LVCVA, gaming industry looking at Year 2000 issues

Auditors have begun examining the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's vulnerability to Year 2000 computer problems.

But the LVCVA's manager of information technology believes the agency's technology will be able to stand up to any Y2K bug on the horizon.

The LVCVA board of directors recently received a status report from David Lysne, a business consultant with Arthur Andersen.

Lysne said his company is developing an inventory of hardware, software and products that use computer microchips embedded with calendar-driven systems. Any one of those, he said, could malfunction when the calendar changes to the year 2000.

Computer operators theorize that some systems will fail on the world's computers when the last two digits of the year turn from 99 to 00.

In addition to making a list of all systems, Arthur Andersen is checking to see if the LVCVA's key suppliers and business partners are Y2K compliant.

The LVCVA's manager of information technology, Brad Rodgers, is confident the agency's system is compliant. He's more worried about computers used by suppliers who work with them.

"We're in pretty good shape," Rodgers said. "That's because a lot of the systems we have are fairly new.

"We've also had presentations from the city and county. They say they are on track and complete. The community is working pretty hard on this. We all know that one supplier down the chain could throw everything off."

Rodgers said the cost of compliancy, including the Arthur Andersen audit, is about $650,000 for the LVCVA.

His biggest concerns: the airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration and other systems that work with McCarran International Airport.

"We've got to be able to make sure people can come into town," Rodgers said. "The travel agents and the airlines themselves all have systems that are important to getting people in and out of here."

Another concern: whether banks will be ready.

Meanwhile, the gaming industry will be asked to review all systems by the state Gaming Control Board.

Gregg Gale, audit division chief for the Gaming Control Board, said letters would be sent to casinos next month inquiring about computer compliance and their timetables.

"We don't want the progressive links to shut down, we don't want Megabucks to quit," Gale said.

If the Y2K bug creates havoc, it would happen at a time when the city traditionally is full of people -- on New Year's Eve.

Gale said many slot machines have embedded controllers with calendar mechanisms in their chips that could cause machines to tilt if the calendar malfunctions.

Other mechanisms with calendar-embedded chips include coin-in monitoring systems, which may require a review by the board if they are modified. By distributing a letter next month, Gale hopes to head off a rush of requests in the last months of 1999.

Gale said many of the top equipment producers have been working on the Y2K problem for months, so manufacturers are confident they'll head off any problems.

"We should be in pretty good shape in the state," Gale said. "We don't want the public perception to be that we're not ready."

A law practice that lists gaming as one of its specialties also is concerned about Y2K compliance.

"Any lawyer that is involved in these issues ought to certainly be prepared to counsel their clients to the exposure that's there," said Steve Gibson of Lionel, Sawyer & Collins.

Gibson, noting that good attorneys try to head off legal problems for their clients, said his practice is studying Y2K issues as they relate to liability.

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