ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: December 9, 1998
Author/Local: P. Marfleet/7701
RTS No. 00413

CC File No. 1193

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	General Manager of Corporate Services, in consultation with the Corporate Management Team
SUBJECT:	Year 2000 Project: Status Report

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT Council receive this report for information.

B. THAT Council approve $75,000 for a study of identified embedded systems in Engineering plant, and that the General Manager Engineering in conjunction with the Year 2000 Project Manager be authorized to enter into a contract, once a consultant has been identified; source of funds to be the existing Year 2000 project funding.

GENERAL MANGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.

COUNCIL POLICY

In February 1998 Council authorized a City program and funding to deal with Year 2000 issues. In September 1998 Council authorized an expanded work program which included Terms of Reference, a complete work program and a Policy on Year 2000 for the City.

SUMMARY

The City's Year 2000 Project continues to progress in accordance with the work program approved by Council in September. Work to date has focussed on completing an inventory of potential Year 2000 vulnerabilities as well as analysing and confirming the need for remediation.

The inventory of hardware and software systems central to ongoing City operations is complete and remedial work is nearing completion. The planned implementation of SAP in January will replace many otherwise problematic systems. The City's mainframe has been upgraded for year 2000 compliance.

In other potential areas of vulnerability such as embedded systems, building-related systems, office equipment, cell phones and pagers, vehicles, and non-city systems upon which the City depends, the inventory is virtually complete, and in many cases the analysis/remediation step has also been completed. Analysis and remediation will continue in the first few months of 1999.

An area where a need for outside assistance has been identified is related to potential embedded systems in Engineering plant.

As the year 2000 deadline draws nearer the priorities of the program will shift to public information and contingency planning. Liaison will continue with outside agencies to ensure coordination of activity. Public information programs will be developed in 1999.

BACKGROUND

Year 2000 issues arise from the inability of some computers and processors to properly process dates during the transition to the twenty-first century. In February of this year Council approved a program to address Year 2000 issues in the City's corporate computer programs and hardware. That work is well underway and is on schedule for completion in early 1999.

In September Council approved an expanded work program to encompass emergency management issues related to potential Year 2000 failures; a City policy with respect to Year 2000; an expanded work program and terms of reference; and Council support for a Maple Ridge proposal to UBCM for legislation exempting municipalities for year 2000 liability.

The work program approved in September included regular status updates to Council, through the Corporate Management Team, throughout the program period. This is the first

such update, as at December 1, 1998.

DISCUSSION

The work program associated with Year 2000 in the City has been progressing well. All City departments, related Boards, and the Museum Associations are participating and, for the most part, work is on schedule. The following is the status of various initiatives which have been undertaken in accordance with the work program.

INVENTORY

As a first step the work program identified the need to develop a comprehensive inventory of areas where there may be potential year 2000 impacts. From the inventory staff will then analyse and investigate to either confirm year 2000 compliance or take steps to replace or remediate the affected item or develop a contingency plan to operate without it, in the event of failure.

The development of a City-wide inventory has been a significant undertaking. During this period when many staff are fully involved in SAP implementation and other changes City departments cooperated in assigning resources to support the Y2K program. Each department and related Board and Association has assigned individuals to take responsibility for different aspects of the overall inventory. At the date of this report the inventory is virtually 100% complete. Major departments like Police, Fire, Corporate Services (Building Management and Information Technology), Library, Engineering, and Park Board have advised they have completed their inventories, prioritized areas for attention, completed some remediation and are well into the detailed investigation stage.

For the purposes of the inventory staff have itemized the following categories:

Corporate Hardware and Software includes City hardware and software maintained by the Information Technology group. Information Technology staff have completed this aspect of the inventory. It includes all mainframe equipment. The majority of mainframe operating systems needed to be upgraded and that work is complete. This category includes approximately 17,000 peripheral items, such as cables, printers, switches, uninterruptible power supplies, batteries, adapters etc. It includes nearly 13,000 software applications systems and of these 137 items have been identified as requiring further investigation and analysis. The inventory includes nearly 4000 pc's, palmtops, laptops, servers etc. Of the 157 different models, 55 have been confirmed as being fully compliant. For the remaining 102

models, procedures will be available on the Year 2000 intranet page for staff to follow to ensure functionality in year 2000. City-wide voice mail is non-compliant and will be remedied within the budget allocated to Information Technology for y2k upgrades. The analysis of the inventory is complete and items requiring further investigation and analysis have been identified.

Departmental Hardware and Software includes hardware and software which departments may have purchased and/or developed independently. Each department is responsible for its own items in this category and all have been inventoried. Departments will be confirming compliance through the vendor/manufacture and taking remedial action, as appropriate.

Building System Equipment includes equipment basic to City owned buildings such as elevators; heating, lighting, airconditioning, security, and fire detection systems; parking garage gates, and backup systems such as emergency electrical power generators. The Building Management department of Corporate Services has assumed responsibility for these items and has inventoried 320 City-owned and leased/rented buildings. They have identified 60 date-dependent building systems and of these, fifteen are pending responses from manufacturers, seven have been identified as being non-compliant and requiring remediation, and the remainder have been confirmed as being compliant.

The systems known to require remediation are the building access control system for the VanCity building and the Museum (cost $28,000); the software to control the Library Square lighting system (cost $3000); hardware to support the building systems control at the Museum (cost $3,300). This remediation will be carried out using funding previously established for Year 2000 project work.

Telephones and Pagers. The cellular phone and pager inventory is complete and confirmed compliant. The telephone Private Branch Exchange (PBX) equipment inventory is complete and has been replaced with year 2000 compliant equipment. The voice mail system is in the process of being replaced.

