By Campbell Gardiner
The Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) has announced that 80 percent of Australian government agencies will be externally IPv6 capable by the end of the year, with the remainder by Q2 next year.
Speaking at the 8th annual Australian IPv6 Summit, AGIMO’s John Hillier says since developing and releasing its mandated IPv6 transition strategy in 2008 public sector uptake has been pleasing.
AGIMO’s latest statistics show that:
- 100% of agencies have reviewed their procurment policies, ensuring that IPv6 is specified for all new equipment purchases.
- 83% of agencies have more than 75% of their ICT hardware IPv6 ready. The lag is due to refresh cycles, says Hillier.
- Over 60% of agencies have applied for IPv6 address space.
- 83% of agencies are “on the way” to having their operating systems IPv6 ready.
- 60% of agencies have made concrete steps in upgrading other “necessary” applications.
- 6 of Australia’s 8 lead government agencies are on track to having upgraded their ICT gateways by the end of the year. 47% of client agencies have made significant progress and are also expected to meet that deadline.
Thanks to the Australian Government’s IPv6 mandate, all departments – from the very large to the very small – must roll out IPv6. All Commonwealth authorities and Finanal Management and Accountability Act agencies must also deploy the protocol.
More information about Australia’s IPv6 transition strategy can be found at www.finance.gov.au/e-government/infrastructure/internet-protocol-version-6.html.