Day 0 Event #58 IPv6 MS Collaboration: A Path to Digital Inclusion in ME

Summary

This discussion focused on the impact of multi-stakeholder collaboration on IPv6 deployment, particularly in the Middle East region. Participants from regulatory bodies, technical communities, and international organizations shared their experiences and insights.

The conversation highlighted successful IPv6 deployment strategies in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where collaboration between regulators, service providers, and technical experts led to significant progress. Both countries emphasized the importance of awareness-raising, capacity building, and giving stakeholders time to transition smoothly.

Speakers stressed that regulation alone was not the best approach. Instead, fostering collaboration, understanding technical needs, and aligning with business refresh cycles proved more effective. The ITU representative noted a shift in interest from governments to operators in recent years, driven by changing business models and increased digitization needs.

The discussion touched on challenges faced by countries lagging in IPv6 adoption, often due to a lack of understanding of its importance or poorly implemented strategies. Speakers emphasized the need for a collaborative approach involving all stakeholders to drive successful IPv6 deployment.

A key point raised was the distinction between regulating the Internet itself and regulating applications that run on it. Participants cautioned against conflating Internet infrastructure issues with platform-specific problems.

The conversation concluded by highlighting the importance of leadership in driving innovation and competitive advantage in the digital space, with governments often taking the lead in the Middle East region. The need for continued multi-stakeholder collaboration was emphasized as crucial for addressing future technological challenges and opportunities.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– The importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration in driving IPv6 adoption

– Successful IPv6 deployment strategies in Saudi Arabia and UAE

– Challenges in getting stakeholders to adopt IPv6 and overcoming skepticism

– The role of government leadership vs. regulation in promoting IPv6

– Distinguishing between internet infrastructure issues and application/platform issues

Overall purpose:

The goal of this discussion was to highlight how collaboration between governments, regulators, the technical community and private sector can drive IPv6 deployment, using successful examples from the Middle East region. The speakers aimed to share best practices and lessons learned to encourage further IPv6 adoption.

Tone:

The overall tone was positive and collaborative. Speakers were enthusiastic about sharing their experiences and successes. There was a sense of pride in the region’s accomplishments with IPv6. The tone became slightly more serious when discussing challenges and the need for leadership, but remained constructive throughout. There was an emphasis on working together and avoiding a heavy-handed regulatory approach.

Speakers

– CHAFIC CHAYA: Moderator

– MUSAAB ALAMMAR: Director of Internet Technologies Development Department, CST, Saudi Arabia

– ABDULRAHMAN ALMARZOOQI: Director of Policy and Programs Department, Telecommunication and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TIDRA), UAE

– HISHAM IBRAHIM: Chief Community Officer, RIPE NCC

– ADEL DARWICH: Director of ITU Arab Regional Office

Additional speakers:

– KHALED FATTAL: Internet governance expert

IPv6 Deployment and Multi-stakeholder Collaboration in the Middle East

This summary is based on a panel discussion at an Internet Governance Forum (IGF) event, focusing on the impact of multi-stakeholder collaboration on IPv6 deployment in the Middle East region. Participants from regulatory bodies, technical communities, and international organisations shared their experiences and insights, highlighting successful strategies and addressing challenges in IPv6 adoption.

Key Achievements and Strategies

The conversation showcased notable successes in IPv6 deployment, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Saudi Arabia achieved a 65% IPv6 adoption rate through a comprehensive national strategy. Musaab Alammar, representing Saudi Arabia, emphasised their “secret recipe” of establishing an IPv6 task force that brought together operators and experts nationwide. This approach facilitated periodic discussions on the importance and challenges of IPv6, provided a safe environment for experimentation, and allowed stakeholders the necessary time to upgrade their equipment without premature reinvestment.

Alammar also highlighted their efforts on the enterprise side, creating a manual for IPv6 implementation. Additionally, he mentioned the Qiyas program, which measures the readiness of governmental entities for digital transformation, including IPv6 adoption.

The UAE increased its IPv6 adoption from 2% to 30% in one year (2019 to 2020), and then to around 55% later. Abdulrahman Almarzooqi, representing the UAE, highlighted their preference for collaboration over regulation. He noted that initially, there were internal discussions about implementing regulations to mandate IPv6 adoption. However, Almarzooqi opposed regulatory instruments, favouring a more collaborative approach that proved successful.

