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Under The Microscope

NEW ZEALAND TIME-BOMB 2000: THE MILLENNIUM BUG by Howard D. Woolston; David Bateman, 1997; 109 pages; $19.95.

Reviewed by Craig Webster

Howard Woolston is a technology consultant based in Wellington, and here he presents us with a worst case scenario of the impact of the millennium bug in New Zealand.

The millennium bug is caused by computers storing the year as two digits, such as 14/01/98. Abbreviating the year in this way was originally done to save the expensive storage space and processing time of very early model computers. However, the practice has continued until very recently, and when the millennium ticks over, such non-compliant machines receiving 00 as the year will start making mistakes, often acting as if time has jumped backwards to 1900 instead of advancing to 2000. Date-based calculations and automated transactions of all kinds may be scrambled.

Not only does this bug have the potential to devastate the banking and financial industries, affecting business and personal computer systems alike, but will also affect all kinds of electronic devices which contain "embedded" computer chips which store the year as two digits.

Woolston emphasises the importance of assessing your exposure to millennium bugs now, and starting the process of fixing at least the most vital ones before it's too late -- you now have less than two years.

The whole process is much more involved and expensive than you might think at first. A number of system failures caused by millennium bugs which have already happened are presented. These include prison inmates who were released years before the end of their sentences, and new goods for a continuous process factory which were automatically rejected as expired.

The scenario of the business which adopts the "head in the sand" approach to the millennium bug is also developed. Their non-compliant computers have either crashed or are producing bills and stock orders which are essentially rubbish; paralysed with no cash flow until the bug is fixed they will most likely go broke, or lose many customers to compliant competitors.

The lesser known problem of "embedded" system millennium-bugs is also discussed, which may affect almost any electronic device which keeps track of the date. Devices such as elevators and defibrillators may shut down "believing" they have not been serviced for 99 years, and security systems may open automatic doors and bank safes in the middle of the night.

Most large businesses, particularly banks, are in the process of bug fixing now, but the sheer number of millennium-bugs which exist at present mean that certainly some will not be found before 2000

The millennium bug is certainly something you will be hearing more and more about as 2000 approaches, and something which seems certain to make an impact on our heavily information-based society. This book is an effective eye opener.

Craig Webster is currently a clinical researcher in the Anaesthetics Department at Auckland's Green Lane Hospital.