STORY:
Feds Barely Passing Y2K Report Card

The Federal Aviation Administration, the State Department and the Agency for International Development failed to prepare adequately for the year 2000 millennium bug, according to a Congressional report cited in a Reuters news article.

The departments of Agriculture, Defense, and Health and Human Services also are lagging behind in year 2000 computer readiness, said the report by the House subcommittee on government management, information and technology.

The report said the overall grade for the federal government was still an unacceptable "C-plus", on a scale of "A", the highest mark, to "F" for failing.

The report flunked the Department of Transportation, including the Federal Aviation Administration. It warned that half of their critical computer systems were not as yet year 2000 compliant.

The report said the FAA's antiquated air traffic control system was largely to blame. With more than 250 different computers making up the air traffic control system, the FAA has been struggling to check and fix 23 million lines of computer code.

The subcommittee also gave a failing "F" grade to the State Department, complaining that only 61 percent of its systems were year 2000 compliant. Of 24 departments graded, the Agency for International Development ranked last.

The article states the FAA and other federal departments cited for problems in the report said there was no cause for concern because they expected their computers to be ready in time.

High marks went to 11 agencies.

The Social Security Administration, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the National Science Foundation, the Small Business Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the General Services Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, and the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, Interior and Education received grades of "A-minus" or better.

Seven received "B-minus" to "B-plus" grades -- the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the departments of Commerce, Justice, Labor, Energy and Treasury. The Defense Department scored a "C-minus.

Source: Reuters (Full Text)

DATE: 2/23/99

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