GSA Publishes Guide to Year 2000: Information for Indian Country
GSA #9525
October 13, 1998
Contact: Eleni Martin (202) 501-1231
WASHINGTON, DC -- In support of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion and to assist Native Americans overcome their Year 2000 concerns, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has published a Guide to Year 2000: Information for Indian Country. Copies of the publication are being distributed to more than 500 Native America Tribes and will be available at the National Congress for American Indians Conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, October 19-23. Additional copies can be obtained by writing to GSA's Year 2000 Team (MK/Y2K), Office of Governmentwide Policy, 1800 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20405, or by sending an e-mail to y2k.web@gsa.gov.
"Initially, Y2K efforts were devoted to identifying, testing, and repairing major computer systems in government and industry, " said Cynthia Warner, Director of theY2K and Information Tehnology Issues Team in GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy. "But, because computers affect nearly every facet of daily life, it soon became apparent, that 'fixing' governmentwide systems was not enough. Other parts of the nation's infrastructure (i.e., electricity, water, telephones, transit) needed to be addressed."
The new Guide provides information about the Y2K problem, its affects on mainframes, desktop and laptop computers, and embedded chips, and where to find information on: preparing for the Year 2000, testing systems or electronic components needed for business or enterprise, developing contingency plans and fixing systems.
In addition to providing answers to frequently asked Y2K questions, the Guide also includes a number of Internet resources that provide more in depth information, including the following:
* President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion - http://www.y2k.gov/
* U. S. Federal Government Gateway for Year 2000 Information Directories - http://www.itpolicy.gsa.gov/mks/yr2000/y2khome.htm
* Standards and Time Sponsored by the Chief Information Officers (CIO) Committee on Year 2000 Maintained by the General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Governmentwide Policy - http://www.itpolicy.gsa.gov/mks/yr2000/time.htm
* FTS Y2K Telecommunications Info Center - http://y2k.fts.gsa.gov/
* PBS Year 2000 Vendor Product Database - http://globe.lmi.org/lmi_pbs/y2kproducts/
* National Institute of Standards and Technology Y2K Site - http://www.nist.gov/y2k/
* Compulink Information eXchange - http://www.cix.co.uk/
John Koskinen, Chair of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, noted that, "Because information is crucial to our ability to successfully meet the challenges posed by Y2K, people need to know what the problem is, how they can address it, and what governments and businesses are doing to ensure that their critical systems are ready for the new millennium."