31 July 2012 - Welcome Address by Leong Mun Yuen, Chief Technology Officer, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, at IDA's IPv6 Conference & Workshops, Fort Canning Hotel
Welcome Address by Leong Mun Yuen, Chief Technology Officer, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, at IDA's IPv6 Conference & Workshops on 31 July 2012, Fort Canning Hotel
“Enhancing Singapore’s Competitive Advantage in World Markets Through IPv6”
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. Good morning and welcome to the IDA’s IPv6 Conference and Workshops 2012. It is good to see so many members of the Singapore ICT industry taking time away from their busy schedule to attend this briefing. It shows the importance and impact IPv6 has on each one of us.
2. As the successor to the current Internet Protocol, IPv6 is critical to the Internet’s continued growth as a platform for innovation and business development. While the industry is aware of the IPv4 exhaustion, the consideration for tapping on IPv6 benefits for new services, innovations and business growth are not common. With the rapid growth in mobile devices including wireless handheld devices, the increasing popularity of cloud computing and the emergence of the "Internet Of Things", which connects everything like appliances and vehicles to the Internet, the need for IP addresses becomes even more prevalent in today’s fast changing environment. Given that the Internet is now part and parcel of many businesses and the accelerating rate of globalization, business growth will inevitably be impacted should there be a shortage of internet addresses.
3. Transition to IPv6 is an inevitable journey and it involves a collaborative effort for all the various stakeholders in the Internet. The ISPs, content providers, service providers, vendors, government and international organizations will have to play their part.
4. IPv6 improves productivity and efficiency for the enterprises, with the potential for new revenue streams. It supports connection of infinite number of objects, providing resilient end-to-end communication over the Internet and opening new areas for innovations and services. In the next 2 days, you will hear from our esteemed speakers sharing with you their experiences and benefits of IPv6. Although it is important to plan IPv6 transition early, it is equally important to know how IPv6 can position you in today’s competitive markets. I am quite sure that our speakers can give everyone an insight on how IPv6 can help you sustain and grow your businesses.
5. While IPv6 provides many advantages in terms of productivity and efficiency for the enterprises, it can introduce new security risks and challenges to your network environment. One area of concern would be the lack of experience and training for IT professionals dealing with IPv6 that can give rise to application errors or loopholes and network misconfiguration. It is therefore important for enterprises to know the security implications to mitigate risks and plan early.
6. IDA has embarked on an IPv6 Transition Programme for Singapore for more than a year and recognized the importance of preparing the industry in getting ready for IPv6 transition. To deliver our message to the industry, IDA had conducted several IPv6 events in the past and they were well-received with positive feedbacks. As part of the transition programme, IDA had also partnered with a local training provider in facilitating IPv6 training for our local tertiary students and professionals. More than 1,200 students and 150 professionals were trained since the start of our competency program less than a year ago. To trigger the initial local demand for IPv6, IDA had co-funded 5 companies to help them in their IPv6 transition. IPv6 users can access our local popular websites like SGCarMart, JobStreet and PropertyGuru today.
7. Governments around the world have already embarked on the journey of IPv6 transition. IDA had established an IPv6 task force to help our government agencies enable their public-facing e-services to be IPv4 and IPv6 accessible by 2012.
8. While preparing for IPv6 transition, IDA is also taking steps to preserve end-users’ Internet experience equitable between IPv4 and IPv6 during the period of co-existence of both protocols. IDA has put in place an Internet Protocol “No Islanding” Principle for Internet Access Service Providers, or IASPs, providing services to residential end-users. Chiefly, the Principle requires such IASPs to ensure that systems, equipment and networks within their control and operation are capable of allowing access to content on the public Internet, regardless whether the end-user is on IPv4 or IPv6. It comes into effect on 1 June 2013 and will be reviewed after three years.
9. Finally on behalf of IDA, I would like to thank the support of Internet Society and training partners, APNIC and IPv6 Forum Singapore. I am also honoured to welcome the prestigious speakers in this conference. I hope you will find the information useful for your own transition from IPv4 to IPv6. The time is right for us to hear the potential opportunities IPv6 can bring to everyone.
10. Thank you.
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