IPv6 on the Agenda at WTDC 2014

The event was an important opportunity for the RIPE NCC to engage with the public sector on issues specifically relating to development in the field of ICT. As an organisation that has worked with governments and the public sector in a range of development activities, RIPE NCC's participation at WTDC-14 focused on raising awareness of initiatives like the IPv6 Roadshow and ensuring that governments in our service region are aware of the information and assistance that we can provide.

To help further these goals, the five RIRs hosted a lunch event during the first week of the conference, inviting Member State representatives to speak with RIR staff about development and capacity building efforts. The discussion touched on cooperative public-private sector initiatives, community building activities (such as support for network operator groups) and award programs like FRIDA and ISIF. ITU Secretary-General, Dr Hamadoun Touré, also joined the lunch and spoke for several minutes on the complementary work done by the ITU and the RIRs.

The lunch was one of three events held by the Internet Society, the RIRs and ICANN over the course of the conference.

The documents produced by the conference itself reflected the strong Member State interest in capacity building for IPv6, among other issues such as broadband access and network security.
Resolution 63, a document dealing with IPv6 capacity building that emerged from the last WTDC, in Hyderabad, 2010, received a number of edits, including text encouraging greater cooperation between governments, industry and the technical community.

The ITU Development Sector Study Group 1 ("Enabling environment, cybersecurity, ICT applications and Internet-related issues") adopted a new study question (COM3/DD) looking at the policy, regulatory and technical aspects of IPv6 adoption. The five RIRs will monitor developments in this area closely.

And finally, a number of the ITU regional groups included IPv6 adoption amongst their stated regional priorities, demonstrating the continuing growth in public sector awareness of the need for IPv6 adoption.