Page 25 - Yearbook issue try out

(by then) legacy systems from the early Various scenarios were considered and the goal was
decades of computing. It provided a to encourage discussion and debate rather than
great excuse to replace truly past-it define a narrow target. There was a deliberate focus
systems, rather than modify them. on having many participants in the early part of
their careers as, for them, the 2020 vision would be
Many systems were retained. especially relevant.
Modifications varied from “proper”
purist extensions to handle four-digit When our successors in 20 years’ time look back
years, to tactical changes to infer the to 2020, COVID-19 and lockdown, will they – in
century from the two-digit year using a hindsight – think we did a good job in harnessing
suitable window such as 1980 to 2079. technology to help get us through?

Increasing numbers of centenarians, What about the broader role of IT in major themes
for example, made the windowing such as climate change; the behaviour of the
approach problematic. Sometimes superpowers and other nations; health and life
logically-simple changes could be expectancy; the future of work and the future of
the last straws for systems already cities (and, indeed, The City)?
modified for decades to stretch the
limits of data-record sizes.

One technological complexity, timezones , made
the day itself fraught. Oceania faced the challenge
first – and survived. The rest of the world followed,
with an added frisson as GMT’s midnight passed.

I spent the cutover night onsite at a bank’s London
IT centre, focused on ATM systems, to make sure
everyone could withdraw cash the next day.

ND it was not just about 1 January. There
were many other dangerous dates: end of
Amonth, end of quarter, end of tax year, end of
year and so on.

Plus 2000 was a leap year. Many programmers had
not catered for the “once-in-400 years” rule, so 29
February, 1 March, and 31 December (the 366th
day of the year) all had the potential for delayed
disaster, let alone retrospective calculations in We already recognise specific challenges such as
future years. data privacy, the power of social media, artificial
intelligence and machine learning, transport
The turn of the century wasn’t just about the bug. automation, and remote working and learning.
WCIT led a series of lectures and workshops at
Gresham College to consider the future of London And will we have survived the Great Unix Crisis
in 20 years – that is, now. of 2038, based on a boundary for Unix-based
computers involving the number of seconds since
And it wasn’t just about technology. Themes 1 January 1970?
included society, commerce, governance,
education, leisure, globalisation, the role of the Well, we survived Y2K and the Mayan end-of-the-
traditional professions, open access to information, world calendar crisis in 2012. So, fingers crossed for
demographics and diversity. The visions were WCIT – and the City as a whole – in the years ahead.
generally positive, combining innovative thinking Will the Master in 2040 think we did a good job? Or
with building on emerging trends. is that just a hopeful attempt at 20-20 vision?
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