UK IPv6 Taskforce > IPv6 and the UK

IPv6 and the UK

The adoption of IPv6 is particularly important for UK interests. Internet has become a strategic resource not only for academics, and the research community but also for Government, education, business, and consumers.

The open architecture of the IPv4 protocol enabled the deployment of exciting British technologies such as the World Wide Web on the Internet. This architecture has become weakened with the address space shortage already. We need to restore the universal opportunity for end to end communications for Internet users. Failure to achieve this may jeapordise the creation and deployment of equivalent success stories for next generation Internet as we have seen with the World Wide Web and Email. Many experts believe that the World Wide Web if invented today would not be deployable across the Internet as it stands today due to the degradation in end to end communications integrity.

This sclerosis of the Internet has enormous implications for economies wishing to promote their intellectual and creative industries and skills.

British service industries, content providers and trading organisations need to have secure access to their customers and markets around the world. They also need the flexibility to deploy their own applications and services so that they can directly address their markets.

Along with a massive increase in addresses IPv6 offers a secure end to end communications environment with embedded features that support the broad mix of Internet services required of the next generation open network environment. Some of these include support for the massive shift to mobile networks, to wideband (always on broadband and faster) connections and for peer to peer and multi-media content applications. IPv6 opens up new opportunities globally for the UK's key creative and financial industries in the twenty-first century.

Our major trading partners in Europe, Japan, and the Far East and the USA are all working on IPv6 deployment strategies. In an age where intellectual industries and knowledge working are critical drivers for economic success failure to deploy IPv6 in the UK when adopted by major trading partners would be a major strategic set back for the future of our economy and society.

IPv6 also has immense importance for the future of our government services. UK IPv6 experts in the Task Force believe that three out of the Four UK eCommerce and eGovernment agenda items of the UK Government's E Envoy would significantly benefit from the adoption of IPv6 and many will require IPv6 to be implemented fully and consistently over time.

IPv6 is a key enabler to achieve and sustain the E Envoy targets:

See www.e-envoy.gov.uk

Make the UK the best place in the world for e-commerce.
Ensure that everyone who wants to can access the Internet by 2005
To deliver electronically, and in a customer- focused way, all government services by 2005.