As its neighbors Japan and Korea embrace IPv6 in their nations' strategy of Information Technology, Taiwan has also taken a big leap in IPv6 arena with the establishment of two important IPv6-related organizations, IPv6 Steering Committee and IPv6 Forum Taiwan.

It is never an easy task to build a new environment nation-wide without the involvement of the government agency. Being the National Internet Registry of Taiwan, TWNIC understands the importance of IPv6 and has been pushing the domestic Internet society on IPv6 research and deployment. In order to facilitate further the development of IPv6 technology in the island, TWNIC has convinced NICI (National Information and Communication Initiative, a ministry level government agency which aims to integrate domestic IT and Telecom projects) that IPv6 would be the platform of the next generation Internet and suggested the formation of IPv6 Steering Committee.

In October 2001, NICI decided to setup the committee and designated Director General Chien from the DGT (Directorate General of Telecommunications) as the leader. The Committee is anticipated to play a leadership role in IPv6 promotion by integrating resources and efforts from the industry, the government, the academia, and research institutes.

In the first preparatory meeting held on December 28 2001, four divisions were proposed to realize the goals defined in the following areas:

1. IPv6 Research and Development

Several universities and institutes in Taiwan have been working on IPv6 research. The division will play as an integrator to combine all domestic efforts on IPv6 R&D. Those IPv6 projects supported by government agencies such as National Science Council and the Dept. of Industrial Technology, Ministry of Economics Affairs will be reviewed for better integration and use of resources.

2. IPv6 Product Interoperatability

The function of this division is to coordinate hence ensure the interoperatability of all IPv6-related products from different vendors. The standard test environment and procedure will be created and accessible to IPv6-related product manufacturers. Through participating and hosting meetings, the division will share its knowledge and experience with international IPv6 product interoperatability test organizations.

3. IPv6 Network Backbone Deployment

The division will concentrate on assisting and encouraging domestic network backbones to migrate from IPv4 to IPv6 platform. In the academia, TANET (Taiwan Academic Network) and NBEN (National Broadband Experimental Network) are transferring their network backbone to IPv6 and ChungHwa Telecom, the largest telco in Taiwan, has provided IPv6 Native, Tunnel, and TWIX services since July 2001. The division seeks to boost other Internet players into the IPv6 environment.

4. IPv6 Application and Promotion

The division is designed to take responsibilities for IPv6 promotion, including IPv6 education, training, conferences, workshop, websites, and so on. The ultimate goal is to raise the public awareness of IPv6.

Expected to begin its operation on April 11, 2002 (Click here for the Agenda), IPv6 Forum Taiwan (Click here for the official website) is a membership-based organization open to people who are interested in IPv6 issues. The purpose of the forum is to improve the market and user awareness of IPv6. According to Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the organizer of the forum, the forum has four missions:

1. To allow access to knowledge and technology for the early adoption of IPv6 in domestic environment in Taiwan
2. To verify the adoption of IPv6 and its roadmap alignment with the early adopters.
3. To improve IPv6-related market awareness
4. To set environment for the transition from IPv4-based Internet to IPv6-based Next Generation Internet
5. To help deploy the native IPv6 networks

Three areas and associated WGs have been suggested:

1. Promotion Area - Promotion WG, Education WG, International Collaboration WG
2. Technical Area - Mobile IP WG, Security WG, QoS WG, XDSL WG, IA & HN WG
3. Industrial Application Area - IPv6 Product WG, IPv6 Policy WG

The forum is designed to be the counter-part of the international IPv6 Forum. In the future, it plans to host IPv6-related meetings, to publish IPv6-related documents, and to support domestic IPv6-related activities as well as the development and implementation of IPv6-based technology and applications.

The establishment of the IPv6 Promotion Committee demonstrates the determination of the government in promoting IPv6. With the birth of IPv6 Forum Taiwan as the complement from non-government Internet society, Taiwan has set out on the way towards realization of an environment for use of the next-generation internet.