Can we start again, please? But this time, all together

Perhaps the mathematicians were right after all. Maybe next year really is the start of the new millennium, and the year now rapidly fading away merely the end of the 20th century. If so, it would go some way to explaining away what to many people has been a year best forgotten, rather than one to be chronicled as the dawn of a new era.

Admittedly, economists (and at least some politicians) can point to a positively healthy economy, boosted by the lowest unemployment levels for decades. But when did good news sell newspapers? The trials and tribulations of the Millennium Dome have arguably been a better metaphor for the year, than is the strength of sterling as we move into an election year. And when the headline writers tire of the Dome, along come the natural and manmade disasters of storms, floods and rail chaos to reinforce the impression that 2000 has not quite lived up to expectation.

Twelve months ago industry and business in general was in something of a state of suspended animation as computer clocks ticked inexorably towards 00:00 on 01/01/00, at which point the world was to end, or the billions invested on correcting the Y2K problem was to be vindicated. So, money well spent? Who can say, other than how can one prove a negative? What can be said, however, is that the upgrading of so many computer systems has laid the foundations for this year's burgeoning interest in e-business and e-commerce.

Having dealt with the Y2K problem (some might say a problem of its own making), the IT community has now clearly switched its promotional efforts to extolling the business benefits that the Internet and the worldwide web can bring to all levels of a company's operation. This is the much-touted plant-to-boardroom scenario of seamlessly integrated information available to everyone that needs it.

Unfortunately, the traditional demarcation between IT and engineering departments has not exactly helped this seamless flow of information in the past. Sophisticated scheduling and planning packages, for example, are fine for planners and schedulers. Plant operators, on the other hand, need their control systems to be tied in with such business level systems for the real benefits of IT to come through. One of the encouraging developments of the past year has been the real progress made in this direction as traditional process control companies look to share their process knowledge with business-level IT.

The acquisition of Baan by Foxboro's parent, Invensys, was arguably the most significant commercial move in this area, but not far behind was ABB Automation's launch of its integrated approach, the IndustrialIT suite that covers everything from control and engineering, through operation and production, to lifecycle optimisation.

With such developments, perhaps next year will be the real start of better times all round.