Recently, delegates from more than 120 countries gathered at the United Nations in New York City to spend a day discussing their respective plans, progress, and concerns about the Y2K problem. The meeting was chaired by Ahmad Kamal, the ambassador from Pakistan and chairman of the UN’s Informatics Working Group. The group was addressed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

The fact that such a meeting could take place at all, and that so many countries attended on relatively short notice, is a remarkable testament to the growing significance of the Y2K problem. As the Secretary General put it in his address, “tackling the Y2K bug is the largest and most complex project undertaken in the history of computing.” Of course, if there was to be any realistic hope of repairing most of the world’s computers in time, the conference should have been held four or five years ago, and while it was an awesome spectacle to see representatives from 120 countries in the same room, it also was sobering to see roughly 60 empty chairs belonging to the countries that sent no delegates. Some of the missing delegates were from tiny island states in the Pacific Ocean, but there also were no-shows from the Middle East and other important parts of the world.

Straight Shots from the Experts
Much of the day was spent listening to presentations from industry experts who represented six key sectors of the global economy: telecommunications, electric power, oil and gas, banking and finance, aviation, and shipping. The usual Y2K problems and risks were summarized for everyone, but the industry-sector speakers also made it clear to the delegates that it was only a matter of time before leaders and laggards in these industrial areas would be publicized for everyone to see.
International Y2K accounting is more than just a popularity contest; as one of the delegates pointed out, a published report indicating that the banking industry in country X is dangerously behind schedule could cause a rapid flight of capital out of that country. Similarly, a report from the International Civil Aviation Organization indicating that country Y’s air-traffic control systems were non-compliant could have a devastating impact on tourism and trade in that country.
Though they were quite diplomatic in their presentations, the industry-sector spokesmen were quietly emphatic in pointing out that “stonewalling” of Y2K compliance reports would be interpreted as non-compliance. Bad news about a country’s Y2K problems is better than no news at all, as one of the speakers put it, because appropriate contingency plans can be made to help a country work around its problems. Utter silence about the status of a country’s banking systems, telecommunication systems, energy systems, and air-traffic control systems inevitably will be interpreted as a risk of unforeseeable dimensions. Observing all of this from the back of the conference hall, I had the impression that these remarks had more impact than any of the usual rhetoric about Y2K.

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