Government and Politics

GAO Report On The Government's Millennium Problem

Some of the federal government's critical computer systems will not be fixed in time to avoid the Year 2000 problem, reports a General Accounting Office investigator. As a result, financial transactions could be botched, airplanes grounded and military systems rendered inoperable.

  • A recent Clinton administration report indicated that only 35 percent of the government's "mission critical" computer systems have been repaired.

  • The GAO's presentation to Congress yesterday was reportedly bleaker than previous reports and raised the possibility of government computer failures leading to spillover problems for the private sector.

  • About 45 percent of the systems still have to be repaired, 15 percent will be replaced and 5 percent retired.

  • The estimated cost of fixing the problem has more than doubled -- from $2.3 billion earlier to $4.7 billion.

But some politicians predict the final figure will be more like $10 billion.

Mission critical systems include those that process benefit checks and tax returns, monitor food safety, direct air traffic and support national security activities.

One report on the agencies' progress predicted the Department of Transportation wouldn't finish fixing all its mission critical systems until 2003. The Defense and State departments are projected to be working on theirs until 2009 and 2014, respectively. And the mission-critical systems are only the tip of the iceberg: 60,000 non-mission critical systems in federal agencies must also be fixed.

Source: Rajiv Chandbasekaran and Stephen Barr, "GAO: Year 2000 Computer Problems Persist," Washington Post, March 19, 1998.

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