|
1. Congressman
Tom Davis (R-VA), Chairman of the Government Reform
Committee, became the first elected official in the
U.S. to call for a national transition to IPv6 (similar
invocations have been made by the prime ministers
of Japan and South Korea). Congressman Davis gave
an outstanding opening talk to multiple rounds of
applause. He made a call to action for continuing
US leadership in the Internet, and focused on urgent
key questions about how IPv6 can be applied to defense,
homeland security, and other areas of critical concern
for the U.S. government.
2. Congressman
Davis also treated the audience to copies of the first
published report on IPv6 from the federal government,
from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and
announced some of the findings. He also announced
that he would chair hearings by his powerful Government
Reform Committee, which is responsible for procurement
policy that strongly impacts the $65 billion in federal
IT spending. The GAO report, for the first time and
somewhat courageously, lists the IPv6 efforts (or
lack thereof) of the 25 “CFO” agencies,
which constitute the bulk of federal spending, and
gives recommendations for action and warning about
security issues.
 3.
Three very prominent three-star generals, including
the CIO of the Army, the (acting) CIO of the Air Force,
and the Deputy Commander of the Joint Forces Command
(who is nominated to become the head of the Army Special
Operations Command) all provided amazing talks on
the past, present, and future of net-centric operations.
The graphics were stunning, as was the admission,
by the Army CIO, that some warfighters were actually
buying their own routers to help protect their team
members through better communications. The Air Force
presentation showed huge upcoming increases in bandwidth
between satellites and space-based weaponry. Between
the three talks, the audience got the strongest possible
case that U.S. security depends on net-centric warfare,
and that net-centric warfare depends on IPv6.
4. There was "good
news" about the U.S. and its Coalition Partners,
as NATO, the European Union, the European Defense
Force, and over thirty coalition partner governments
showed up and discussed how to synchronize their deployment
of IPv6, share test bed data, and adopt a common definition
of IPv6 as well as common standards for IPv6-based
products.
 5. Some
of the very first consumer level products using
IPv6 were demonstrated, especially Panasonic's IPv6-enabled
Pro-webcams, Home Gateway, and high speed power line
technology, all of which take advantage of the
power and advanced features of IPv6. The company described
an upcoming very cool form factor that's a paperback-sized
device using home electrical wiring, with speeds up
to 170 Mbps. Panasonic also presented the "big
picture" concept of a whole family of IPv6-enabled
products, including printers, copiers, and fax machines,
which will raise the bar for consumer electronics
companies, even as they open up new possibilities
for retailers, companies, and end users.
|
6. The first major
U.S. public demonstration of IPv4 vs. IPv6 streaming
video in a side-by-side comparison took place, with
the TV show The Office played over 512Kbps. There
was no comparison: the IPv6-transported picture appeared
to be DVD quality on a large screen, while the IPv4
picture was what you are used to seeing today on the
Internet – jumpy and pixellated, with poor resolution
and audio synchronization. WAZT of Woodstock, Virginia
is the very first commercial television station that
is broadcasting on IPv6 multicast in the U.S. -- and
it had its netcast premiere at the Coalition Summit
for IPv6.
7. The Asian and
European representatives revealed that they are collectively
(with China included) outspending the U.S. 100 to
1 at the federal level on IPv6. This is ironic, since
the U.S. federal spending on IPv4 in its first seven
years (IPv6 is now seven years old) outspent all other
governments at a rate of 100 to 1. (government spending
on IPv6 outside the U.S. has been over $800 million,
vs. about $8 million by the U.S.) The audience got
the point -- we can't have this sort of shift, and
still expect the U.S. to lead, or even be an adaptive
follower. Federal government involvement to move the
U.S. forward is essential for the next phase. The
IPv6 Promotion Council of Japan also showed why Japan
is widely perceived as the leader, by showing IPv6
deployments for building maintenance (with 30% cost
savings), college dormitories (nearly free Voice-over-IPv6),
automotive, and consumer electronics applications.
8. Hexago delighted
onlookers with the first U.S. demonstration of an
IPv6-enabled multiplayer online game, Quake II, at
their booth. They were playing it not only between
booths at the show, but between Reston, Virginia,
and Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, used Hexago’s
tunneling brokers at either end of over 1,000 miles,
with tolerable latency and great resolution.
9. Leading Internet
Service Providers attending the event commented on
how little most of their brethren knew of IPv6. NTT
Communications launched its innovative IPv6 website
hosting services, which allow any website to be served
up to IPv6 users with sign-up online. Global Crossing
showed its global IPv6-enabled network with MPLS.
Both NTT and Global Crossing offer IPv6 in several
continents, including North America and Eurasia.
 10.
Germany’s counterpart to the RAND Corporation,
IABG, announced it had tested IPv6 in mobile trials
for communication, ad hoc networking and video over
an extended period, including the use of v6-enabled
armored vehicles in the field, and that the results
showed that IPv6 would have great utility for military
and police forces and allow new levels of coordination
for first responders and warfighters in fast-moving
critical situations.
|
Another success was the level of product demonstrations
from our sponsors, including Grand Sponsors Spirent
and Juniper, and Gold Sponsors Global Crossing, Houston
Associates, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, Agilent Technologies,
Hexago, the IPv6 Promotion Council, Panasonic, NTT Communications,
Extreme Networks, Cisco, SAIC, IXIA, Charmed Technology
and Sunset Learning; look for their presentations,
which incorporate a wealth of wisdom and practical
experience, on the event website.
Spirits were very high at the Coalition Summit for
IPv6, giving us momentum as we move forward to the
next event, the US
IPv6 Summit 2005, to be held at the Hyatt
Regency in Reston, VA, on Dec. 7-9, 2005. Please join
us and be part of creating an ever larger, ever smarter,
and ever more accomplished IPv6 community, and, eventually,
an IPv6-enabled civilization. On behalf of my awesome
team, I’d like to thank our 50 speakers and panelists,
our 20 sponsors, and our 527 registered attendees.
Sincerely,
Alex Lightman
Chairman, Coalition Summit for IPv6
|
