Editor writes: honesty the best policy

Quietly, millennium optimism is rising. Major tests - such as the American Federal Aviation Administration last week - are passing smoothly, while giant firms such as NatWest bank happily say they have 'no undue concerns'.

Poorly-informed alarmist stories have largely disappeared from national newspapers, while Computing's own confidence index has been heading up.

So far so good. Exactly the time not to slip into complacency.

This week Computing kicks off, for the second year, its shareholding campaign. Reporters will question chairmen from a randomly-selected group of nearly 30 blue chip firms at companies' AGMs. We will focus on whether or not chairmen can guarantee their firms will pass through the millennium unscathed - and what still needs to be done to ensure that this will be the case.

A guarantee, of course, is a tall order. It is not a word expected to be heard in public. It involves accepting liability. But it is the effective level of confidence a company's directors should have in their employees, the confidence their business should have in its suppliers, and the level of confidence the customers and shareholders of a business should have in that organisation. A goal well worth aiming for.

Pressing for a guarantee demands an honest answer from companies on their progress. That disclosure is crucial, warts and all.

Our questioning will keep the issue on the agenda and maintain the pressure for a culture of honesty. A growing level of optimism does not necessarily mean all is going well.

The ball is in play

Is HSBC brave or foolhardy as the first bank to formally agree bonus structures for staff working over the millennium date changeover? That depends on how staff in other banks react to HSBC's offer of eight times normal pay for what by any definition will be unsociable hours.

One thing is for certain: HSBC has done everyone a favour by putting a stake in the ground. The doom merchants may warn against generous pay rises, saying they would create inflation and cripple British industry, but they are almost certainly wrong.

The world-wide Internet economy is too powerful to be derailed by a mere computer glitch and some rather expensive late-night shifts.