Questionnaihyousires were sent via industry organizations by the related government agencies to approximately 21,500 companies in 67 business fields in the private sector. In November and December 1998 (and in some cases in October 1998) replies were received from approximately 11,900 companies (a response rate of 55%). The findings are summarized below.
(Note) The fields of finance (banks, securities and insurance), energy, info- communications, transportation and health care are not included in these results, as these highly important parts of the private sector were surveyed separately. Please see "Recent Situations of the Japanese Y2K Conversion on Priority Areas."
1. Overall, preparations for the Y2K bug are under way in all fields of business and many companies are already taking concrete measures. However, the proportion of business which have executed test runs and completed their preparations remains low. Furthermore, a considerable proportion, centered in control systems, are still at the deliberation stage, or have not begun to make preparations. Much greater efforts must be made to ensure the execution of proper preparations.
2. The number of companies of all types which have completed crisis management plans remains small. The adoption of such plans must be encouraged in parallel with the above preparations.