Working with the ITU

APNIC recognizes several positive outcomes from the last decade of its ongoing dialogue with the ITU. APNIC has participated as observer in different ITU World and Plenipotentiary Conferences, and actively contributes to ITU IPv6 activities, such as the ITU-T IPv6 Group. APNIC also follows the WCIT process closely. Since 2011, APNIC has worked with the ITU Regional Office and its Centre of Excellence to organize a series of workshops on IPv6 migration strategies.

Key activities

APNIC has observed most of the ITU’s IPv6 activities, participating in several workshops and has followed the proceedings of the ITU-T IPv6 Group since it was founded in 2010. When appropriate, APNIC contributes factual information as input to these activities, often in collaboration with the NRO.

• APNIC’s Chief Scientist, Geoff Huston, attended two workshops on IPv6 in the ITU headquarters in Geneva, in June 2005 and September 2008. In the second workshop he delivered a presentation on IPv6 address distribution mechanisms.
• In March 2009, the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) issued a “Questionnaire on IPv6 address allocation and encouraging the deployment of IPv6″. APNIC offered a public response to this questionnaire.

ITU-T IPv6 Group

At the first meeting of the ITU-T IPv6 Group in March 2010, APNIC contributed documentation with the outcomes of a special session at APNIC 29 that discussed a model proposed by an ITU-funded study by Nav6. APNIC responded with a document on behalf of all the RIRs and ICANN, explaining how IPv6 allocation works.

At a subsequent IPv6 Group meeting in April 2011, APNIC contributed to the NRO documents which were submitted in response to three Liaison Statements, addressing and explaining:

• Why a country-based allocation model for IPv6 would not achieve any of the goals expressed in the Nav6 paper
• Concerns about IPv4 shortages are a short-term issue, and that all stakeholders should prioritize the solution to that exhaustion, which is IPv6 deployment
• Concerns that developing countries would be disadvantaged by the current IPv6 distribution model, providing information about fees for address management and information on the ease of obtaining IPv6 from the RIRs.

At this meeting, the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) presented a proposal to work intensively on capacity building and IPv6 deployment in developing economies. In response, the NRO submitted two letters, one to the Chair of the IPv6 Group, and a second one to the ITU BDT Director, expressing optimism at the signs of increased collaboration between the ITU and the Internet community on IPv6 capacity building initiatives with developmental objectives.

ITU Plenipotentiary

APNIC was present as observer at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in October 2010. In this meeting, ITU Member States passed Resolution 180, “Facilitating the transition from IPv4 to IPv6”, which resolved:

“to collaborate closely with the relevant international recognized partners, including the Internet community (e.g. Regional Internet Registries [RIRs], the Internet Engineering Task Force [IETF], and others), in order to encourage the deployment of IPv6 by raising awareness and through capacity building.”

World Telecommunications Development Conference (WTDC)

APNIC participated in the 2010 World Telecommunications Development Conference (WTDC) in Hyderabad, India. During this meeting, APNIC helped facilitate discussions about IP address distribution and provided the latest information on IP address distribution across UN Member States.

ITU Regional Office and Centre of Excellence (CoE)

APNIC and the ITU Regional Office and its Centre of Excellence are currently working together on regional projects:

• Since 2011, APNIC has co-organized a series of workshops on IPv6 Migration Strategies with the ITU Regional Office.
• APNIC gave a presentation on IPv6 to the Asia-Pacific Regional Forum on ICT Applications in Bangkok in May 2011.

World Telecommunication Policy Forum

APNIC has participated in ITU’s World Telecommunication Policy Forum.

• In 2009, APNIC represented the Internet addressing community and presented a statement embracing the values of openness and multi-stakeholder participation in the development of Internet related policies.
• In 2012, the NRO expressed interest in participating in the World Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF) scheduled in 2013 and offered the assistance of APNIC’s Director General, Paul Wilson, to participate in the WTPF Informal Expert Group that will prepare for this process.
• In 2013, APNIC participated in the Informal Expert Group (IEG) and the WTPF.