December 30, 1999

Prepared by
City of Seattle Y2K Project Office
Marty Chakoian
Y2K Project Manager

The information provided in this report is produced for the sole purpose of assisting the planning for the transition to the Year 2000. All information provided is hereby designated a Year 2000 readiness Disclosure Statement as defined in section 3 (11) of the Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act, (Public Law 105-271, 112 Stat. 2386).

1. Background

Last fall, the City contracted with Data Dimensions, Inc., to review its Y2K readiness program. Their assessment was released in February of this year. Although they did not identify any critical systems that were likely to fail, the review pointed out weaknesses in the City’s processes which could put it at high risk when computer systems roll forward into the Year 2000.

At the time of the review in the fall of 1998, the City’s departmental approach lacked efficiency, coordination and consistency. Individual departments varied widely in their ability to manage, staff, and fund a comprehensive Year 2000 effort. There was no central supervision or control and consequently, clearly defined plans and consistent methodologies were not being used across City departments.

Since the distribution of the Data Dimensions report in February, the City has established a Y2K Project Office and adopted a date standard and methodology. The Y2K Project Office has promulgated that methodology and attendant forms and procedures, developed an overall project plan with milestones and dates, and established facilities to assist with testing. Departments -- working with the staff of the Project Office -- have prioritized, scheduled, and mostly completed accomplishing their work.

2. Computing and Communications Infrastructure

One important aspect of the Y2K project has been to ensure that the City's desktop computers and local area networks are at the level of Y2K compliance. The Citywide Desktop Standardization Project has worked with departments to inventory the City’s PCs and to replace those with Y2K related problems. We inventoried 7965 PCs used by City departments; many of these PCs have been upgraded or replaced. As a result, 100% of the City’s PCs are now Y2K-compliant. Software patches for Windows, NetWare, and GroupWise have been installed. The City’s fiber backbone data network has been upgraded and a new Police 911 Center installed at the new West Precinct has been certified by the vendor as Y2K-compliant and has been successfully tested end-to-end with U.S. West. Likewise, other key elements of our computing and communications infrastructure, including emergency radios and mobile data terminals, have been determined to be Y2K-compliant.

3. Computer Systems and Applications

Most department efforts have been focused on fixing applications that support the City's primary business functions. Departments have identified 89 mission-critical applications. As of this report, all 89 of the systems have been fixed or replaced.

Date	Activity	Status
December 20	Fix or replace computer systems	89 of 89 complete

4. Testing and Certification

Once departments have finished fixing their applications, our approach is to certify each system as compliant through rigorous, formal testing under the review of the Y2K Project Test Team. To date, 88 systems have been tested and certified. One, the Municipal Court Information System, has been fixed and tested by its owning department. Its late date of completion precluded formal review and certification of the test results by the Y2K Project Test Team.

Date	Activity	Status
December 20	Certify systems through formal testing	88 of 89 complete

5. Embedded Systems

The term embedded systems is used to refer to computer chips and software embedded in equipment that is used in day to day business operations. Examples include HVAC systems, fuel pumps, alarms, and process controllers.

The City has now completed an aggressive examination of its embedded systems, using both expert City staff and consultants. (The Y2K Project Office especially recognizes the fine work of staff from DCLU, Seattle Center, and ESD who have assisted in this area.) The utilities have reviewed controllers used in the distribution of water and electricity and in the removal of wastewater and operation of the solid waste transfer stations. The Police communication equipment and Fire stations, fire boats, and emergency medical equipment have been carefully inventoried and assessed. Even the systems which help to operate the Zoo and the Aquarium have been surveyed to ensure that animal life will not be jeopardized by Y2K related errors.

Date	Activity	Status
December 20	Assess and fix or replace embedded systems	100% complete. No significant problems identified.

6. Vendors and Suppliers

Like most public or private organizations, the City of Seattle cannot function without the products and services it receives from its business partners. We depend not only on cooperation and support from other government agencies—the federal government, the State of Washington, King County—but also from the private sector. We have therefore identified and surveyed our most critical suppliers: large firms such as US West, Seafirst Bank, and others, along with smaller companies on whom we depend for supplies and equipment. Thus far we are reassured by the serious approach which these companies are taking to address their own Y2K issues; any lapses in their ability to serve us have been addressed in our contingency plans.

Responsible Party	Activity	Status
Departments	Identify key vendors and suppliers	100% complete: 346 identified
Departments	Evaluate key vendors and suppliers	100% complete through readiness assessment and/or contingency planning
Y2K Project Staff	Evaluate vendors and suppliers common to more than one Department	62 common vendors/suppliers identified (in addition to the 346 Department-specific vendors and suppliers). 62 evaluated. 61 found to be low-risk, with no issues. 1 found to be at some risk; contingency plan developed. All rechecks completed.

7. Contingency Planning

The one certainty about Y2K is that something somewhere will go wrong. Therefore, departments developed contingency plans to help ensure that the public will continue to receive basic services without interruption. A workshop was held this spring in conjunction with the State of Washington. A web page, http://inweb/Citytech/y2k/cp/default.htm, was established on the City’s Y2K project site, and briefings were held with each department to provide guidance.

Department staff worked hard to develop realistic short term workarounds for areas of potential vulnerability, should any of our own systems fail or our vendors or suppliers be unable to meet their obligations to us. To assist this effort, a matrix was created to identify interdepartmental dependencies on items managed by another department. While departments were responsible for individual exercises to test and validate their plans, two City-wide exercises have been conducted to ensure that those plans are realistic and coordinated.

