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Emergency preparedness and the specter of Y2K-related telecommunications disruptions generated a great deal of international activity for the NCC. The NCC used its traditional international emergency response partners to meet these new challenges. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Civil Communications Planning Committee (CCPC) is responsible for ensuring the continued availability of civil communications during crises and war, for civil and military purposes. The NCC has sponsored a Crisis Management Exercise for the CCPC that familiarized telecommunications experts on NATO's evolving mission and function, emergency planning committees, crisis management procedures, documentation, and crisis coordination. In April 1999 three new member nations were brought into the NATO Alliance — Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. These nations are full participants in CCPC activities. In addition, 25 Partnership for Peace nations were invited to participate in the CCPC at the plenary level. It is anticipated that these 25 partner nations will eventually become participants at the working group level as well. In conjunction with the CCPC, the Manager, NCC, briefed them on critical infrastructure protection in the United States at a meeting in Budapest, Hungary.
The US/Canada Civil Emergency Planning Telecommunications Advisory Group (CEPTAG) was established in 1988 to provide a forum for addressing concerns and arranging cross-border cooperation and mutual assistance in the event of an emergency. The Co-Chairs of CEPTAG are the Director, Regulatory Policy and Planning, Industry Canada, and the Manager, NCC. During the period leading up to the Y2K rollover period, the NCC successfully organized a collaborative partnership with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). This working relationship enabled a more comprehensive picture of Y2K events and an effective warning capability. In November 1999, a demonstration of the NCC Y2K database to an ITU forum in London resulted in companies from 41 countries agreeing to share Y2K incident information using the database. This level of participation allowed the NCC to develop comprehensive picture of Y2K-related events as the millennium unfolded, starting at the International Date Line. Questions or comments concerning this site? Please contact the webmaster. |