Both countries emphasised the importance of awareness-raising, capacity building, and allowing stakeholders time to transition smoothly. This gradual, planned approach, which considered equipment refresh cycles, was deemed more effective than strict mandates for IPv6 implementation.

Challenges and Solutions

Despite these successes, speakers acknowledged several challenges in IPv6 adoption. A key issue is that IPv6 is not directly revenue-generating for operators, which can lead to hesitation in adoption. Musaab Alammar noted that gradual equipment upgrades were necessary to support IPv6, highlighting the need for a measured approach to implementation.

Adel Darwich, representing the ITU, observed a shift in interest from governments to operators in recent years. This change is driven by evolving business models and increased digitisation needs. Darwich emphasised the importance of capacity building and awareness-raising to overcome these challenges. He also highlighted the ITU’s role in supporting IPv6 adoption, including their work with RIPE NCC on capacity building and their support for light-touch regulation.

The discussion also touched on the scepticism surrounding IPv6 adoption. Hisham Ibrahim pointed out that the anticipated crisis of IPv4 exhaustion in the 1990s never materialised, which has led to complacency in some quarters. However, he reframed this as a positive outcome, emphasising that IPv6 remains crucial for future innovation and connectivity. Ibrahim also stressed the importance of allowing for permissionless innovation in IPv6 adoption.

Khaled Fattal highlighted the need for leadership to drive adoption, especially when there isn’t a clear business case. He emphasised the importance of innovation and thinking outside the box to create competitive advantages for countries.

Regulation and Internet Governance

A significant portion of the discussion centred on the role of regulation and governance in IPv6 adoption and broader internet issues. Speakers stressed that regulation alone was not the best approach to encouraging IPv6 adoption. Instead, fostering collaboration, understanding technical needs, and aligning with business refresh cycles proved more effective.

Hisham Ibrahim raised a crucial point about the distinction between regulating the Internet itself and regulating applications that run on it. He used the example of his son playing Fortnite to illustrate the difference between internet infrastructure issues and platform-specific problems. Ibrahim cautioned against conflating these issues, noting that many governance discussions focus on “fixing the internet” when they are actually addressing platform issues. This observation highlighted the need for a nuanced understanding of internet technology layers when considering policy and regulation.

The Role of Leadership and Collaboration

The conversation concluded by emphasising the importance of leadership in driving innovation and competitive advantage in the digital space. In the Middle East region, governments often take the lead in this regard. Abdulrahman Almarzooqi noted that the UAE government is leading in mobile application development. However, speakers also stressed the need for continued multi-stakeholder collaboration as crucial for addressing future technological challenges and opportunities.

Adel Darwich highlighted the ITU’s role in supporting capacity building and policy development for IPv6. This support extends beyond individual countries, aiming to bridge the digital divide and connect the 2.6 billion people worldwide who remain unconnected. He also mentioned the establishment of an IPv6 ITU Center in Sudan to support regional efforts.

Unresolved Issues and Future Directions

While the discussion showcased significant progress, several unresolved issues emerged. These include how to accelerate IPv6 adoption in countries lagging behind in the region, creating compelling business cases for IPv6 adoption in certain contexts, and striking the right balance between regulation and collaboration in technology adoption.

The speakers suggested potential compromises, such as using ‘soft regulation’ and collaborative approaches rather than strict mandates for IPv6 adoption. They also advocated for allowing gradual equipment upgrades to support IPv6 rather than forcing immediate overhauls.

Looking forward, the discussion highlighted the need for continued efforts to increase IPv6 adoption above 70% in leading countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Additionally, there is a pressing need to support other countries in the region to catch up with IPv6 deployment, ensuring a more uniform digital landscape across the Middle East.

In conclusion, the discussion underscored the critical role of multi-stakeholder collaboration in driving IPv6 adoption. By sharing experiences and best practices, the speakers provided valuable insights into successful deployment strategies, challenges, and the importance of leadership in technological advancement. As the region continues to progress in its digital transformation, the lessons learned from these experiences will be crucial in shaping future approaches to internet infrastructure development and governance.

