The Year 2000 Computer Problem

When businesses and governments began putting their records into computer databases and files in the 1950's, storage space was far more limited than it is today. In order to save space, dates were typically recorded in the month/day/year format, with two spaces available for each. Thus, the date May 27, 1963 was recorded as 052763. Combined over millions of records, this saved much space, but there was a problem lurking. When the century turns on New Year's Day, 2000, many computer programs will be unable to distinguish the year 2000 from the year 1900. According to many computer experts, this seemingly innocuous glitch has the potential to foul many computer dependent systems. In some cases, consumers may find themselves stuck with a bill for a 99-year-long phone call. In other situations, computers confused by the date discrepancy may become trapped in a feedback loop as they cont

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ty Administration which uses this data to support payments to disabled persons. **Medical providers obtain payments for their medical services through data exchanges between the provider, Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) and its contractors, the Social Security Administration, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve System, and financial institutions. **Commercial and military aircraft and ships within the United States and in foreign countries and organizations interface with the Global Positioning System, which consists of satellites, ground systems, and receivers, for navigation purposes as well as for precision targeting and smart bombs. All in all, the GAO concludes that the public faces a high risk that critical services provided by the government and the private sector could be severely disrupted by the Year 2000 computing crisis. Financial transactions could be delayed, flights grounded, power lost, and national defense affected. The many interdependencies that exist among governments and within key economic sectors could cause a single failure to have adverse repercussions. While managers in the government and the private sector are taking many actions to address these risks, a significant
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Approximate Word count = 4273
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page)