Come join the Spring, 2012 IPv6 InterAgency Meeting on a spring road trip to Charleston, SC,  on Wednesday and Thursday, April 18 & 19, 2012. Mark your calendar and make your reservations now!

The VA IPv6 Steering Committee has developed two days of programs featuring topics that deal with the 2012 and 2014 OMB IPv6 Milestones. The conference will be held at the Charleston Marriott (170 Lockwood Boulevard · Charleston, South Carolina 29403).  The hotel is near the Citadel and a brief 10 minutes (2.5 miles) from the Charleston downtown historic district.

The program is packed with sessions that will give you key information for the transition to IPv6. Wednesday’s program starts with three subjects that are driving the push for IPv6.  The first is a keynote address that explores IPv6 in the world today and the one per cent threshold, that magic point where the growth in IPv6 traffic turns exponential.  Is that theory real and when will it happen?

An open discussion of the real requirements for 2012 and 2014 follows.  What does the CIO Council (OMB) expect and how far do the agencies plan to go?

The rest of the Wednesday morning is consumed with areas of interest in the drive for the 2014 milestones.  These areas could be considered pot holes in the road, but they are a necessary part of the planning and smooth execution.  Subjects include: The IPv6 Far Clause and USGV6 Profiles; Security; Enterprise Architecture; and, for large, diverse agencies with a complex deployment, an approach to tracking and managing the deployment effort.

Wednesday afternoon is devoted to updates and more lessons learned  from civilian and defense agencies in the forefront of the Federal IPv6 deployment effort. The VA is expected to have a live demonstration of one of their pilots to close the session.

Thursday has two special sessions.  One is for the agencies that were late to the gate and are just starting work on meeting the 2012 milestone.  The session will address approaches and products that can help them get to the September finish line on time.  We plan to let some vendors in the door (hopefully, only their engineers) to explain how their products can help with the compressed timeline.

The second special session Thursday morning is a new feature starting with this meeting.  It is a one hour discussion and/or demonstration of capabilities enabled by the advanced features of IPv6.  Most agencies are trying to just establish basic IPv6 capability for 2014.  Now is the time to explore improvements to be gained with the follow-on deployment of advanced features.  These sessions are intended to provide insight into what is possible. This one is about the benefits of mobile addressing.

There is also a Thursday morning session on addresses and how you get them.  Everyone knows they come from ARIN, but does everyone know the latest rules for justifying an allotment? 

The conference wraps on Thursday afternoon with an open forum discussion of the technical and organizational “Gotchas” that have been encountered on the road to IPv6.  It is the opportunity to describe obstacles you have run into and to compare notes with your peers on approaches to resolve those issues.  The final session continues this format with a review of the conference, opinions on what was good or bad and suggestions for future improvements.

Attendance to the conference is by 'invitation only and limited to qualified government personnel and their invited guests.  This is your invitation to join us in Charleston for what promises to be an interesting and fruitful two days of exchanging ideas and information about the deployment of IPv6 in the Federal Government.

We look forward to seeing you in Charleston!

Robert Meeker

VA IPv6 Support Team

The InterAgency Meeting is held twice a year to benefit Federal Agency’s efforts in their IPv6 Transition.  We encourage participation by all Federal Agencies.  The agenda for the meetings is defined by the VA IPv6 Steering Committee, with input from previous attendees suggestions, as well as, concerns voiced by their peers regarding areas that could affect the Agencies' ability to meet the Federal CIO mandate.

Conference Web Site:  Go to the IPv6 Inter-Agency Meeting web-site for more information about the conference.  The latest program and agendas are posted  on the site as well as local information about restaurants and things to see.

Registration:  The registration system is accessed from the conference web site and will begin accepting registrations late Friday (3/9).  A notice will be sent when the system is open. (Early registrants with an acknowledgement from the IPv6 Steering Committee are already registered.)

Remote Access:  A Web-ex session with limited capacity will be established for the duration of the conference. Access will be first-come, first served.  The registration form will provide a check off for remote access.  Access instructions will be issued by email prior to the start of the conference.

(You should really skip this option and come to Charleston.  Charleston is very nice in the Spring)