U.S. IPv6 Efforts Don’t Meet Industry Expectations

IPv6, a massive upgrade to the existing Internet that’s expected to replace the 30-year-old Web standard IPv4, has been accepted by the federal govt. If agencies don’t deal with crucial planning problems and examine IPv6 complexities, costs and security vulnerabilities will rise, IPv6 experts have warned. Without proper management, IPv6 elements in agency networks would be susceptible to hackers who could gain access to federal information and resources undetected. Countries like Japan, S. Korea and China have made commitments to IPv6 and are quickly outpacing U.S. efforts, conferees were told.

A National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) report this year said the U.S. could see swifter IPv6 deployment than other countries. The agency report said the U.S. govt. should consider allocating new resources and collaborating with business on IPv6 R&D (WID Feb 23 p7). Lightman argues that should already be happening. OMB recently set a mid-2008 IPv6 compatibility deadline for the federal govt. No one from OMB was available to respond to Lightman’s comments right away Mon.

Lightman, who also runs IPv6 start-up Innofone, admitted he knows roughly 10% of what he could know about IPv6 developments. He questioned whether govt. officials charged with coordinating the IPv6 transition -- mainly those at OMB -- know a fraction of that. Compared to Japan’s efforts, the U.S. initiative is laughable, he said. Japan’s IPv6 planning is spearheaded by Jun Murai, the “father of the Japanese Internet,” not by political appointees, Lightman said. Jun has been a top adviser to at least 2 prime ministers, collected more than $200 million for IPv6 R&D and put IPv6 at the top of the country’s to-do list.

Conversely, U.S. IPv6 leadership is “completely disconnected,” Lightman said: “It’s a political kabuki play to make it look like something is happening.” He claimed OMB hasn’t made good on its promises to release guidance documents and keep the public and business interests informed of IPv6 progress within the agencies. Last week’s was Lightman’s 7th conference and it was the 4th where govt. officials were primary speakers. The trouble is, they didn’t say anything new, he complained. “We're the only country in the world that has an IPv6 mandate where the people supposedly leading the mandate don’t speak about that mandate at the largest conference on the subject,” he said.

Administration appeals to “cut the U.S. some slack, because we just got started” on IPv6 are hogwash, Lightman told us. Japan, China, S. Korea and Taiwan accomplished more in the early years of their IPv6 efforts than the U.S. has, he said. But there are some agencies that deserve praise, like NASA, which “kicks ass,” he told us. NASA Deputy CIO John McManus spoke about his agency’s progress at the conference. “NASA’s always been out in front on IT issues but the guys who are really good at IT stuff and science are doing fine with this,” Lightman said: “The harder part is when you've got someone from Peace Corps or the Holocaust Museum. They need all the help they can get.” The Administration doesn’t have the “unified front” it needs to follow through, he said.

Summit attendees might have lost faith in govt.-led efforts, Lightman said: “Nobody asked me ‘where is OMB?’ They're seen as so irrelevant and so uninformative that nobody seemed to care.” He equated Administration statements on the so-called success of agency IPv6 transition efforts with President Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” Iraq speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in May 2003. The time for pleasantries is over, he said. -- Andrew Noyes

IPv6 Summit Notebook…

Harrisonburg, Va., will be completely wireless by Dec. 2006, Visual Link Internet (VLI) Pres. Mark Bayliss told the IPv6 Summit. The town, home to James Madison U., will become the first in N. America to be running IPv6 in compliance with OMB guidance. Even without IPv6 standards yet, Japan, Korea and China are outpacing the U.S. in planning for the next generation of the Web, Bayliss told us. His company, which snagged a franchise from the city, is building a hybrid fiber and wireless network. The project, which began in fall 2005, has been “fast tracked,” and phase one is complete -- most of the downtown has IPv6 running, he said. By Dec., Bayliss expects to debut a showcase of how companies involved in IPv6 and the federal govt.’s transition to the new platform have embraced it. He wants to then expand the Harrisonburg model to other municipalities. The group in charge of Japan’s IPv6 rollout has contacted him about arranging a visit. VLI wouldn’t say how expensive the project has been but Bayliss believes his firm will be profitable 2-1/2 years after Harrisonburg is finished. In most buildouts like this, it takes 3-5 years to turn a profit, he said. The video aspect of IPv6 will get the most attention from investors and content providers because that’s where the most commercial viability for the platform exists, he told us. After making its initial announcement about the project, Harrisonburg saw a significant uptick in the number of companies looking to relocate or open a division there, Bayliss said. Meanwhile, federal govt. officials designated Harrisonburg as an evacuation location if facilities are destroyed or contaminated in D.C. ----

The IPv6 Summit heard from a “real-life Jack Bauer,” who, much like the character on Fox’s hit series 24 sends special teams to control and decontaminate hot zones, a conference spokeswoman told us. Dir. James Graham of the U. of Louisville’s IT Resources Center for Homeland Security said IPv6 would be especially helpful to him, and he would need at least 8 addresses for each member of his team. IEEE- USA Pres. Ralph Wyndrum said engineers are losing their jobs to India and not even seeking reemployment in the U.S. He said IPv6 would give the industry new opportunities that can’t be outsourced. Another speaker was a doctor leading the effort to make a database for patients that medical and emergency first responders around the country can. An economist gave an economic impact assessment on the costs and benefits of IPv6. ----

IPv6 Summit’s Lightman bought 2 companies this month to be part of his pioneering next-generation Internet venture Innofone. The company acquired IPv6 network hardware and solutions provider InfoWeapons of Marietta, Ga. -- an early adopter of IPv6 technologies that serves major markets in Asia, Europe and the U.S. Innofone also bought Mobile Technology Group (MTG), a mobile messaging and content delivery firm based in Las Vegas. Lightman said the InfoWeapons buy will take his firm to “a new level of product and support offerings” and MTG’s assets will “substantially improve security, mobility and transaction identity” for Innofone.