CHAFIC CHAYA: It’s an honour to welcome you in this session, Day Zero session about the impact of multi-stakeholder collaboration on IPv6 deployment. This Day Zero session is co-organised by RIPE NCC and Communication, Space and Technology Commission in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. So welcome and here today we will highlight how collaboration, trust and shared vision and goals between the governments, regulators, technical community and private sector can drive a real impact in IPv6 deployment. As you know the Middle East region is not strange or not far from the innovation. Through this collaboration and through this partnership we achieved a remarkable progress in IPv6. And IPv6 is not only an upgrade for the technology, as you know it’s a vital and critical tool for the future of the internet. IPv6 ensures scalability, ensures connectivity and helps the ITU efforts in bridging the 2.7 unconnected till now to be connected. Our multi-stakeholder approach with governments and regulators from across the region, CST in Saudi, TIDRA in UAE, TRAs in Bahrain, Oman, CITRA in Kuwait, collaboration with inter-governmental and regional organisations like ITU, SAMENA, ARISPA, ESCWA. So all these efforts really fostering our achievements and our efforts in the IPv6 deployment. Once again, I welcome you for this session. I welcome our online audience. My colleague, Vahan, will help as online moderator. And a big thank you, thanks for my colleague, Ulka, who will be the reporter for this session. So without further ado, let me introduce my colleagues and friends. I have with me today, Mr. Abdelrahman Al-Marzouki, director of ITU Arab regional office. I have with me today, Mr. Misab Al-Ammar, director of Internet Technologies Development Department, CST, Saudi Arabia. Mr. Abdelrahman Al-Marzouki, director of Policy and Program Department, TIDRA, United Arab Emirates. Mr. Hisham Rahim, Chief Community Officer, RIPE NCC. And I have with me today, Mr. Hisham Rahim, chief community officer, RIPE NCC, and we have here with us Mr. Hisham Rahim from RIPE NCC, who will give us a nice overview on the IPv6 status in the region. Hisham, the floor is yours.

HISHAM IBRAHIM: Hisham Rahim, Chief Community Officer, RIPE NCC. Hisham Rahim, Chief Community Officer, RIPE NCC. Hisham Rahim, Chief Community Officer, RIPE NCC. Hi, everyone. Pleasure to be here with you this afternoon. I’ve been at RIPE NCC for about a year and a half, I think over a decade, so it was well overdue. I’m very happy to be here in this session talking about something that’s very dear to the RIR systems, the organisations that distribute IP addresses, but also to mine, which is IPv6. So, I’m very happy to be here and to be connected through open standards that ensure interoperability. registration services that ensure uniqueness, and global structures that develop these protocols, standards, and frameworks for accountability. The underpinning technology that connects these thousands of devices, these thousands of networks. If you were in the session this morning, my colleague Ulka was on a panel that they were talking about how there are 70,000 different networks around the world that interconnect. The underlying, the underpinning technology is IP. So behind every connected device there needs to be an address that allows it to connect to the rest of the world. Now again, very quick historical view, the technology that was used since the beginning of the Internet was something called IP version 4, which allowed for a finite number of addresses to connect. Now it became very clear in the early 90s that we will not have enough IPv4 addresses to continue to grow the Internet, which is why IPv6, the successor protocol, was developed. Now Trawik wants me to talk about the success in the region, I think this session will mostly cover that, but I also want to address something early on. That there has been skepticism about the importance of IPv6, simply because the expected run out of IPv4, the crisis that people anticipated in the 90s, never really happened. And that’s a good thing, not necessarily a bad thing. The Internet continued to grow and evolve, people continue to find ways to introduce transition mechanisms that allowed v4 and v6 to continue to exist, other technologies. So we didn’t really hit any crisis points, which leads some skeptics to say, well, is IPv6 really needed? And the answer today is still, yes it is. And for one key purpose, which ties back to why the Internet exists in the first place, which is permissionless innovation, allowing more people to come up with new ideas and putting it on the internet. Just like we’ve seen in the past few decades where the web came on top of the internet, social media came on top of that, and now whatever new technologies and hypes we’re talking about in these meetings, blockchain, AI and other stuff. Now to Shafiq’s question and summing up quickly, in the region here we have seen the numbers growing up to the right, which also indicates a healthy IPv6 deployment. We’re seeing in many countries, and you’re going to hear examples from my colleagues about what they’ve been doing in their countries that have really driven up not just the number of resources of IPv6 resources in the country, but also how they’re being used, how they penetrate all the way to the end user, how the numbers from the content providers are going up, how they are securing these resources through RPKI, and they are actually putting them on the routing tables and de-aggregating them, meaning that they’re doing better routing. So in a very quick nutshell, the region here, the Middle East, is doing really well when it comes to IPv6, and we have a couple of countries that are actually leading the world, which we’re going to be talking about in a second. Shafiq, back to you.

