By Tom S. Noda
Computerworld Philippines
March 25, 2010
Realizing the benefits that can be derived from using Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), the Philippine government has created a policy draft to promote the technology’s deployment and usage in the country.
An Internet layer protocol for packet-switched Internetworks, IPv6 is referred to by several organizations as the next generation Internet protocol version – designated as the successor to version 4 or IPv4.
But unlike IPv4 which uses only 32-bit address space that can accommodate about four billion IP addresses, IPv6 uses 128-bits which translates to trillions of IP address capacities.
Based on the policy draft released by the Commission on ICT (CICT) to Computerworld Philippines, the executive order seeks the creation of an Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to ensure its implementation.
The task force shall be under the command of the CICT chairman with senior level officials from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Trade and Industries (DTI), Defepartment of National Defense (DND), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) as well as private sector representatives as members.
IATF shall create an Inter-Agency Technical Working Group (IATWG), composed of government and private sector representatives. CICT shall serve as secretariat of the task force who will only cease to operate once all agencies have reported full compliance and that Internet-based network and service providers are IPv6 compliant.
Among some of the functions of IATF on IPv6 include the formulation of an IPv6 roadmap, management of IPv6 data collection; development of baseline and metrics for measuring IPv6 usage and its benefits in the country; promotion of human capacity building including training and awareness on IPv6; development of a database of IPv6 compliance that shall me made available for use by broadband providers, entities and local government units.
Denis Villorente, director of the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) of the Philippines, said with the approval of the policy, the next administration scheduled in June 2010 could also make use of it as a solution to the IPv4 exhaustion and gain national benefits for the country. ASTI is a research and development institute under the DOST.
The policy draft’s creation was derived from the series of CIO forums conducted by CICT as well as with the latter’s engagement with APNIC, ASTI and the local academe.
BUSINESS CONTINUITY ISSUE
According to Miwa Fujii, senior IPv6 program specialist of the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), who served as speaker in this morning’s IPv6 forum held at CICT in Quezon City, the IPv4 problem has now become a “business continuity issue.”
Miwa reported there is only 9% of IPv4 addresses remaining which shows the latter to be a finite resource while the demand for more IP addresses keeps on growing.
“The remaining 9% of IPv4 is not enough and IPv6 is the best solution currently available for this problem,” Miwa said, adding IPv4’s depletion could finally happen by year 2012 or 2014.
“The usage of IPv6 is limitless and even non-computing devices such as aircons and cars, can be given IP addresses,” Miwa claimed.
And quoting a report by APNIC, Miwa said using IPv6 will enable the Internet to continue to grow to millions of times of its present size while avoiding adding a level of complexity that would increase costs to network administrators.
Meanwhile, Villorente announced that ASTI is just waiting for funding from the DOST as to the opening of the local IPv6 laboratory which will be open to organizations that want to test IPv6 equipments and where more trainings for IPv6 engineers can take place.
Villorente said ASTI has always been an IPv6 advocate since the late 1990s by being involved with the AI3 and SOI-Asia project of the WIDE Project of Japan.
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