GAO gives Y2K council advice

The recently formed President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion is not receiving enough information to make informed decisions on how well federal agencies are managing the Year 2000 progress, according to a General Accounting Office report that was released last week.

To make informed decisions, "it is important that the council receive complete, timely information on the federal government's Year 2000 readiness and that this information be reliable," according to the report "Year 2000 Computing Crisis: Potential for Widespread Disruption Calls for Strong Leadership and Partnerships."

"This can be accomplished by requiring additional critical agencies to report regularly their progress" and by the council expanding what information agencies submit and setting independent verification standards, the report stated.

GAO urged the council to formulate quickly a comprehensive picture of the nation's Year 2000 readiness, to report periodically on the status and remaining actions of each sector's Year 2000 remediation efforts and to develop contingency plans to assure the continuing delivery of critical public and private services.