TRA leads transition to new internet protocol

The UAE IPv6 Project aims to devise a National IPv6 Policy, Strategy and Implementation plan to be followed by an Implementation Phase to securing the healthy levels of growth in the UAE's ICT sector and preserving its role in economic and social development.

The 2nd IPv6 workshop on 19th and 20th of March comes as part of the IPv6 strategic project handled by TRA.

Last year, an intro-workshop was held by TRA and attended by government and private entities to explain the importance of their roles throughout the UAE IPv6 project.

The 2nd workshop will prepare government departments and a range of private bodies for the inevitable transition to IPv6 and will focus on the need to incorporate the new Internet Protocol (IP) into their networks, applications and services. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) declared in early 2011 the issuing of its last remaining blocks of IPv4 address.

Consequently, the TRA has championed the IPv6 transition project as a necessary response for the current depletion problem.

"This workshop comes as part of the wider TRA initiative to ensure that the UAE is adequately placed to take advantage of new technology as soon as it's developed. The workshop explains the outcomes of different studies conducted by TRA regarding the readiness of the UAE to implement IPv6. It also explains the outcome of the benchmark studies around the IPv6 implementation levels in many outstanding international countries." said H.E. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General.

"The transition to IPv6 protocol has implications for both the public and private sector. Engaging both sectors and specifically internet stakeholder in the earlier stages of the project will surely be of great use to individual entities in specific and the UAE in general," he added

The transition from IPv4 to IPv6 is a reflection of the Internet expanding its address directory. The IPv4 allows for only approximately 4.3 billion addresses, meaning that there is a unique address for 4.3 billion devices to connect to the Web. The launch of IPv6 means that the number of IP addresses pool will increase to 340 trillion.

The IPv6 workshop is specifically designed to inform government and private entities as to the drivers and challenges of IPv6 adoption. The programme helps support government departments and other internet stakeholders to collectively coordinate devising policies, strategies and action plans with the aim to raise awareness and promote the deployment and usage of IPv6.

TRA will continue the path to determine solid objectives and action points regarding the transition to IPv6. It is expected that a closure workshop would be held mid-year of 2013 to share the last outcomes of the IPv6 project and the way forward.