DENVER – Governor Bill Owens today issued an executive order creating the Governor's Task Force on Year 2000 Readiness. The order addresses the challenges faced by state government agencies and departments and recognizes the need to coordinate between the public and private sectors.

"Given society's strong and growing dependence on computer technology, any disruption to the global information infrastructure posed by the anticipated Y2K problem could have serious negative consequences," said Gov. Owens. "State government must work with all sectors to mitigate the risks posed by possible systems disruptions in critical services to the public."

In Colorado and elsewhere, government relies on advanced information infrastructure to provide critical services to the public. However, much of this infrastructure has been around for a long time and many of the computer networks and embedded systems used today are still based on relatively older computing technology.

This executive order seeks to address these Y2K challenges by creating the Task Force on Year 2000 Readiness within the Office of the Governor. Its mission is:

• To strengthen coordination among the principal departments of State government in identifying and resolving potential Y2K issues within those departments.
  
• To encourage the development of effective contingency plans for State departments should Y2K-related systems disruptions occur.
  
• To facilitate increased interaction between State officials and appropriate
  representatives from federal, regional, county and local government to discuss inter-jurisdictional Y2K issues that may affect the delivery of critical governmental services to the public.
  

• Governor Owens' Chief Legal Counsel Troy Eid.
  Prior to joining the Owens' administration, Eid was president of a management
  consulting company specializing in hi-tech clients.
  
  
• Executive Director of the Department of General Support Services Larry Trujillo.
  
  
• Director of the Office of State Planning & Budgeting Nancy McCallin.
  
  
• Executive Director of the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing
  Jim Rizzuto.
  
  
• Executive Director of the Department of Public Safety Ari Zavaras.
  
  
• Adjutant General of the Department of Military Affairs Major General
  William Westerdahl.
  
  
• Director of the Governor's Office of Energy Conservation Rick Grice.
  
  
• Representative Penfield Tate, D-Denver; Representative Ron May, R-Colorado
  Springs.
  
  
• Senator Mark Hillman, R-Burlington; Senator Terry Phillips, D-Boulder.
  
  
• Six persons who are not State employees. Applications are being accepted for
  these positions.