Preparing for the bug
In the past month or so, the WBJ has received numerous e-mails and telephone calls from readers interested to know if we had any clue as to exactly how prepared Poland was to handle the Y2K bug.
To put our readers' fears at rest, we'd like to do what we try to do best and provide you with timely, accurate information. The answer is ... we have no clue. And from our carefully conducted investigative reporting, we have concluded that nobody else does either.
For example, this past year we have asked numerous ministers, heads of companies, directors of banks, presidents of energy companies, Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA) well, everybody we can think of how prepared Poland is to handle the dreaded millennium bug. The programming glitch, which makes mainframe computers assume that the year 2000 is actually the year 1900, has the potential to shut down computer systems across the country.
One reason that we have only received vague answers to our questions is because the government has not set up third-party bodies to monitor the problem at all in key industries. That has meant that no company feels the impetus to provide information about its preparedness. The few reports the government has conducted on the subject have largely been kept secret although some of the contents of an Interior Ministry report can be found on the British Embassy's web site. (www.fco.gov.uk/travel)
While the responses we got were poor, none of them were as bad as what Global Technology Integration (GTI) received when it tried to find out whether electricity distributor Stoen was ready for Y2K. In a letter to GTI's inquiry, Stoen responded as follows: "Answering your letter, we kindly inform, that STOEN S.A. is an energy enterprise, operating on the basis of a concession. The concession is to manage electric power. Our company sells and transmits energy, which is bought directly from producers or through the Polish Power Grid. Stoen takes responsibility for harm that could happen in terms of breaks in the electric supply or to sending energy with the wrong parameters. The responsibility is taken on the basis of an agreement, which was signed with the state and regulations included in the energy law. This responsibility concerns the consequences of the Y2K problem."
Maciej Tymieniecki, manager of the department for IT systems development and chairman of the Y2K team,
Hardly enough to put fears to rest. GTI then asked Stoen to fill out a detailed questionnaire about its preparedness. As it turns out, it looks like Stoen is basically compliant. But its initial response, like much of Polish industry, did little to inspire trust.
