For information
on 3 May 1999
Legislative Council Panel on Financial Affairs
YEAR 2000 COMPLIANCE IN GOVERNMENT,
GOVERNMENT-FUNDED AND GOVERNMENT-REGULATED ORGANISATIONS UNDER THE PURVIEW OF
THE FINANCE BUREAU
PURPOSE
This paper serves to inform Members of the progress of the Year 2000 (Y2K) compliance exercise in the Finance Bureau (FB) and the departments under its purview.
BACKGROUND
2. FB has policy responsibility for the following departments, which provide various intra-governmental and public services:-
- Government Property Agency (GPA);
- Government Lands Transport Agency (GLTA);
- Government Supplies Department (GSD);
- Inland Revenue Department (IRD);
- Printing Department (PD);
- Rating and Valuation Department (RVD); and
- the Treasury.
FB also has housekeeping responsibility for the Audit Commission.
3. FB and the departments under its purview are all fully aware of the importance to ensure that the Y2K problem has to be resolved in time to avoid any disruption to services to the public and other Government departments. In resolving the Y2K problem, we follow closely the guidelines issued by the Steering Committee on Year 2000 Compliance chaired by the Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting. Both FB and our group of departments provide regular progress reports on Y2K compliance work to the Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau on a quarterly basis in 1998, and on a monthly basis since 1999.
PRESENT POSITION AND PROGRESS
4.As at 15 March 1999, 803 mission-critical systems have been identified in the departments under the policy purview of FB. Of these, 760 of them have been confirmed as Y2K compliant or rectified. Most of the rectification work for the remaining 43 systems is expected to be ready by June 1999. Contingency plans are being drawn up by the relevant departments, and are expected to be available by June 1999. The following is a summary of the progress of Y2K compliance work for mission critical systems in the individual departments under FB's policy purview.
Government Property Agency (administration of Government properties)
5.As at 15 March 1999, there are 620 mission-critical systems operating in GPA, of which 619 has been confirmed to be Y2K compliant. Rectification work for the remaining one system was just completed in April 1999.
Government Lands Transport Agency (management of Government fleet)
6. There are three mission-critical computer systems in GLTA. All these systems are Y2K compliant.
Government Supplies Department (procurement service for the Government)
7. There are 22 mission-critical systems in GSD. All these systems are Y2K compliant.
Inland Revenue Department (assessment and collection of taxes, statutory duties and fees)
8. There are 48 mission-critical systems operating in the IRD, of which 14 systems were confirmed Y2K compliant. Of the remaining 34 non-compliant systems, 29 have already been rectified and the rectification work for another three systems is underway and will complete by June 1999. Replacement work for the remaining two systems, i.e. the Private Automation Branch Exchange System and the Interactive Voice Response System, should be completed by 31 July 1999. A detailed contingency plan is being worked out jointly by IRD and the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA). IRD aims to finalise the contingency plan in June 1999.
Printing Department (printing service for the Government)
9. There are ten mission-critical systems in the PD. All these systems are Y2K compliant.
Rating and Valuation Department (assessment and collection of Rates and Government Rents)
10. There are five mission-critical systems operating in RVD. Of these five systems, two are non-compliant and rectification work is underway. Both systems are expected to be compliant by 30 June 1999. Contingency plans have been made and will be progressively reviewed throughout 1999.
11. It is expected that the risk of Y2K related disruption to the assessment and billing system for rates and Government rent should be low. External interfaces have been identified and confirmations are being sought on their Y2K compliance. Major operational events, such as billing processing and collection, fall outside the high risk period from late December/early January 2000. Billing processing will occur in early December and collection peaks in late January. However, RVD will be completing the revaluation and moving to the Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices. A back up computer system would be acquired to facilitate external access, and will be used to support the Y2K transition
Treasury (central accounting, collections and payments)
12. There are 95 mission-critical computer systems in the Treasury. Of which, 88 are computer applications and seven are embedded systems. All embedded systems have been confirmed as Y2K compliant or rectified. Of the 88 computer application systems, 82 have been made Y2K compliant, and the remaining six will be made Y2K compliant by the end of May 1999.
Audit Commission (regularity audit, value for money audit)
13. There is no mission-critical system in the Audit Commission.
WAY FORWARD
14. In the time leading to the turn of the century, FB and the departments under its purview will concentrate our efforts to ensure that all the remaining non-compliant mission-critical systems will be rectified in time. We will put in place proper contingency plans, where necessary, to guard against any disruption to the critical services provided to the public and other Government departments.
Finance Bureau
April 1999
