Information Note for the LegCo Panel on Public Service Meeting on 19 April 1999
Progress of Year 2000 Compliance Work in Areas under Civil Service Bureau's Policy Purview

Purpose

This paper serves to inform members of the position with respect to Year 2000 compliance of computer systems in Civil Service Bureau and Departments under Secretary for the Civil Service's policy purview. A list of departments concerned is at Annex.

2. Three departments under Civil Service Bureau have mission-critical systems. These are the Public Service Commission, Secretariat of the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service and the Secretariat of the Standing Committee on Disciplined Service Salaries and Conditions of Service. Their systems have all been confirmed to be Y2K compliant.

3. The Bureau, Civil Service Training and Development Institute and Official Languages Agency do not have any mission-critical systems. Of the non-critical computer systems e.g. administrative computer systems, they are all Y2K compliant. The only non-Y2K compliant software in use is Lotus cc : mail 2.21 and some other ad hoc software installed in the local LAN. This will be upgraded or replaced before end of June 1999.

4. The Treasury, while not strictly speaking under Secretary for the Civil Service's purview, is responsible for the mission-critical systems for the payment of civil service salaries, allowances, housing benefits, pensions etc. The Director of Accounting Services has confirmed that modification/enhancement work on these systems was completed by the end of February 1999 and they are now all Y2K compliant.

Background

5. As reported in the paper entitled "Year 2000 Compliance within Government and in Non-Government Organisations Funded or Regulated by Government" (LC Paper No. CB(1)942/98-99(01)), as at 15 January 1999, 90% of Government's mission-critical computer and embedded systems were confirmed to be compliant or had been rectified. Of the non-compliant systems which are being rectified, 97% of them will be rectified by June 1999.

Civil Service Bureau
April 1999

Annex

The following departments are under the policy purview of the Civil Service Bureau -

Public Service Commission
Secretariat of the Standing Commission on Civil Service
Salaries and Conditions of Service
Secretariat of the Standing Committee on Disciplined Service
Salaries and Conditions of Service
Civil Service Training and Development Institute (CSTDI)
Official Languages Agency (OLA)