About 50 heads of companies in the international and financial sectors, and businesses considered essential to the running of Bermuda, are gathering on June 5 to determine how far along their companies are in dealing with the Year 2000 computer problem.

The "Millennium Bug'' or the Year 2000 problem refers to a glitch in the programs running computers and software causing an inability to recognise years after 1999.

The Millennium Summit will bring together those in key industries to see how far along Bermuda is to becoming millennium compliant. The meeting will be held at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute and is sponsored by Cable & Wireless and MM&I Technology Group.

Dr. John Baits, Cable & Wireless' director of group development, will talk about what could happen if Bermuda's business infrastructure fails to address the problem, which is affecting many companies worldwide.

Bermuda Chamber of Commerce president Michael Smith said the problem needs to be dealt with by everyone in the business world.

"Bermuda's business owners and leaders must understand how interdependent our businesses are and that we are collectively responsible for ensuring that our essential service providers are engaged in the millennium compliance process,'' he stated in a press release. "There must be a collective effort to share information on readiness, to develop market conventions to deal with transaction failures and plan contingencies for infrastructure problems.'' BUSINESS BUC