STORY:
D.C. Y2K Up and Running

Nationwide office opens up and starts round-the-clock Y2K operations

(Everything2000) If you want to know if the power goes out in Jerusalem, or if there's a major Y2K blackout in Indiana or India there's just one place to be-- The Information Coordination Center In Washington D.C. The office opened its doors on Tuesday and will begin round-the-clock operations on Thursday.

The government is spending $50 Million on the bunker like facility that is located on two floors of a 12-story run-of-the-mill building in Washington. On the inside it is anything but ordinary. The Information Center will be the federal government's headquarters for Y2K problems around the world.

Journalists who took a tour of the facility say that inside is a vast expanse of computers, walls of glass creating a futuristic command center look, and large TV monitors and world maps. Because government officials are concerned about security, they refuse to describe exactly what devices the command center contained. They did say if the lights go out, the building has two generators in the basement and a third one that had been installed for the Secret Service. The building is also equipped with a system to keep computers running if the power is interrupted.

The command center will receive reports, filtered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, from similar command centers set up in every state. The center will also gather data from Year 2000 coordinators in 180 countries worldwide. Embassies and military bases will also forward updates. If all goes according to the plan, details of a sudden power failure in India would flash across the screen and so would information about an ATM machine in New York.

At midnight on December 31 at least 200 government bureaucrats will be inside the facility ready to see what if any Y2K problems take place around the world. Journalists will be on hand for the latest updates as well. Officials don't plan a major midnight champagne toast, but they do say the coffee will be brewing around the clock.

After years of preparing for Y2K and after spending millions of dollars on this facility. Government officials say if they don't have to use all the resources that's ok with them, it will mean preparations for Y2K paid off.

Source: New York Times

DATE: 12/29/99

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