Covid-19 isn't the first time the world has needed to rally together to mitigate a potential global catastrophe.
Twenty years ago armies of computer programmers worked for years to prevent vital computer systems infrastructure falling over on January 1, 2000, due to the Y2K problem. This was a technical issue, abstract to most, the result of computer programs using two digits to represent a four-digit year, which when 1999 ended would cause computers to think it was 1900.
Author and tech worker Peter de Jager was one of the first in the industry to draw attention to the issue, back in the early 1990s.
When the dawn of January 1, 2000 passed without serious incident it led many to the view that the threat had been overstated. Now Peter has created a podcast Y2K- an autobiography where he interviews those involved in identifying and solving the problem, and explaining how the threat was real.
Peter de Jager Photo: supplied
