BCS News - BCS guide to the millennium

The BCS has published a practical guide on the issues raised by the approaching millennium. It is aimed at business managers, from all disciplines and at all levels.

The year 2000 problem is a design limitation caused by the practice of representing and manipulating year data as two digits rather than four.

Storing the last two digits of the year in this form presents problems when carrying out any form of arithmetic comparisons or sequencing of data fields. The results of any of these operations will give unpredictable results when comparing dates before and after the year 2000.

The BCS report's main aims are to:

assist businesses in understanding the problem

emphasise the need for companies to appoint a responsible executive

explain the urgency of the problem

raise some of the strategic and researching issues

provide guidance on assessing the impact and likely cost of resolution

present a strategy to maximise the business value

identify potential business benefits

help establish responsibilities

provide practical advice on the approach to take, processes, planning, researching and management

Ian Taylor, minister for science and technology, said: 'It is the duty of all professional (IT) practitioners to bring the date change issue to the attention of their top management, if they have not already done so. They must also ensure that they adopt best practices in implementing any necessary change.

'I welcome the BCS initiative in producing this guide and believe that it makes a valuable contribution to raising awareness.'

Copies of the report are available from the BCS for #7.50 (BCS members) or #10 (non-members). Please telephone (01793) 417437 or email: ijones@bcs.org.uk.