News Article
Holly Svetz Leads Internet Protocol Version 6 Discussion at D.C. Tech Council Event
November 28, 2006
On Nov. 13, 2006, Holly Emrick Svetz, a partner in our Northern Virginia office, moderated a sharply focused discussion on the upcoming transition in the Internet world to IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) and the need for the public and private sectors to prepare for the switch. Womble Carlyle sponsored the luncheon program, which was an event of the D.C. Technology Council.
A full house -- more than 90 people drawn from the corporate, consulting, and government worlds -- gathered at Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant in Washington's Friendship Heights neighborhood to hear the discussion. Speakers emphasized that the federal government has mandated that all executive agencies --and by implication, government contractors as well -- must become IPv6 capable by the end of June 2008, and that this mandate, thus far, is far from being fulfilled. In fact, there remains considerable uncertainty about the precise meaning of the term "IPv6 capable."
IPv6 will expand the Internet and increase its capabilities by providing far more addresses for computers and other devices to connect to the global system. It is also expected to enhance security. In the United States, the government is taking the lead in the adoption of IPv6.
"The value of the work impacted by the change-over could be huge indeed," Svetz said in her opening remarks. "IPv6 could impact $125 billion in the GSA network and in related telecom and IT contracts, as well as $25 billion reserved for small businesses." Svetz also noted that not only do we not know the definition of "IPv6 capable"; we do not even know who is going to make the decision about how to define the term.
"When I first heard about IPv6," Svetz said, "I immediately thought it sounded like Y2K, an exercise that ten years ago or so, I along with everyone else in the information technology industry became very serious about." Svetz said that unlike in the run-up to Y2K, the U.S. commercial and banking sectors have not taken the lead in preparing for the change-over.
Peter Tseronis, one of the panelists, said that at his agency, the Department of Education, not everyone yet understands what needs to be done to comply with the mandate. "They're scratching their heads over some of the definitions that have been thrown out there," Tseronis said. Tseronis is co-chair of a government working group on IPv6.
Other panelists included Tom Patterson, founder and CEO of Command Information, a consulting company that has taken a lead role in assisting the IPv6 transition; and Stan Tyliszcak, senior director of technology integration at General Dynamics Information Technologies.