=====================================================
>>> Please copy & send this message to as many organisations &
>>> individuals as possible.
=====================================================
Advance announcement--
Seminar/workshop for community groups and local government--
YEAR 2000 (Y2K) AND COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS
Wed February 17th 1999
5.00 pm - 7.00 pm (informal discussion afterwards)
Ross House
247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne City
Please book to secure a place. Please send only one person per
body
(See contact details at the end.)
This message summarises the Y2K problem in a couple of sentences.
It
spells out the purpose of the seminar/workshop and outlines the
program. Links to a wealth of information on Y2K (including how
to
subscribe to a free email information list) are given at the end,
along with the contact details for the organisers.
The Y2K problem:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Many computer systems, software and chips embedded in machines and
appliances store date information in truncated form eg. 98 for
1998.
Unless they are fixed, when the year 2000 (truncated to 00) comes
around these systems will not know whether the year is 1900 or
2000.
As a result the systems may malfunction. Banks, power stations,
lifts, traffic lights, aircraft, trains and chemical factories
etc.
could possibly be affected.
Preventive action
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Government agencies and companies are spending literally billion
of
dollars to try to fix the problem. But since many of them started
too
late it will be impossible to fix and test everything before the
year
2000 comes around. So some systems will malfunction.
Nobody knows accurately what the impacts of these malfunctions
will
be, so businesses and government agencies are starting to prepare
contingency plans for coping if, say, the power goes off for a few
days
or planes are grounded for a while.
The need for community preparedness
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Just as businesses and government bodies need to prepare
contingency
plans, so do households and communities. Also, there is no doubt
that
people will cope better with any disruptions if the community is
well
prepared. To date there has been virtually no action to help
communities prepare. Community groups, governments and businesses
need to work together to ensure that community preparedness
activities
do occur as soon as possible.
The purpose of the seminar/workshop
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The purpose of the seminar/workshop is to assist community groups
and
local governments:
(a) to understand the Y2K issue in general, to give people a
picture of the degree of remediation work already in train
and
to identify possibilities for community preparedness
activities
(b) to provide an opportunity for groups to think about what
community preparedness activities could be initiated in
Victoria.
The program
^^^^^^^^^^
There will be an hour long briefing session followed by an hour
workshop to consider action.
The Hon. Bill Forwood, the Chair of the Parliamentary Public
Accounts
and Estimates Committee will be a speaker in the briefing session.
In
November 98, the Committee released a major report on the Y2K
issue
and the state of preparedness of the Victorian public sector.
Other key people will provide valuable information in a panel
session. Details will be announced early next year.
Who is invited?
^^^^^^^^^^^^
The seminar/workshop has been organised principally for community
groups and local councils. (Individuals interested in community
preparedness are welcome as are people from government agencies or
businesses.)
Who is behind the seminar/workshop?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The seminar/workshop is organised by Green Innovations (a think
tank
organisation that works on sustainability issues).
Project partners for the seminar/workshop include the Municipal
Association of Victoria, the Victorian Council of Social Service,
the
Brotherhood of St Laurence, Community Aid Abroad, Environment
Victoria
and the Australian Conservation Foundation.
This Y2K community preparedness program is supported by grants
from
the Myer Foundation and another Foundation. RMIT University is
supporting the project by providing the email listserver.
If you can't attend
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If you can't attend, contact us and we will get you information on
the
issue another way. If the demand for the seminar/workshop is high
enough we will consider repeating it. See the contact details at
the
end of the message.
Information sources
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A web site with links to a wealth of other sites:
http://www.peg.apc.org/~psutton/grin-y2k.htm
Email list:
Ask Green Innovations to subscribe you to the *free* info
list (~
10 messages a week) - this keeps you in touch with the issue
and
the people working on it. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
=====================================================
>>> Please copy & send this message to as many organisations &
>>> individuals as possible.
=====================================================
Authorised by:
Philip Sutton
Director - Policy and Strategy
Green Innovations Inc.
195 Wingrove Street
Fairfield (Melbourne) VIC 3078
AUSTRALIA
Tel & fax: +61 3 9486-4799
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.peg.apc.org/~psutton/green-innovations.html
Victorian Registered Association Number: A0026828M
LL.VB
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