Developing next generation digital networks

What is this action about?

Every computer connected to the Internet has at least one unique Internet Protocol (IP) address to clearly distinguish it from other computers. The current Internet Protocol version IPv4 had around 4.3 billion addresses available, most of which are now depleted: namely, they had already run out in Europe by September 2012.[¹] The last blocks of IPv4 addresses are mostly reserved for IPv6 transition. The solution is to move to a new version, IPv6, which provides a significantly greater number of addresses. As the adoption of IPv6 in Europe is not proceeding quickly enough, the European Commission plans to create a common framework to support EU countries in managing the transition from IPv4 to IPv6. To achieve this, the Commission will build upon the lessons learned, best practices and roadmaps resulting from early deployments in a number of EU countries. IPv6 is an essential precondition for a digital Europe.

What are the objectives?

The main goal of this ISA² action is to help EU public administrations to organise their IPv6 address space, plan the transition and deploy within their organisations in a timely fashion, in order to prevent any disruption of public services and any negative impact on the economy at large.

What are the benefits?

For public administrations

• Learning about best practices in the transition to IPv6 within the EU

For public administrations, vendors, Internet providers, universities, public users

• Easier planning of the IPv6 transition
• Increased transparency of the transition
• Motivation for the IT sector to adopt IPv6
• Secure and reliable IT infrastructure across Europe
• Better conditions for business in the European ICT market

For the European Commission

• Better coordination of the development of next generation networks throughout Europe

What has been achieved?

• Creating guidelines for the implementation of the Local Internet Registry that will act as a national address provider for public administrations
• Developing technical IPv6 profiles
• Proposing IPv6 transition roadmaps and guidelines
• Preparing training materials that will enable public administrations to start planning the transition

[¹] The same happened in April 2011 for Asia-Pacific, June 2014 for Latin America and the Caribbean, and September 2015 for North America. Africa is expected to run out in April 2018.