MEDIA RELEASE

ACS Calls for Greater Cooperation on Year 2000

Monday 14 July 1997, Canberra - The Australian Computer Society (ACS) is calling for greater cooperation throughout the IT industry to help organisations solve the problems they face from the Year 2000 bug.

In a bid to encourage communication about the issue, the ACS is operating a number of Special Interest Groups focussing specifically on Year 2000. In addition, the NSW Branch is considering a Y2K service to provide information about people and organisations who claim to have expertise in this area.

"Media hype aside, the Year 2000 problem poses a serious risk to all computer-based systems and all IT professionals have an obligation to assess and report the extent of the problem in all systems for which they are responsible," said ACS President, Tom Worthington.

"Any ACS member who fails to take appropriate action on Year 2000 is in breach of the ACS Code of Professional Conduct and Practice. Lack of knowledge, resources, or authority to act is not a valid defence and they can be charged with professional misconduct under the rules of the Society, as well as facing possible civil or criminal proceedings."

Chairman of the Society’s NSW Branch, John Ridge, said the Year 2000 bug is the biggest IT project the world has faced and the lack of resources, such as appropriately-trained personnel, will severely hamper efforts to resolve the problem.

"Cooperation will be the key to finding a timely and cost effective answer to Year 2000 - cooperation within organisations, between different companies and between IT professionals in all industry sectors.

"This problem is so large we can’t solve it in isolation. It’s already estimated to have a repair bill totalling 600 billion dollars, of which Australia represents about 20 billion. We in the industry need to be sharing information, our experiences, and training as many additional people as possible to address as much of the problem as we can, or face the risk of gaining a bad reputation."

Mr Ridge recently addressed a Year 2000 seminar which attracted 700 delegates from business and government to the Sydney Opera House. He said awareness of the problem was still relatively low among small to medium-sized businesses, many of which believed themselves to be unaffected by the bug.

"While many large corporations have already committed substantial resources to the problem, I believe smaller organisations will also be proportionately affected and must begin evaluating their systems to ensure they are made Year 2000 compliant," he said.

Mr Ridge commended media programs like LateLine, which last week highlighted the Year 2000 issue and its implications for the wider community.

"The greater the awareness of the problem, the more chance we have to eradicate the more serious side effects before they come into play. Since the recent seminar, I’ve been approached to speak at various Rotary groups and other public meetings to explain how the bug works and who is affected."

Mr Ridge said the Year 2000 SIGs, which currently operate in New South Wales and Queensland, were proving to be extremely valuable as a forum for exchanging ideas and information. The SIGs provide information on Year 2000 issues via the ACS home page.

"There’s a great spirit of cooperation at these meetings. We have people working in competitive situations sharing their experiences to enrich the understanding of all participants.

"There’s a heavy responsibility on IT professionals to ensure their IT systems are Year 2000-compliant, so it’s important that they have access to the latest intelligence and techniques for addressing the problem," he said.

Mr Worthington said the ACS will consider forming Year 2000 SIGs in other states in response to member needs.

This media release is located on the Web at http://www.acs.org.au/news/y2k.html and includes links to the home pages of the ACS NSW Year 2000 SIG and the ACS QLD Year 2000 SIG .

ENDS

Media Enquiries:

Tom Worthington, ACS President, Tel: (0419) 496 150, Email: tomw@acslink.net.au

John Ridge, ACS NSW Branch Chair, Tel: (02) 9247 9399 or (015) 913 500, Email: johnr@mra.com.au

Caroline New, Caroline New PR, Tel: (02) 9630 2108 or (0411) 889 456, Email: cnew@acslink.net.au