In a 26-page report prepared for the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that while many of the 24 agencies it looked at are moving forward, others lag behind -- threatening the overall transition.
The report (download PDF) noted that the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last year issued a memorandum to federal CIOs detailing the IPv6 preparations and deadlines they need to meet to prepare for the changes. The OMB said government IT systems would be expected to use the new IPv6 standards by June 2008.
The key benefits of IPv6 include improved security through encryption or authentication, better data routing and a far larger number of unique user IP addresses through the use of 128-bit addresses. That change offers far more variations than the IP addresses available using IPv4.
According to the new GAO report:
- 15 of the 24 agencies have developed IPv6 training materials for their staffs.
- 14 have actually begun phased migrations to IPv6.
- 13 have developed and implemented test plans for IPv6 compatibility and interoperability.
- Just 10 of the 24 agencies have begun IPv6-related maintenance and monitoring of their networks.
As of April, all 24 agencies have begun mandated inventories of their existing IP-compliant devices and technology, while 23 have begun impact analyses of fiscal and operational risks in the transition.
The GAO only listed the names of the 24 agencies it studied, but did not spell out which ones are not meeting their deadlines.
The agencies involved include the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury and Veterans Affairs. The GAO also studied IPv6 efforts by the Environmental Protection Agency, the General Services Administration, NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Office of Personnel Management, the Small Business Administration, the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
To help the various agencies in their efforts, a series of IPv6 Working Group subcommittees was established in May to address issues related to the transition, including security, testing and standards, according to the GAO.
To smooth the transition to IPv6, the GAO recommended that the head of the OMB direct federal agencies to work through the CIO Council Architecture and Infrastructure Committee and the IPv6 Working Group.
GAO spokesman David Powner said Tuesday that several of the agencies, including the Social Security Administration and the Department of Education, fared better in the analysis by having completed more of the work than other agencies. "I think it is safe to say, though, [that] all agencies have a fair amount of work ahead," he said.
IPv6 is in various stages of testing and use around the world. IPv6 has more than 10 years of development behind it and is already deployed in some production networks.