Summary: The federal government is extremely vulnerable to Year 2000 problems because of its widespread dependence on computer systems to process financial transactions, deliver vital services, maintain national security, and carry out its operations. This challenge is made even more difficult by the age and poor documentation of some of the government's existing systems and its lackluster record in modernizing them. As of May 1998, federal agencies reported that only about 40 percent of their mission-critical computers systems were capable of dealing with the date change that will occur in the year 2000. Unless progress improves dramatically, a substantial number of mission-critical systems will not be Year 2000 compliant in time. This testimony (1) discusses the Year 2000 risks facing the government; (2) highlights GAO's major concerns about the government's progress in fixing its computer systems; and (3) introduces guidance on Year 2000 testing, which GAO has developed to help agencies with the most extensive and expensive part of remediation.
