Federal agencies have taken steps in planning for the transition to a new Internet protocol – version 6, or IPv6 – developed to increase the amount of available address space — but several have not completed key activities, the Government Accountability Office has said.
The Office of Management and Budget issued guidance in August 2005 specifying activities and time frames for federal agencies to transition to IPv6, but while almost all of the 24 major agencies have assigned an official to lead and coordinate the transition, ten have not developed IPv6-related policies and enforcement mechanisms, according to GAO-06-675.
It said applications that take advantage of features of the new protocol are being planned or implemented within and outside the federal government, including applications to support emergency response, enhance war-fighting capabilities, and facilitate continuity of operations planning.
However, GAO said because organizations are still in the early stages of the transition or because they lack incentives to use the new protocol these applications are few.
The report identified several challenges to transitioning to a new protocol such as managing information security in an environment that is more vulnerable to threats, incorporating IPv6 features into the business cases of applications, identifying new and better ways of meeting mission goals, and interfacing with partners that may be in various stages
of the transition.
