The Year 2000 problem concerns how electronic systems-anything with an embedded computer chip-will deal with the new millennium.

Many systems store the year using only two digits, in which case the "00" in 2000 may be interpreted as 1900, potentially wreaking havoc with important electronics systems governing everything from air-traffic control to medical equipment.

"Until management becomes convinced that this is a priority, the pressure to work on Year 2000 will continue to come from the ground up and that's typical," said Carolann Lazarus, UB information systems auditor. "At UB, there's more awareness at lower levels than at higher ones, but that's rapidly changing."

At the urging of an informal task force formed last year, UB's IT Coordinating Committee, under the direction of Voldemar Innus, formed the Year 2000 subgroup to design a university-wide plan to address the problem.

Last week, the subgroup put up a Web site at http://wings.buffalo.edu/year2000 to alert campus users to potential problems and their solutions. It describes how UB's effort to address the problem will proceed, provides "fix-it guidelines" and criteria for purchasing new equipment, and offers links to other Year 2000 sites inside and outside higher education.

The information on the site is designed to function as a "tool-kit" for campus computer users to help them assess how they might be impacted by the Year 2000 and what they need to do to minimize that impact.

One airline allegedly has stated it will not fly during the 1999-2000 New Year's period because of fears it has about the air-traffic-control system's ability to comply with Year 2000.

Other serious problems could manifest themselves in everything from fire-control systems to mobile phones to traffic lights.

Automatic teller machines and credit-card scanning systems also have been identified as major areas of concern.

For these reasons, industries like financial services, whose systems are clearly vulnerable, have had Year 2000 teams in place for years. However, many other sectors, including higher education, have been slower to face the issue.

That's because it's unclear how they will be affected and because organizations that have been upgrading their software and mainframe computers often do not expect to be significantly affected.

Lazarus and Sue Huston, director of administrative computing services, who together formed the task force that started looking at the problem, admit it is difficult to tell just where along the spectrum of Year 2000-readiness the university falls.

But one detail is worrisome, said Huston.

"We haven't been getting a lot of questions about it or requests for assistance," she said. "The indication is that there isn't a lot of activity on it around UB."

The reason is common to many institutions and corporations, where the average employee believes that the Year 2000 issue is something that only IT people need to worry about.

"People tend to think someone else is taking care of it," said Lazarus. "The question is, who?"

According to Huston, beyond the obvious impact on computer systems, anything with an embedded computer chip is vulnerable.

That means it could potentially impact elevators; heating, cooling and lighting systems that run on timers; security systems; medical and scientific equipment; automatic teller machines; fax machines, and card scanners, such as those used with SUNY cards.

"This is not an IT issue," summed up Lazarus. "It's a business issue."

At UB, some units have taken the lead in conducting internal inventories, testing systems and upgrading where necessary.

The Office of Financial Aid has overhauled its mainframe computer system to ensure that it is already Year 2000-compliant, while the UB libraries also have allocated resources to address the problem.

But there is no good picture of compliance across the university.

"We don't have a campus-wide assessment of our Year 2000 status," said Huston. "We only have pieces. Until you do a comprehensive inventory and assessment, it's hard to know how ready UB is."

To that end, the Year 2000 project group soon will be requesting that campus units complete inventories that outline how compliant their systems are and what their priorities are in making systems compliant if they are not.

"It will take money, people and time to determine whether or not you have a problem!" cautioned Lazarus.

Some systems managers on campus believe their units will not be affected, noting that many systems are easy to test. In many cases, for example, spreadsheet systems can be easily tested by inserting a date that designates the year as "00" and seeing if the program interprets it as 1900 or 2000. (PC systems should be backed up entirely before they are tested.)

While some people think it is only a hardware problem, Lazarus said the issue could affect both hardware and software.

"In fact, your software may be fine, but if your PC has a problem, it may be passing that problem to your software, or your hardware may be okay but your software may not be compliant," she said.

Huston noted that even software that the vendor has designated as Year 2000-compliant must be verified.

"Maybe the programming language and operating system can handle the Year 2000, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the application that was written is processing dates correctly," she said. "It is possible to write bad applications with Year 2000-compliant software. Older applications are especially at risk."

CIT, for example, had installed compliant application development software only to discover that the operating system had to be upgraded to a new level as well.

"Units need to plan sufficient time for this," said Huston. "It's Murphy's law."

Until the Year 2000 project group issues its guidelines, Huston advises that those worried that they may have a problem should contact their local IT staff.

They can also visit their IT vendors' Web sites, many of which have Year 2000-compliance information available. Links to more than 20 of these are available through the UB Year 2000 Web site.

The whole process will be time-consuming, cautioned Huston. There also may be financial considerations, such as possible licensing costs.

"People tend to think 'What's the big deal' about this?'" she said, adding that once a glitch is identified, there could be an outcry from campus computer users. "It's all in the eyes of the person whose problem it is."