[Reuters] (7.2.98) WASHINGTON--U.S. Navy operations worldwide could be severely disrupted by any failure to fix the Year 2000 computer bug in critical systems, the audit and investigations arm of Congress said. "Failure to address the Year 2000 problem in time could severely degrade or disrupt the Navy's day-to-day and, more importantly, mission-critical operations," the nonpartisan General Accounting Office said. The Year 2000 glitch, sometimes called the millennium bug, refers to the problem of older computers being unable to recognize the new century. These older systems record dates using only the last two digits of the year and unless they are corrected, they could confuse the year 2000 with the year 1900, creating errors or system crashes. For the Navy, at issue are potential incorrect data processing, corrupted databases, or massive system failures that could scramble supply shipments, inventory forecasts, budget estimates and personnel-related information, the GAO said. It said the Year 2000 glitch could disrupt everything from combat capabilities to communications, intelligence gathering, surveillance, fleet mobilization, and readiness. In a report requested by lawmakers, the GAO said the Navy was behind schedule in fixing the problem. "Time is running out to correct Navy systems that could malfunction or produce incorrect information when the year 2000 is encountered during automated data processing," it said. "The impact of these failures could be widespread, costly, and potentially debilitating to important Navy operations worldwide," Jack Brock, head of the GAO office that monitors defense information systems, said in the report addressed to Navy Secretary John Dalton. In a reply included with the report, the Navy agreed to a GAO recommendation that it establish a complete and accurate inventory of information systems and develop written agreements with "interface partners." The Navy also agreed to plan for the continuity of all its critical military operations and business processes rather than only a small part of "mission-critical" systems. == There's a compelling reason to master information & news. Clearly there will be better job and financial opportunites. Other high stakes will be missed by people if they don't master and connect information. -- Everette Dennis == http://www.dis.org/erehwon/
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