STORY:
U.S. government passes first Y2K test

Government agencies have apparently passed their first real-world Year 2000 test with flying colors. According to an article in Information Week, unemployment insurance benefits claims filed on Jan. 4 have been properly and timely processed by all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Benefits claims processing was vulnerable to year 2000 problems on Jan. 4, the first business day of the new year, because the claims expire 12 months later, forcing systems to deal with dates in 2000.

"We got a clean report" from all regional offices says, John Sharkey, chief of the IT division for unemployment insurance at the Department of Labor. . Although some states are still using computer code written 30 years ago, he said, everyone was able to process claims using their year 2000 remediated systems. No one needed to resort to a contingency plan, he adds.

According to Information Week, Sharkey credits the successful processing with an early start and regular follow-up. Year 2000 assessment began in 1996, followed by year 2000 project training of more than 250 state IT personnel, who were then formally reviewed on a quarterly basis and informally reviewed at other milestones in their projects.

DATE: 1/8/99

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