ISOC Lebanon Celebrates the IPv6 World Launch Day

The Internet run out of IP addresses and IPv6 is the future of the Internet! The Internet Society (ISOC) Lebanon marked the global IPv6 launch day on June 6, 2012, a press release said Wednesday.

Thousands of Internet services such as Google, Facebook and YouTube switched to IPv6 permanently. ISOC Lebanon gathered businesses and technical leaders together in one event to create awareness and push further the implementation of IPv6 in Lebanon across businesses and public sector.

What is IPv6? IPv6 is an enhanced Internet address system based on 128 bits and providing 340 trillion, addresses as compared to the legacy 32 bits IPv4 address system with its already depleted 4 billion addresses. IPv6 is the new Internet!

In line with its mission, ISOC Lebanon identified IPv6 adoption as a critical element for the stability and scalability of the Internet in Lebanon and launched the “IPv6 Taskforce Lebanon” as one of its main activity for 2012-2013.

The IPv6 Taskforce Lebanon is a holistic project starting from raising awareness around IPv6 by reaching out to ISPs, banks, government agencies and large service providers and institutions, complemented by the facilitation of hands-on training on IPv6 and coordination of IPv6 deployment starting with ISPs, government agencies, banks, etc... And assigning IPv6 compliance and measuring and advertising IPv6 penetration in Lebanon.

The IPv6 taskforce was initiated by a full week deep dive technical training for major ISPs, Government agencies, banks, universities and businesses in the country. This training was a joint effort between PCM, MENOG, RIPE, Berytech, BeirutIX and ISOC Lebanon.

The aim of this training is to establish a network of ambassadors that have technical knowledge and deep awareness on the benefits and risks in order to push and support the transition to IPv6 within their respective companies and clients.

“IPv6 is the future of the internet, it should be incorporated within the organization’s strategic planning and enterprise architecture (EA) development activities” said Nabil Bukhalid, president of ISOC Lebanon who added “Entire economies depend on the stability and the growth of the internet. IPv6 transition is inevitable; no actions could be detrimental to businesses, national economy and competitiveness. No actions could lead to isolation”

“As part of the plans to make Lebanon a technology hub, we thank ISOC Lebanon for taking the initiative in advancing the Internet infrastructure” said Minister of Telecommunications Sehnaoui, giving official endorsement to the IPv6 task force.

ISOC is the world's trusted independent source of leadership for Internet policy, technology standards, and future development. More than simply advancing technology, ISOC works to ensure the Internet continues to grow and evolve as a platform for innovation, economic development, and social progress for people around the world.

The Internet Society or ISOC Lebanon is a non-profit multi-stakeholder organization founded in December 2011. It provides leadership in Internet related issues, facilitates and supports the technical evolution of the Internet as a research, education and business enabling infrastructure.

ISOC Lebanon embraces the Internet collective model and seeks diverse and broad membership from organizations, communities and individuals to work together on the advancement of the Internet in Lebanon, guided by the Internet key principles: collaboration; openness; transparency; and inclusiveness.