Excluding the Department of Defense, 24 federal agencies report that 97% of their mission-critical systems are year 2000-compliant, a jump from 93% in June, according to a report issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Of the 24 agencies, 15 finished work on 100% of their systems, the OMB said. They are: the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Labor, the Department of State, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the General Services Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Office of Personnel Management, the Small Business Administration and the Social Security Administration.
Nine large agencies, including the Commerce, Justice, Energy, Defense and Treasury departments, have made progress in getting systems Y2K-compliant. They have a combined total of 217 systems that are not Y2K-compliant, a decrease from 410 systems reported in June, the report said.
Meanwhile, the Defense Department is the furthest behind in number of systems to be fixed, with 169 remaining, the OMB said.
The report also said that seven out of 43 "high-impact" programs that federal agencies oversee have completed their Y2K work. OMB defines "high impact" as programs that impact public health, safety and well-being. Programs such as Medicaid won't be finished until year's end.
Agencies now expect to spend $8.34 billion fixing the Y2K problem, up from $8.05 billion in June, the OMB said.