Tackling Millennium Bug in Yemen [Archives:1998/40/Local News]

Organized by the Ministry of Planning and Development in cooperation with GTZ of Germany, a special two-day seminar on the “Millennium Bug” started on Sunday, October 4 at the Central Statistics Organization.
A special technical committee was formed by the ministry and is headed by the Minister of Development himself. The aim is to raise awareness among computer users in the both the public and private sectors in Yemen of the importance of dealing with this issue. Vital public organs are targeted such as the electricity, water and communication services, defense, security, banks, etc.

Dr. Sawitzky of the GTZ and Dr. Mutahar Al-Abbasi of the Ministry of Development launched the seminar. Research papers were submitted by Eng. Ahmed Al-Owaili, Director of the Computer Unity at the Ministry; Mr. Neil Steban (Forecasts and Results of the Millennium Bug); Mr. Sattar Mustafa (prepared the questionnaire to gather preliminary information on the problem and create an information network) and other researchers.

Dr. Al-Abbasi told Yemen Times: “The problem of the Millennium Bug is quite serious. We in Yemen may face many problems because of lack of awareness, lack of computer specialists, shortage of finance, and the non-existence of a database to figure out the size of the information market in Yemen.
“The problem could lie in the computer, operation systems, stored data, application programs or the microprocessor. Each one of these five sectors has needs its special means of dealing with the bug. Some can be repaired, while others will have to be thrown away.”
Yemen Times will publish further details on the Millennium Bug in order to make computer users in Yemen fully aware of its dimensions and seriousness.

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