Date	Activity	Status
October 19	Citywide Contingency plan exercise focusing on vital operations and services	Exercise held; results documented and distributed
December 8	Citywide Contingency plan exercise focusing on financial business processes and computer applications	Exercise held; results documented and distributed
December 30	Complete contingency plans	All 15 departments submitted initial plans to the Y2K Project Office for review. Subsequently, all 15 departments submitted revisions in accordance with our evaluation recommendations and are now "completed and confirmed".

 

8. Rollover Period Preparation

The "Rollover Period" is officially defined as the period between December 28, 1999, and January 4, 2000. During this time, departments are assigning extra staff to monitor and report on mission-critical computer systems. In addition, the Y2K Project office, in coordination with the City’s Emergency Operations Center, is bringing together public safety agencies, utilities, the Executive Services Department, and others to ensure uninterrupted delivery of essential City services, and to report on the status of such services and key systems to the State, to the Federal government, and to the public.

9. Public Involvement

Seattle City government’s focus during the first half of 1999 has been to inventory, assess, and fix its own Y2K problems. However, Seattle’s success in moving smoothly into the new year will be measured not just in how government services perform, but in how our whole community transitions. Individual and neighborhood preparations are as important as the preparations of City departments. In addition to some excellent work by the City’s Emergency Operations Center in promoting general preparedness through activities such as Disaster Saturday, a more comprehensive, Y2K-specific preparedness program was developed. It includes a comprehensive set of brochures, a video, press events, and direct participation in community forums.

Recently, the Y2K Project Office produced and aired four cable access programs on Y2K. Copies of these programs are available through the public libraries.

The final phase of the public information program is to prepare the public for the New Year’s weekend (December 31— January 2). A flyer is being mailed to all households in the City and a 30-second public service announcement is being distributed to local television stations. During the New Year’s weekend, public information staff will provide the public with regular updates through the media on the status of our City’s mission-critical systems and services.

10. First Quarter 2000 Assessment

While much attention is focused on events occurring on December 31 through January 2, many believe that the real impact of Y2K will occur as problems emerge and compound throughout the coming year. The Y2K Project Office is creating and implementing a mechanism for identifying those problems and their impacts, developing remediation strategies, and prioritizing and tracking the work to completion.

11. Collateral Benefits

For each department, we have identified:

The number of PC’s and the percent that are now Y2K-compliant. This project will not only ensure that desktops are ready, but it will also culminate in standardization that will enable the City to be more efficient and cost effective.

The number of mission critical applications (those that a department has identified as essential to the continued performance of their business functions); the number of these for which Y2K work has been completed; and the number which have been certified through additional testing under the review of the Year 2000 Project.

The name and status of each mission critical application supporting the department, including remediation status ("complete" or the date by which remediation is to be complete), and certification status ("certified", or the date by which certification is expected).

The number of minor applications (those that a department has identified as having little impact or easy work-arounds) and the number of these for which Y2K work has been completed.

The number of vendors or suppliers of goods and services important to the department, and the number of these which have been contacted to assess Y2K readiness.

The strengths and weaknesses of each department’s Y2K program as noted by an independent quality assurance assessment. This quality assurance review evaluates methods used and the processes employed as a department works toward compliance.

The status of the department’s contingency planning efforts. For instance, how they’ve determined to use additional staffing, manual operations, or lower technology equipment in case there is an unforeseen problem.

Any issues that highlight efforts under way or illustrate key challenges faced by the department.

# of Applications 15

# Y2K Work Completed 15

# Certified Compliant /Ready 15 (14 certified compliant; 1 ready with workaround)

Minor Applications

Vendors/Suppliers

# of Applications 4

# Y2K Work Completed 4

# Certified Compliant 4

Minor Applications

Vendors/Suppliers

# Certified Compliant 8

Minor Applications

Vendors/Suppliers

None noted.

# Certified Compliant 10

Minor Applications

Vendors/Suppliers

None noted.

Minor Applications

Vendors/Suppliers

# of Applications 1

# Y2K Work Completed 1

# Certified Compliant 0

Minor Applications

Vendors/Suppliers

Minor Applications

Vendors/Suppliers

# of Applications 1

# Y2K Work Completed 1

# Certified Compliant 0

Minor Applications

Vendors/Suppliers

Municipal Court Information System (MCIS): Because Y2K testing revealed a number of problems, the Court decided to reverse its earlier strategy and has completed remediation of the system. Departmental testing to confirm that all fixes are working correctly for the rollover to January 1, 2000 is complete; a Leap Year (2/29/2000) problem that was previously identified has also been corrected. All changes have been implemented in the production system. The late date of MCIS remediation precluded formal review and certification of the test results by the Y2K Project Test Team.

# Certified Compliant/Ready 9 (7 certified compliant, 2 ready with workaround. The workaround processes have all been tested. )

Minor Applications

Vendors/Suppliers

The department’s Y2K program is complete, thorough, and appropriately documented.

Strengths: Awareness, planning, organization, direction, coordination, communication, staffing, seeking remedies

Weaknesses: None noted

# of Applications 3

# Y2K Work Completed 3

# Certified Compliant 3

Minor Applications

Vendors/Suppliers

Complete and Confirmed.

None noted.

# of PCs 350 % Y2K compliant 100%

# of Applications 6

# Y2K Work Completed 6

# Certified Compliant 6

Minor Applications

Vendors/Suppliers

# of Applications 4

# Y2K Work Completed 4

# Certified Compliant 4

Minor Applications

Vendors/Suppliers

# of Applications 19

# Y2K Work Completed 19

# Certified Compliant 19

Minor Applications

Vendors/Suppliers

# of Applications 1

# Y2K Work Completed 1

# Certified Compliant 1

Minor Applications

Supported by the Department of Information Technology (DoIT)

# of Applications 4

# Y2K Work Completed 4

# Certified Compliant 4

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