Report on North American Services
Surprisingly for most people, when a recent year 2000 progress report released, the United States learned that many states, counties, and cities are not prepared for the y2k. According to a report from Office of Management and Budget, the federal government received a D- in preparation for the year 2000. And although the Social Security Administration received an A, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Defense all received Fs. The report indicates that out of the 24 government agencies, 15 are seriously behind schedule.
One problem taxpayers might find aggravating is they may not get their tax returns back on time. Because of the computer problem tax returns will be delayed because the IRS will not have enough time to process the taxes. Air transportation may also suffer many delays.
These progress reports are usually very optimistic because they fail to assess the time required. But keep in mind, this prediction is not always accurate.
In New York their technology manager stated that 712 programs used by the city will ether fail, or handle information incorrectly because of the 2000 problem. The manager also said that to repair the 712 computer problems it would cost $250 million, although all of the money that has been given to fix the problem is $100 million.
In Canada it is said that top priority will be given to the 42 critical programs concerning safety and health. The chief Information center of Canada says that 42% of the computer problems in their country had already been fixed.