IS Team Assesses Year 2000 Issues at MIT

Tim McGovern

You may have heard about the Year 2000 problem - now less than 
1000 days away. This problem, which has to do with date compliance 
in computer programs, has become the focus of a great deal of 
attention and concern at institutions and companies around the 
world.

The problem is easy to describe. The date format that's in common 
use (in which 6/21/56 means June 21, 1956) won't be viable in the 
next century. Once we cross the 2000 mark, will 6/21/56 refer to 
1956 or 2056?

One solution is to use four digits for the year. While this seems 
simple, the scope of reprogramming involved is enormous. All 
computers could potentially be affected - from desktop machines to 
major systems that MIT bought or implemented before the early 
1990's. Some software will need to be fixed, and all systems will 
require some degree of testing.
 
What's Happening at MIT
Some people at MIT have already begun work on their systems. 
Others have been assured by vendors that the software they use is 
Year 2000 compliant - although in most cases, no one has verified 
these vendor claims through testing.
 
IS has begun a project to measure MIT's exposure to the Year 2000 
problem. Working in concert with the MIT community, project 
members will develop strategies and issue recommendations for 
bringing all of MIT's information technology (I/T) assets into 
compliance.
 
The results of the first planning phase are online at

http://mitvma.mit.edu/mity2k/planning.html

IS plans to complete an inventory phase by the end of the summer. 
This phase will produce an inventory of MIT I/T assets, organized by 
Year 2000 status - compliant, non-compliant, or unknown. For each 
non-compliant system, IS hopes to provide a rough estimate of how 
much time, effort, and money will be needed to bring the system into 
compliance.

Updates and Further Information
IS will report on this project in future issues of i/s and will send out 
updates via the MIT Year 2000 email list, <mity2k@mitvma.mit.edu>. 
To join this discussion and news list, send email to 
<listserv@mitvma.mit.edu> and type the following in the 
body of the message:

subscribe mity2k YourFirstName YourLastName
 
All of the news posted to the email list will also be available via the 
MIT Year 2000 Web site at

http://mitvma.mit.edu/mity2k/

If you would like to get in touch with the Year 2000 project team to 
discuss your situation, send email to <y2kteam@mitvma.mit.edu> or 
call Karen Fortoul at x3-5555.