The U.S. Committee on Government Reform and Oversight

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2. Public and Private Organizations as Well as Federal, State, and Local Governments Must all Work in Partnership to Prepare for the year 2000 Date Change.

America needs a national year 2000 Conversion strategy. As the year 2000 approaches, anxiety will increase throughout society. One major aggravation to this anxiety, which could cause more problems than the technology failure itself, is lack of information. It is imperative that citizens have as much information as possible. This includes information that can help individuals, families, and organizations prepare for the year 2000. This also includes information on how others are preparing: the Federal Government, State and local governments, telephone companies, utility companies, schools, banks, and so on. It also includes information on all kinds of products, from complex medical equipment to microwave ovens. Making this type of information available will have the double benefit of preparing citizens and pressuring organizations to complete their year 2000 fixes on time.

Along with Congress, State, and local representatives, the President must work in partnership with private companies and associations to define a year 2000 action plan and make this information available. In addition to specific action items, a minimal strategy should include goals, objectives, benchmarks, and performance measures. Most Federal departments and agencies have a year 2000 strategy and are well on their way to satisfying requirements. The private sector has a much broader range of effort. Some have just begun their effort. Others are nearing completion.

At the current time, the most logical mechanism for establishing a year 2000 strategy to coordinate efforts, share information, and alert citizens to the status of year 2000 preparations is the President's Council on the Year 2000 Conversion. It is headed by Assistant to the President John Koskinen. As noted above, this Council has already established a number of working groups to focus on particular sectors of society, but these efforts seem to be taking place behind closed doors. Openness is crucial: dissemination of information should be a primary function of these working groups. For example, each of these groups should establish a database of compliant and noncompliant products as well as other information relevant to the sector.

A coordinated, public/private effort, under the leadership of the President, could effectively bring together the key economic sectors to coordinate the Nation's year 2000 efforts and ensure that all sectors, as well as interdependencies between sectors, are being adequately addressed, and that the American people are fully informed as the year 2000 approaches.

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