§ Mr. David AtkinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the recent discussions on the millennium compliance of computer systems at the US Department of Defense at which his Department was represented; which other countries were invited or were represented; and what the outcome was. [33380]
§ Mr. SpellarThe US Department of Defense hosted a meeting in Washington on 18 February 1998 to discuss the impact of the Year 2000 problem on interchange of Defence-related electronic information between Allied Nations and on equipment that is in common service with a number of Nations. In addition to the US and UK, Canada and Australia were also represented. It was agreed that a senior level steering group would be set up to review progress on ensuring that interconnections between Allied Nations were Year 2000 compliant, to ensure that Year 2000 modifications made to an equipment by a Nation were notified to other Nations using the same equipment and to consider the inclusion of "Year 2000 tests" within multinational military exercises.