
\nimplementing contingency plans too late.<\/p>\n
Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea were among those
\nexpected to be able to contain any fallout from the year 2000
\nbug.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/y2k-could-become-second-asian-contagion-1447893297",
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