§ Mr. David AtkinsonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what discussion he has had with the computer industry on the requirement for all appropriate products offered for sale to be clearly labelled as millennium compliant; and if he will make a statement. [6669]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorAt the Taskforce 2000 conference held on 18 October I challenged all computer companies still selling non-millennium compliant software and services to make their position clear. Following this I am pleased to note that Computing Services and Software Association, acting with Taskforce 2000, have written to all UK software suppliers. They are now making available a millennium directory of suppliers who offer services and products for the millennium date change issue.
§ Mr. AtkinsonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the outcome of the informal task force of the European Commission to consult and report on the problem of the effect of the century date change on computer systems; and if he will make a statement. [6668]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorI first raised the year 200 issue at the Telecoms Council on 27 June.
I am not aware of any informal taskforce of the European Commission dealing with the century date change problem. However, I understand from the Commission that, using the established senior officials group for IT standards public procurement group, the Commission has been considering the implications of the century date change issue. As recently as 26 November the group met to exchange ideas on alleviating the problem both in member states own Administrations and within private sector businesses within Europe.
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§ Mr. AtkinsonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps the Post Office is taking to ensure that millennium compliance of its computer systems and those with which they are connected; what is its budget for this purpose; and if he will make a statement. [6666]
§ Mr. TaylorI understand from the Post Office that it has had a dedicated year 2000 project team in place for the past six months. The project is working closely with all Post Office businesses to both understand the impact and implement system changes to ensure compliancy.