“The great changes, great development, great integration and great governance of the global Internet based on IPv6 have become irreversible development trends.” Liu Dong, director of BII-CFIEC, said, “The next five to ten years, global IPv6 users will show an exponential growth trend in scale and size of traffic and it is expected to fully surpass IPv4 by 2021."

Figure: Liu Dong, Director of BII-CFIEC

Recently, the 2018 Global IPv6 Summit (IPv6.conference.cn) kicked off in Hangzhou. Nearly a thousand global industry elites gathered to discuss the development status of the global NGI, the NGI technology system, and new development opportunities brought to China.

The Internet is an important infrastructure linking the national economy and social development. It profoundly affects the global economic structure, interest structure, and security pattern. Liu Dong said, “With the rapid development of the Internet and the increasing demand of users, the existing networks are facing new challenges. The global Internet based on the IPv4 is facing the exhaustion of network addresses and the unstable quality of service. Speeding up the building of intelligent next generation Internet with high speed, high popularity, full coverage have become imperative."

In fact, all major countries in the world have stepped up the deployment and promotion of the NGI. The data shows that the deployment rate of IPv6 in the United States, Germany, Belgium, India and other countries has approached or exceeded 40%. Liu Dong said, “The NGI technologies and industries carry major strategic appeals from countries in science and technology, economy, and security. They are also key entry points for countries to grasp a new round of scientific and technological revolutions and industrial changes, and will become the key to new advantages of national competition in the information age."

China attaches great importance to the development of the NGI. As early as 2003, it has already conducted research and deployment of IPv6. In November 2017, the Central Government Office and General Office of the CPC Central Committee and General Office of the State Council the “Action Plan on Promoting the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)-based Network into Large-scale Use” for Promoting the Advancement of IPv6, which injects strong incentives into the NGI industry in China. "This will become a policy document of historic importance, marking China's full-speed advancement to the new era of NGI."

Referring to the future trend, Liu Dong stated that the future will be an era in which digitization, globalization penetrates into every corner of the world, affects everyone and it is an era in which technology changes the world. IPv6 is just the starting point. The NGI is an open, inclusive and innovative technology system and a platform for the development of new technologies. In the near future, the NGI will infiltrate all walks of life, such as broadcasting, energy, electricity, military, etc., and help the traditional industries to go digital. This will bring 100 billion-level market space and dividends. The IPv6-based NGI will provide the core support for the development of digital economy and ultimately benefit everyone.