IPv6 in Governments

Within the framework of a successful transition to IPv6, the role governments may have in relation to the entire process is of key importance.

There are countries where the involvement of authorities from areas such as communications, energy, science, technology, education, etc. have made it possible to establish regulations that, in the short or medium term, become responsible for promoting the deployment and later adoption of the new protocol.

Among others, the countries and organizations that have taken steps in this direction include France, India, Spain, Australia, Japan, United States, and Malaysia. More concretely, and with the only purpose of citing a few examples, in February 2002 the European Commission issued a communication to the Council and the European Parliament encouraging each sector of the economy to implement the actions necessary to achieve the transition to IPv6, in the understanding that integrating all efforts will result in the early implementation of the new protocol together with all the advantages it represents. Another example is the government of Malaysia that, together with the USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia) and other institutions devoted to research and development, has been working since 2005 with the aim of transforming Malaysia into an "IPv6-enabled" nation towards the year 2010 by planning IPv6 promotion and training programs. Furthermore, the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requires that by June 2008 the backbones of the country's federal government agencies be using IPv6.

In addition to the above mentioned examples, other movements such as national and regional IPv6 Tasks Forces are implementing actions to promote government and state authority involvement in the process.

Examples of Actions Implemented by Governments:

INDIA:

Todos los ISPs y empresas de telecomunicaciones deberán ser "IPv6-compliant" y ofrecer servicios IPv6 para el fin del añó próximo
(2011), de acuerdo a la oficina de prensa del gobierno de India. Además, los organismos de gobierno federales y estatales deberan adoptar la
nueva version del protocolo para marzo de 2012. Estos planes se dan en el marco del despliegue de servicios 3G y de acceso a banda ancha
inalambrica. India cuenta actualmente con alrededor de 52 millones de usuarios activos...

Mas información y fuente: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/201573/india_plans_to_introduce_ipv6_by_2012.html

CHINA:

El gobierno ha señalado IPv6 como una de las claves de su proyecto de Internet de nueva generacion y trabaja en una estrategia
para el despliegue comercial de IPv6. De acuerdo al Ministerio de Industria y Tecnología de Información, China necesitará alrededor de
34.500 millones de direcciones IP en los proximos 5 años...

Mas información y fuente:  http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/04/08/4716329.htm

NRO:

El NRO, Number Resource Organization, compuesta por los 5 registros regionales de Internet (RIRs) insto a los gobiernos a tomar la iniciativa en la adopcion global de IPv6. A medida que se va agotando el espacio IPv4 disponible, el despliegue de IPv6 resulta crítico para poder asegurar un desarrollo continuo de la Internet. Las estadísticas que el NRO recoge muestran un incremento significativo de la demanda de direcciones IP por parte de países en desarrollo, fundamentalmente debido a la utilización de telefonos móviles y dispositivos de mano para acceder a Internet. La denominada "Internet de las cosas", donde todo tendrá conectividad a la Red, desde las TVs y consolas de juegos hasta los autos y refrigeradores, está sometiendo la infraestructura de Internet a una fuerte demanda. Para acelerar la adopción de IPv6 a nivel global, el NRO está urgiendo a los gobiernos nacionales a tomar la iniciativa en el despliegue de IPv6 y utilizar el poder que ellos tienen como principales compradores de tecnología, para impulsar a los vendedores de hardware y software a desarrollar el mercado IPv6...

Mas información y fuente: http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/36300

Past Articles

JAPAN:

The Government focuses its actions mainly on supporting, creating and funding two well differentiated sets of initiatives:

• IPv6 Promotion Council (http://www.v6pc.jp/en/index.phtml), the main activities of which can be found at: http://www.v6pc.jp/en/council/action.phtml
• R+D initiatives that include the business sector, the academic and industrial sectors, such as Project WIDE, KAME, Usagi, etc., and Japan Gigabit Network

INDIA:

In January, 2006, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India published a document titled "TRAI releases Recommendations on Transition from IPv4 to IPv6 in India." Among its main recommendations, the document includes:

1. Regulatory issues related to transition from IPv4 to IPv6

• (i) Definition of IP address mentioned in ISP license to be amended to enable 128 bits to be used as needed for IPv6 based addressing.

2. Encouragement by Government for IPv6 migration

• (i) Usage of IPv6 in the platforms/applications pertaining to e-governance should be mandated. The Government should also mandate IPv6 compatibility in its own procurement of IT systems and networks.
• (ii) Workshops and seminars, to bring awareness about IPv6 among service providers and end-users community should be conducted through Government agencies.

3. Creation of Internet Registry in country

• (i) National Internet Registry (NIR) in the country should be established within the framework of APNIC, the Regional Internet Registry.

4. Setting up IPV6 test bed

• (i) Expanding the existing IPv6 test bed of ERNET to make it countrywide and accessible to all interested parties.
• (ii) Upgrading NIXI as a national test bed for IPv6 and interconnection among its various nodes to provide access to all the ISPs.
• (iii) Encouraging TEC, CDOT, CDAC to set up the IPv6 test beds through Government funding.

http://www.trai.gov.in/trai/upload/Recommendations/3/recom9jan06.pdf

FRANCE:

In this case, recommendations were issued by the IPv6 TF. The IPv6 Task Force was promoted by the Government and, among others, has the following members: 6WIND, AFNIC, Alcatel, France Télécom R&D, G6, RENATER, Renault.

These recommendations were presented to the Ministry of Research and New Technologies, and can be found at: http://www.fr.ipv6tf.org/DATA/PRESS/Recommandations%20IPv6%20TFF%20(English).pdf

Documentation and links on the subject:

• "Planning the Transition towards the Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) in the United States" (Walter Ramos, in Spanish)
• Government acts to IPv6-enable the nation
• Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament
• IPv6 Tasks Force (Latin America and the Caribbean)
• The IPv6 Portal - Policy Recommendations
• North American IPv6 Task Force - NAv6TF