The early arrival of daylight time this Sunday has computer and communications network technicians working to install patches for software to keep calendars on the same page when the clocks spring ahead.

Some are calling the changes a mini-Y2K, a reference to the programming changes needed when computer clocks needed to be altered to accept 00 in dates.

But whereas Y2K inspired fears of airplanes dropping out of the sky, most analysts predict the change in daylight time will more likely cause people to miss their flight from sleeping in.

"I'd liken it to a blinking '12:00' on a VCR," said Darren Hamilton, business manager for Hewlett-Packard's ProCurve Networking. "For some people, this doesn't bother them. But others who use the clock, they'll want to fix it. It's more of an irritant than a danger."

Set your clocks: Daylight time begins in most of Canada at 2 a.m. local time on the second Sunday in March and ends at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November.

The issue is simple: most software is programmed to set clocks ahead an hour on the first weekend in April, but the United States has changed its legislation to move the date up three weeks and most of Canada followed suit.

Saskatchewan doesn't change its clocks, and other pockets across the country are staying with their old routine.

Unlike Y2K, which caught many companies off guard and left IT workers scrambling to fix computer systems, the information technology industry is better prepared for this change, Hamilton told CBC News Online.

That's partly because the industry has the Y2K experience under its collective belt, and the software industry's increasing use of downloadable updates has created a more streamlined system for making adjustments when such issues arise.

Software upgrades available

Operating system software from Microsoft, Apple and Sun Microsystems all have patches available for download for computer users who want to update their systems at home. Research in Motion has done the same for its Blackberry, the popular hand-held organizer and communications device.

Likewise, communications networks have updated their systems. Telus announced Thursday they have re-programmed their networks to account for the time switch.

Hamilton warns the change could be a problem for accounting or security software on corporate networks where time stamps are an important part of the system.

"If these systems are time-sensitive, the network may lock out a person trying to log on or enter the office," he said. "This could have an impact on productivity if a number of users are locked out."

Health Canada concerns

Some industries are treating the situation seriously. Health Canada warned Wednesday the change could trigger malfunctions with medical devices and hospital information systems after disseminating advisories from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"The extent and seriousness of this problem is unclear," said the advisories to individuals. "We do not know if any medical equipment will be affected, how it will be affected or how it may affect patients.

"Although we don't know what specific equipment may fail to work correctly, we are concerned about equipment that consumers or patients use in their homes. We have already notified doctors, nurses and hospitals of our concerns."

The advisories suggest devices and software programs be checked as quickly as possible after 2 a.m. on the four dates where the software will disagree with the new changes:

  • March 11, the new start of daylight time.
  • April 1, the old start date.
  • Oct. 28, the old daylight end date.
  • Nov. 4, the new end date.

People making changes manually on their computers will likewise have to make changes four times at each of these dates.

Hamilton recommends each company assess how important time is to their systems to determine when they should fix the problem.

Companies or individuals might wait until after the weekend to make any software or network upgrades if they determine the daylight time change is of minor importance, he said.

With files from the Canadian Press