WSIS-Geneva,

December 09, 2003 (13:30-16:30)

The European Union IPv6 Task Force and the Internet Society are pleased to announce the Next  Generation Internet (IPv6) Workshop, to be held within the framework of the World Summit of the Information Society (WSIS), 9th December 2003 in Geneva. See http://www.eu.ipv6tf.org/in/wsis.htm (the complete agenda is already available).

This workshop aims to raise awareness on Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). Educate WSIS stakeholders, in particular Governments and civil society from developed and developing nations, on the new Internet infrastructure and opportunities for non-for-profit and commercial entities. It ensures that the concerned authorities start to think about designing and adapting the current environment to a new "regulatory framework" that enables to convert the new possibilities into business opportunities. It also informs on IPv6 current status, regional developments and deployments worldwide ("road-map"),  and the expected evolution. Lastly, it raises awareness on the benefits and implications of IPv6 for civil society, in network and information security and privacy.

With more than 600 millions users connected to the Internet and its explosive growth in the last few years, the IP addresses space is becoming scarce, in particular in developing countries. With Internet services being introduced in wireless and broadband communications, expectations for 2005 are that more than 1 billion users and thousands of new applications will need to be connected to the Internet.

The current protocol, named Internet Protocol version 4 (or IPv4) is showing limitations. To overcome these, Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) was created and conceived as the successor of IPv4. IPv6 was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) since 1995 (http://www.ietf.org).

Finally, it is clear, that "IPv4" does not respond anymore to civil society's newest requirements.

To attend this workshop, and this includes speakers, you need to register (http://www.ict-4d.org/Marketplace/en/Visitors/Registration/). Unless you are already accredited to the Summit by your company/organization/international organization. Entry fees is 20 SF/day.

Please, forward this email to all your contacts.

Rosa Delgado
ISOC Co-ordination