The Y2K Neighborhood

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It's as though a moment, an era, a world finds itself suddenly isolated by the mad clock's hand. A manmade wrinkle in time. When December 31, 1999, becomes January 1, 2000, many of the world's unrepaired computers will simply register two zeroes and they won't know what time it is. Some computers will stop working. Some will make big mistakes that, while they might be messy, will at least be noticeable. Others will commit sinister little errors that could slowly befuddle the nervous system of the global economy. Food, water, electricity, fuels, telecommunications, financial services, transportation, health care, world trade of every kind--the list of critical systems that could be impacted is endless.

Could small numbers of Y2K-triggered computer failures cascade into major social disruptions? That's the worry, and it's taking its toll on the public's nerves. At the Boulder conference, several presenters noted increasing reports of marital stress and even breakups over differences of opinion about the subject. (Respected business author Margaret Wheatley joked that any day she expects an Oprah show about 'Men who love women who love Y2K,' or 'Children of Y2K-obsessed parents.') What emerged in Boulder was the picture of a society looking to its technological priesthood for answers much as primitive peoples once turned to their shamans. What does it all mean?

A Sounding Alarm

To an increasing number of people, the meaning of Y2K can be summed up in two words: National Emergency.

Item: On September 14, 1998, the former CEO of United Press International, James Adams, announced the creation of 'the world's largest Y2K Web site' in order to 'sound a public wake-up call.' Dubbed 'Y2Ktoday' (www.Y2Ktoday.com), it will feature a daily feed of some 500 stories from a special reporting team, plus wire reports. 'It's time the public worldwide had access to accurate and timely information,' said Adams.

Item: On October 7, 1998, a national townhall Y2K meeting was conducted via free satellite broadcast to help communities and citizens get ready. Sponsored by the National Association of Counties, the National League of Cities, the International City/County Management Association, and Public Technology, Inc., its featured speakers included, among others, John A. Koskinen, chairman of the President's Council on the Year 2000 Conversion, and a representative of Montgomery County, Maryland. Y2K czar Koskinen is the nation's top source on the subject, and Montgomery County is a national leader in Y2K readiness.

Steve Davis, Montgomery County's budget manager, began leading his community, located northwest of Washington, DC, in the fight against the millennium bomb in 1995. Davis' Web page, 'Dealing With The Year 2000 Problem' (www. erols.com/steve451/impact.htm), is a popular resource among local government officials working on Y2K. I met Davis in Boulder--where he was a speaker and also interviewed by ABC Nightline--and I was as impressed by his cool, unflappable manner as I was by his technical expertise.

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