Office Equipment. Departments are identifying office equipment critical to their operations which has potential year 2000 vulnerability. It is anticipated that there will be few high priority items in this category and departments will collaborate on common analysis and remediation steps.

Vehicles. Engineering has inventoried and confirmed compliance of twelve hundred

city vehicles, including police vehicles. The Fire Department has inventoried and assessed all Fire trucks and vehicles and has confirmed their compliance.

Potential Embedded Systems includes items which do not fall within the other categories and which may included embedded microchips. Engineering has the largest inventory and this is probably the most challenging category to identify and analyse. It includes things like SCADA systems, pump systems, process controllers, valves and flow metres, and sewer and water treatment systems. Many of these systems have been investigated and have been found to be compliant. However, about 100 systems have been identified as requiring further investigation. Given the complex, technical nature of these systems it is recommended that the City retain an outside consultant to assist staff in analysing them to determine how they will be affected by the Year 2000 transition and to determine potential remediation options. This study should begin as soon as possible. It is recommended that $75,000 be allocated to complete this study, and in view of the need to proceed expeditiously, it is recommended that the General Manager Engineering in conjunction with the Year 2000 project manager enter into a contract, once a consultant has been identified.

Non-City System Integral to City Operations is a category which includes outside systems which City operations depend on. It is assumed that all operations depend on utilities such as Gas and Hydro. Aside from those, departments have identified other systems which must be assured, such as the BC Assessment Authority system, banking and insta-bank services, BC Online reference system to Land Titles information, and Dow Jones and Reuter market wire system. The purpose in identifying these is so that the City can then follow up with these outside agencies and monitor their status with respect to Year 2000 compliance.

LIAISON WITH OUTSIDE AGENCIES

Another aspect identified in the Year 2000 work program is the need to liaise with other non-city agencies to coordinate contingency planning and to share information and expertise. The City hosted a Year 2000 Round table discussion on November 6, 1998 for this purpose. It included 35 attendees representing the GVRD, many lower mainland municipalities, BC Gas, BC Hydro, BC Telephone, BC Rail, Vancouver Hospital, Provincial Emergency Program, Port Corporation, Coast Guard and others. Agencies shared information about the status of their Year 2000 programs, about contacts within their organizations for various systems and equipment, about consultants that they had used, and about information programs they had initiated.

There was general interest in collaborating on public information. The Provincial Emergency Program and BC Hydro are developing a proposal for the group's consideration. There was also interest in developing a joint public Web Page and the Provincial Government through its Action 2000 committee has agreed to provide resources to support the development of the Web Page. This web page will provide the public with a single information point from a wide variety of agencies. The Round table will continue to meet quarterly. Particularly as the Year 2000 turnover approaches, this will be a valuable group to ensure mutual planning, support, and preparation.

PUBLIC INFORMATION

Public information to support the City's year 2000 program will be a priority over the coming months. The focus will be to inform the public about the City's policy and efforts in this area and to caution that despite reasonable efforts to minimize service disruptions, there is the potential for service failures disruption and everyone should take reasonable steps to prepare for this eventuality. Practical suggestions to prepare will be similar to those provided to prepare for a natural disaster such as severe weather conditions. Information will be developed in conjunction with the City's Communications Division and agencies such as Utilities, GVRD, Hospitals, etc. There is also an opportunity to promote year 2000 preparedness to small business within the City and it is recommended that this be incorporated into the City's public information strategy.

CONTINGENCY AND EMERGENCY PLANNING AND TESTING

The focus on specific contingency planning for Year 2000 will increase as departments complete their remediation work and year 2000 draws nearer. However, in conjunction with the opening of the City's new Emergency Operations Centre in the E-Comm building, significant emergency planning work is underway which will enhance the City's ability to cope with any emergency, including potential Year 2000 issues. Major response departments have reviewed and rewritten departmental emergency plans. A committee, lead by Police Inspector Murray Day, has developed an operating plan for the Emergency Operations Centre which reflects the new operational model currently being adopted worldwide for emergency centres. Work will continue to refine and test these plans to ensure their effectiveness. Work is also underway to complete the emergency plans for the non-response departments and to develop a City recovery plan.

An Emergency Operations Centre Steering Committee has been formed to lead the work associated with ensuring that City staff are trained in the operations and technology of thenew Emergency Operations Centre. It includes representatives from all the components of the Emergency Operations Centre. In January orientation sessions will be held to orient appropriate City staff to the systems and facility, followed by in-depth training sessions for the various staff who will staff the Emergency Operations Centre in an emergency. Exercises will then be developed to test the effectiveness of both the departmental plans and the Emergency Operations Centre. Specific scenarios around Year 2000 will be tested.

LIABILITY EXEMPTION

In September Council approved support of a Maple Ridge proposal to UBCM for legislative liability exemption for municipalities for claims associated with Year 2000 issues. UBCM is taking this proposal forward to the Provincial Government in December.

The City would have a defence to legal liability for service disruptions associated with Year 2000 issues, since the City's year 2000 program is a reasonable one and is being carried out with due diligence. However, as a government with a perceived "deep pocket" ability to pay, the City would undoubtedly be named in year 2000 claims and lawsuits. Protective legislation would limit the need to expend City resources and taxpayers' funds defending against such claims.

Staff are currently assisting UBCM in putting a proposal forward to the Province to support this exemption.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Council has allocated $649,000 to deal with Year 2000 problems that are identified as part of our systems review. Approximately $215,000 remains unallocated and is the recommended source of funding for the proposed review of Engineering department embedded systems.

CONCLUSION

The City's Y2K program is progressing on schedule is expected to minimize the potential for disruptions to City services caused by the year 2000 transition.

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver