Column 42: Awaiting the stroke of midnight
That long winter night everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting for the fateful hour. Across the country at businesses, hospitals, airports, train stations, subway stations and public institutions of all kinds, the eyes of millions of IT professionals were glued to their computer screens. The stress and anxiety were palpable and the suspense was felt around the world, fuelled by more than three years of frenzied activity. It was December 31, 1999, at 11:59 p.m.
Remember the Millennium Bug? If you don’t then it’s probably because you weren’t born yet!
Fear began to mount when computer specialists realized that there was a flaw in the design of computer systems related to the way dates were formatted to save on computer memory. The fear was that as the new millennium dawned many computer programs and data bases would interpret the two 00s as 1900 rather than 2000, creating a multitude of malfunctions with catastrophic consequences. Business and government invested colossal amounts of money to repair or replace their computer systems.
In 1997, a team was set up at Lassonde under the leadership of Pierre Brault, Vice-president, Technology. With the help of suppliers, they evaluated all the components of the system and made modifications when necessary. Most of the components were state-of-the-art, however, and expenditures were relatively modest.
But to play it safe, a crisis unit was set up for the much anticipated transition to the year 2000. And while their families hugged and exchanged New Year’s greetings, the members of the team kept their hands on their pagers…
Next column: At a glance…