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Latin America Faces Y2K Difficulties

© Faisal Bin Bashir

Some Latin American nations have fallen far behind in their efforts to battle the Y2K Problem, according to several organizations that have been monitoring the situation.

Joyce Amenta, Y2K program coordinator for the World Bank's InfoDev program, which grants financial assistance to developing nations' IT investments, said that not one Latin American nation surveyed by InfoDev reported its Y2K correction program was on schedule or completed.

Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru have made the most progress in preparing for Y2K, according to the Gartner Group.

Gartner said there is a 33 percent chance that these nations will suffer significantly from the Y2K Problem, a risk comparable to that facing Finland, France, and Germany.

Gartner said Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela have a 50 percent chance of suffering significant infrastructure failure, while Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Uruguay have a 66 percent chance for such Y2K Problem breakdowns.

Gartner Group Vice President Jim Cassell said the regional economy may be in serious trouble due to the Y2K Problem. Many Latin American governments still own significant portions of their nations' infrastructure, and political and economic instability have hampered efforts to fix government systems.

The Inter-American Development Bank approved a $200 million emergency line of credit for Latin American and Caribbean Y2K projects in April.

Y2K Resources

http://www.senate.gov/~y2k: The US Senate's up-to-date Y2K page includes hearing testimony from leaders of the food, legal, and shipping industries.

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/yk04743e.h... Industry Canada's site includes global and industry links.

http://www.microtech.doe.gov/y2k/: The US Department of Energy's Microtechnology Support Site covers desktops to networks and features comprehensive links.

http://www.sysmod.com/y2ksprds.htm: Systems Modelling Managing Director Patrick O'Beirne's page discusses Y2K compliance in popular spreadsheets, with vendor links and tips.

http://info.med.yale.edu/computing/year2... Yale Medical School's spreadsheet page features links to wizards that change and migrate dates where necessary.

Reference Y2K in Brief, IEEE Computer Magazine.

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