The Year 2000 Problem and Ethical Responsibility: A Call to Action

Many organizations have made substantial progress on solving the year 2000 computer problem while many others lag perilously behind. With the year 2000 deadline looming ever closer, this article examines several key issues including: the nature of the year 2000 problem itself, its potential to do harm, the progress that organizations have made to date on this issue, and factors that have worked to inhibit or facilitate organizational responses to this problem. An ethical analysis of the year 2000 problem is presented that reveals that both top management and IS professionals have an ethical responsibility to act on this issue. Organizations are urged to make the completion of their year 2000 problem efforts a top priority, because it is their responsibility and it serves as an investment for the future. "Failure to achieve compliance with Year 2000 will jeopardize our way of living on this planet for some time to come." Arthur Gross, Chief Information Officer, U.S. Internal Revenue Service "From our vantage point..., we are concerned that there are many enterprises that have not yet recognized the commitment necessary to address the significant technology challenges involved in resolving the Year 2000 Issue." American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' (AICPA) letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about Year 2000 Disclosures, December 1997 "The stakes for the government are high... systems that are most critical in supporting major programs may fail and could affect public health and safety and other essential services to the public... confidence in the public service may also be at stake." Report of the Auditor General (Canada) on the year 2000 issue, October 1997 "I do not see the sense of urgency that should exist." Rep. Stephen Horn (R-Calif.), Chairman, House Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology, on the status of Year 2000 efforts in U.S. federal agencies