NIH YEAR 2000 (Y2K) STATEMENT OF READINESS

Release Date:  May 24, 1999

National Institutes of Health

The Year 2000 (Y2K) issue is of great concern to the 
Federal Government. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) 
has taken great care to assure that it is doing everything 
possible to prepare all information technology, 
telecommunication and infrastructure systems for 
uninterrupted operation when Y2K arrives. 

At the NIH, plans for ushering in the new millennium were 
established in June of 1996.  A cross-disciplinary strategy 
was developed to remediate potential problems associated 
with the industry-wide use of a two-digit date field.  
Under the leadership and coordination of the NIH Center for 
Information Technology, NIH organized a matrix of Y2K Work 
Groups staffed by representatives from each Institute and 
Center.  Collectively, these groups address Y2K concerns 
associated with information technologies, biomedical 
equipment, infrastructure and telecommunications.  Business 
continuity and contingency plans are in progress to ensure 
a smooth transition for NIH, its grantee community, and the 
public.  

As of March 31, 1999, all 14 NIH mission critical systems 
are compliant.  Ninety-eight percent of the 398 non-mission 
critical systems are compliant. 

NIH wishes to remind its awardees of their responsibility 
to ensure that NIH-supported activities are not adversely 
affected by the Y2K problem. If you are in doubt about the 
compliance of any of your systems or equipment, you may 
consult the NIH Y2K Biomedical Clearinghouse website at 
http://irm.cit.nih.gov/y2000. This site provides a variety 
of information, including step-by-step instructions for 
Principal Investigators with Y2K equipment concerns, 
contact lists for manufacturers, and Frequently Asked 
Questions (FAQs) on assuring the Y2K compliance of your 
equipment.

General information about NIH�s Y2K compliance, including 
FAQs specific to NIH Y2K readiness, can be found on NIH�s 
Center for Information Technology Y2K website at 
http://www.cit.nih.gov/y2k/.

Public inquires and further questions may be addressed to:

National Institutes of Health
Center for Information Technology
Bldg. 12A, Rm. 4063
12 South Drive MSC 5651
Bethesda, MD 20892-7505
Attention: Gregory Roa
Phone: 301-496-6204
Fax: 301-402-4437
E-mail: greg.roa@NIH.gov

Information concerning interagency Year 2000 activities, 
plans, and issues can be found on the General Services 
Administration's web site at http://www.itpolicy.gsa.gov 
under the Year 2000 Information Directory.

Return to Volume Index

Return to NIH Guide Main Index

	Office of Extramural Research (OER)			National Institutes of Health (NIH) 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20892			Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Note: For help accessing PDF, RTF, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Audio or Video files, see Help Downloading Files.