Outlook for Y2K: partly cloudy but no hurricanes in sight

The medical school’s computer infrastructure and processor-controlled medical devices are largely in good shape for the turn of the millennium, according to an analysis by the school’s Year 2000 Steering Committee. While the school’s Information Technology Services division (ITS-Med) has overseen the inventory and risk assessment phase of planning for problems that could occur on January 1, 2000, the individual owners of equipment and systems are primarily responsible for their own testing and troubleshooting. An extensive web site [http://info.med.yale.edu/computing/year2000/] contains up-to-the-minute information as well as tools that allow users to test their own hardware and software. Testing experts for biomedical equipment and other Y2K resources are also available through ITS-Med. The school has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to assist with business continuity planning. The dire predictions associated with the millennium bug are for the most part exaggerated, said the division’s associate director, Susan Grajek. “The impact will be neither a big nothing nor a catastrophe, but more likely a number of localized breakdowns,” she said. “That’s why it’s important for people to assess and plan ahead now.”