No sign of the 8 on computer keyboards

Date: 12/03/1998

By Tim Jones

INTERNATIONAL standards officials have still not agreed on a common code to ensure the t sign for Europe's new currency can be used on computers throughout the world.

With the rapid approach of the 2-3 May EU summit, when the common currency area's founder members will be selected, pressure is growing on the information technology industry to lay the groundwork for a symbol to match those of the dollar and the yen.

Last month, a committee of national representatives failed to agree on the unique binary code which must be assigned to the t icon to enable it to be transferred between and recognised by different computers.

However, hopes are high that accord can be reached at a further meeting of officials under the auspices of the Geneva-based International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) later this month.

"They will reach a deal because they have to. If they don't, then Microsoft and IBM will make their own minds up and agree a standard," said John Smith, European certification manager for Tandem Computers, now a division of Compaq.

The committee for EU standards, CEN, has set itself a 1 July deadline for an agreement.

But the general public will probably have to wait at least two years for a computer keyboard with a t key, according to officials at the European Commission and hardware manufacturers.

"There are other ways of achieving the solution, so hardware manufacturers are biding their time," said Alan McFall, programme manager for software services firm ICL. "There are costs attached to changing production schedules and, in continental Europe, there is not the tradition of using currency symbols anyway."

Ironically, it is Bill Gates' Microsoft Corporation - vilified by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic for alleged monopolistic practices - which holds the key to propagating the new European currency symbol.

At the moment, anyone who contacts the Commission to find out how to obtain the t sign is referred to the Microsoft website where the logo can be downloaded and reproduced using a function key.

However, once the new Windows 98 computer operating system and Windows NT Version 5 are released in late summer, the software for the t sign will be available - but only by using function keys.

"We are ready to go," said Judith Grindal, the spokeswoman for hardware-makers Fujitsu. "It now depends on the decisions of the Commission and Microsoft. Once the operating systems are out, then a new keyboard can be designed."