Australian Internet community gears up for IPv6

By Stuart Corner
Monday, 05 June 2006 19:15

Business IT - Technology

See also: Global IPv6 gathers momentum

The Internet Society of Australia (ISOC-AU), au Domain Administration Ltd (auDA), the Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association (AEEMA) and BuildersNet Pty Ltd have launched a joint project to develop new business models for adoption of IPv6 and tools for transition planning.
ISOC-AU president, Tony Hill, said: "We anticipate these tools will be invaluable for businesses looking to become early adopters of next generation Internet technologies".

The project is funded will under the Federal Government's Information Technology Online (ITOL) programme. It also has the support of the international IPv6 Forum. Mike Biber, who represents the IPv6 Forum in Australia, said the four organisations were "very interested to talk with other groups who wish to explore the potential of IPv6 for e-business".

Brett Biddington, chair of The Australian Defence Information and Electronic Systems Association (ADIESA), said: "The Australian Defence Department is already committed to implementation of IPv6 by 2013. This project will provide essential building blocks for defence suppliers who will need to work with IPv6 products and supply chains to deliver secure networking capability to our armed forces."

According to BuildersNet business development manager, Graham Orr, the building and construction industries consist of complex supply chain interactions among thousands of businesses and IPv6 technology is well suited to meet the industry's needs for e-commerce transactions through its capacity to address many individual devices as well as computers.

Specifically, the project will deliver:
- A map of software, services and technologies currently taking advantage of IPv6;
- Integrated business models, checklists and tools, to enable Australian businesses to more easily adopt IPv6;
- Information resources for building broad awareness of IPv6 opportunities;
- Some elements of the underpinning infrastructure to support IPv6 addresses by Australians.