Kathleen AdamsAssociate CommissionerOffice of Systems Design and DevelopmentSocial Security Administration
The most frightening aspect of 2000 may be what it does to the nation's computers: Many will abort programs or spit out gibberish as the software fails to recognize a year ending in "00."
Adams, who chairs the federal government's Year 2000 Interagency Committee, is the point person for preparing agencies and ensuring that federal systems don't melt down when 2000 arrives.
The biggest task last year was missionary work—making agencies aware of the dangers. The word is getting out. The committee's membership has grown from a sprinkling of agencies to more than 20. Besides developing seminars for agencies, the committee is evaluating ways for agencies to exchange date-sensitive information and is working with vendors to ensure their products are compliant with the new year's changes.
Adams became an expert on 2000 while spearheading the effort to rewrite programming code at SSA, where the millennium change is a mammoth problem. SSA must change as many as 40 million lines of code, a job that will take an estimated 300 work-years.
Her greatest challenge will be convincing agencies that face tighter budgets to start spending money now to fix code. "The year 2000 is four years away," she said. "That's a long way off for many agencies to begin thinking about."
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W. Lee AkridgeDirector, Communications Networks and ProductsIntegrated Engineering DivisionTRW Inc.
Akridge won a federal procurement marathon of sorts last September when the Treasury Department awarded TRW Inc. the $425 million Treasury Communications System.
As leader of TRW's four-year pursuit of TCS, he was able to accomplish two critical tasks: convince TRW management to continue investing in the procurement and keep the proposal team together and focused.
As TCS ran into numerous delays and threats to its very survival, Akridge "had to continually sell his management [on TCS]," said one executive familiar with the bid. His leadership was a key factor in TRW's winning solution to the hotly contested contract. Industry observers described the win as an upset.
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