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This News Release circulated via the Y2K Internet mailing lists. It has been reformatted slightly, and email and web references have been converted to clickable links. It has not otherwise been modified from the version originally received.
DATE: 8 October 1997
FROM:
Attached is the final version of the Year 2000 news release sponsored jointly by eleven international organizations. It was sent to 450 international media outlets.
We encourage all participating organizations to include it in their internal and external publications. For example, ISACA will include the release in its member publications Global Communiqué and ExpressLine and its external magazine, IS Audit & Control Journal.
If you have contacts in the general media feel free to send a copy to them also.
Thank you again to everyone who participated in this project.
NE W S RE L E A S E from:
These organizations, representing more than 2.2 million financial and information technology professionals worldwide, have teamed to alert the business community to the potential impact of the Y2K problem.
Mission-critical computer systems worldwide will perform inaccurate calculations or potentially crash if they have not been properly reviewed and updated to account for dates in the year 2000 and beyond. As a result, many organizations may suffer a financial loss, damage their reputation and credibility, and breach relations with customers, employees, investors, trading partners, regulators and other stakeholders.
This is an action item for small, medium and large organizations as well as anyone using a personal computer. All senior managers, CIOs, software vendors, process owners, boards of directors, audit committees and world leaders in government bodies need to obtain assurance that the Y2K issue has been addressed internally and with external business and trading partners.
Time is of the essence. Organizations should set 30 September 1998 as the target date to update their computer code so time is available for testing in preparation for the nonslippable 31 December 1999 deadline.
Although the time, personnel and financial resources required to prepare information systems for Y2K can be extensive, the cost of continuing to ignore the problem may be far more devastating. Organizations should allow at least one full year to fix and test code, with many organizations requiring two to four or more years to adequately fix and test their code. The cost to update code can range from US $1-1.50 per line, and large organizations may have several million lines. Estimates show that the cost could equal 35 percent of the US $1.08 trillion annually spent worldwide on information systems.
Regardless of the expense, it is imperative that organizations prepare for Y2K. The Y2K problem exists because in many computer systems the century digits (19) are not present in the date fields. These two digits were omitted to conserve memory space and reduce keypunch effort. When the year 2000 arrives, these systems will assume the date is 1900, causing potentially devastating errors, invalid information and system shut downs. Billions of lines of computer code from millions of computer programs may be affected worldwide. These include new and old applications written for defense systems, power generation and distribution, factory process control, criminal and medical records, mortgages, pensions, insurance, asset registers, debt/credit payments and investment calculations.
# # #
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 1 October 1997
CONTACT: Deborah Vohasek, USA or See Attached List 847.590.7466
Business Alert: Year 2000 (Y2K) Computer Date Problem Key points from eleven organizations representing 2.2 million computer and financial professionals
1. The problem is real.
2. The effort required to fix the problem is huge.
3. The time to start fixing the Y2K problem is now.
4. The Y2K problem should be assigned a high priority to minimize overall risks.
5. Technical people needed to fix the problem are becoming scarce, driving up the cost of the fix.
6. Everyone has the same deadline.
# # #
SPOKESPERSON AVAILABILITY
Year 2000 Computer Date Problem
Editors: This list provides contacts for stories about the impact of
the Year 2000 on business and consumers. These professionals are prepared
to respond quickly to your questions. If you need additional information,
please contact me.
Deborah Vohasek, USA phone: 847.590.7466 fax: 847.253.1443 publication@isaca.org
American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants (AICPA)
Alan W. Anderson, CPA, senior
vice president, technical services
phone (USA): 212.596.6144 fax (USA): 212.596.6233
AICPA is the US national professional organization of CPAs with more than 331,000 members in public practice, business and industry, government and education.
Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP)
Ernest E. Nolan, CDP,
executive vice president
phone (USA): 812.464.1802 fax (USA): 812.465.1044
Founded in 1951, AITP has nearly 15,000 members. AITP is dedicated to providing industry leadership and professional development opportunities to members of the IT industry. It is dedicated to using synergy of IT partnerships to provide benefits to members and to working with the industry to assist in the overall promotion and direction of the IT industry.
Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants (ASCPA)
83,391 members
Andrew Kent, director, IT and communications
fax (Australia): 03..9640.0251
Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA)
Michael H. Rayner, FCA,
president
phone (Canada): 416.977.3222 fax (Canada): 416.977.8585
CICA, together with the provincial and territorial institutes of chartered accountants, represents a membership of 60,000 professional accountants in Canada and Bermuda. CICA sets accounting and auditing standards for business, not-for-profit organizations and government. It issues guidance on control and governance, publishes professional literature, develops continuing education programs and represents the CA profession nationally and internationally.
Information Systems Audit and Control
Association (ISACA)
Patrick Stachtchenko, CISA,
CA, international president phone (USA): 847.253.1545 fax: (USA): 847.253.1443
ISACA has more than 17,000 members worldwide responsible for computer auditing, control and security. ISACA administers the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA¨) certification and sponsors technical conferences in Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America. The Information Systems Audit and Control Foundation released Control Objectives for Information Technology (COBIT), an international framework for information security practices and internal controls.
Information Technology Association of
America (ITAA)
Heidi Hooper, Year 2000 program
manager phone (USA): 703.284.5312 fax (USA): 703.525.2279
ITAA consists of 11,000 direct and affiliate members throughout the US that produce products and services in the IT industry. The association plays a leading role in public policy issues of concern to the IT industry, including taxes, intellectual property, telecommunications law, encryption, securities litigation reform and human resources policy. ITAA members range from the smallest IT start ups to industry leaders.
Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA)
Stephen Harrison, executive
director
phone (Australia): 61.2.9290.5609 fax (Australia): 61.2.9262.
Institute of Internal Auditors
(IIA)
William G. Bishop, III, CIA,
president
phone (USA): 407.830.7600 ext. 288* fax (USA): 407.831.5171
* (Parkside webmaster note: I am informed that the correct extension
is 288, the original text had 277)
Established in 1941, The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) is an international professional association with world headquarters in Altamonte Springs, Fla. The IIA has more than 60,000 members in internal auditing, governance, internal control, IT audit, education and security. With representation from more than 100 countries, The Institute is the acknowledged leader in certification, education, research and technological guidance for the profession worldwide.
International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)
John Gruner, director general
phone (USA): 212.302.5952 fax (USA): 212.302.59964
IFAC is the worldwide organization for the accountancy profession. Its mission is to develop and enhance the profession to enable it to provide services of consistently high-quality in the public interest. Its current membership consists of 126 professional accountancy bodies in 89 countries, representing more than 2 million accountants in public practice, education, government services, industry and commerce.
Society for Information Management
(SIM) Year 2000 Working Group
Leon Kappelman, Ph.D.
phone (USA): 940.565.3110 fax (USA): 940.565.4935
SIM is a not-for-profit professional organization with approximately 2,700 members and 31 chapters around the world. SIM provides international leadership and education in the successful management and use of information technology to achieve enterprise objectives. The SIM Year 2000 Working Group increases awareness, provides guidance and creates a forum for sharing approaches, practices and issues regarding Y2K.
University of Waterloo Centre for Information Systems Assurance (UWCISA)
Dr. J.E. Boritz, FCA, CISA,
director
phone (Canada): 519.888.4557 ext. 5774 fax (Canada): 519.888.7562
UWCISA is sponsored by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Information Systems Audit and Control Association and the Centre for Accounting Research and Education at the University of Waterloo. Its purpose is to support the information systems assurance community through a variety of research and education programs.
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Copyright © Tony Law/Parkside Information Management 1997