CHAFIC CHAYA: Thank you, Hisham. Thank you so much. So this was the overview from the technical community. Today with us, to celebrate this successful multi-stakeholder approach, we have two shining examples from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. My question to Musab from CST in Saudi, how CST did manage to put all these players together and fostering this multi-stakeholder efforts in deploying IPv6 in the kingdom, now you are rating fourth globally and first regionally.

MUSAAB ALAMMAR: Hello everyone. Are you able to hear me? Okay, good. Thank you so much for giving us this question. It’s an opportunity to show what has been done so far by CST in the Kingdom. Our efforts started a long time ago. I believe it started since 2008. We started the idea of the collaboration that we need all of the stakeholders know the importance of the IPv6 and the risk that the IPv4 will have very soon because of the depletion. So, due to the fact, we started at that time as a national strategy with an objective of making sure that the IPv6, sorry, the IPv4 depletion will be not a risk for us, for the business community. Going through making sure that we have a smooth transition and awareness and capacity building. So, at that time, we had kind of a strategy of three focuses. One on the service providers and the second one on the enterprise, which represents the supply, let’s say. And lastly, the end users. So, having multiple focuses on those three main stakeholders gave us the leverage to be today one of the top countries in terms of adopting IPv6. And these stages, of course, we had support from the academia, the technical experts such as RIPE NCC and others to have, let’s say, more than 20 training programs and more than 500 participants to make sure that we have a community that knows the importance of IPv6 adoption and the real value of it in the near future for the digital transformation.

CHAFIC CHAYA: Thank you, Mustafa. Thank you so much. And I will not say a secret that your close collaboration as regulator with us, as RIPE NCC, was the main driver for this successful IPv6 deployment in Saudi Arabia. Thank you once again. We have another example. Our friend and colleague, Abdelrahman, here with us. So, you heard Meshab about the experience in Saudi Arabia. What was your experience as TIDRA in UAE? And how it differs from the experience from Saudi Arabia?

ABDULRAHMAN ALMARZOOQI: Peace be upon you, everyone. Pleased to be here. My name is Abdelrahman Marzouki. I’m a Director of Policy and Programs Department within the Telecommunication and Digital Government Regulatory Authority in the UAE. IPv6 has been with me since I joined TIDRA in 2006. That was one of the first projects that I had. So, since 2006, we’re still working on IPv6. So, it’s very, very dear to my heart. I remember the first time I had a training about IPv6 in 2006. And everybody was saying that we have to move from IPv4 to IPv6. Depletion is coming sometime in the future. Of course, it happened. I mean, the depletion on the regional Internet registries, I think sometime in 2013. So, a few years later. And everybody was saying we have to move on. And then when reality is, the telecom operators who ultimately distribute IP addresses to users, basically say, where is the business case for it, what do I’m going to sell you know we don’t sell IP IPv6 we don’t we don’t sell IPv4 we sell you know connectivity we sell hosting services and now then later became cloud services but we don’t sell IP addresses so and but the engineers basically say well we need because our IPv6 v4 is not enough then the engineers are you know they think about solutions and they say well we can do nothing basically to reuse private IP addresses so we don’t need as much public IP addresses and that kept going on for many many years in the UAE we managed to get IPv6 from 2% in 2019 to 30% in 2020 within one year 18 months that jump happened because we realized enough is enough we have to change we have to you know we are talking about it we’re planning we’re testing we’re doing all of that for maybe over a decade but then there has to be a point where we shift and change and make it a reality and thankfully TDRA with the collaboration of all the stakeholders in a multi stakeholder approach we invited everybody from telecom operators to device manufacturers to network LIRs network operators with the support of RIPE NCC as well in 2019 we put a plan and we put certain targets but actually the benefits the benefits of moving from IPv4 to IPv6 less complexity in terms of networks, more efficiency, routing, security, all the benefits of and we had to get rid of all these NATing devices so that also a cost that could be saved and then in 2020 we managed to get around 30 percent IPv6 and now we reached around above 50 percent in regionally I think Saudi Arabia is leading the region and we learned from our brothers from Saudi Arabia they’re leading in the IPv6 and I think the steps that we took probably are identical to so your question was how different it is it’s not different it’s exactly the same we need to have a direction we have to have everybody in one table and then you know be serious about it then it will happen and thankfully today Saudi Arabia is over 60 I think 65 percent of IPv6 traffic and UAE is around 55 percent with the support of RIPE of course with the training with awareness I think we managed very well alhamdulillah.

CHAFIC CHAYA: Thank you Abdurrahman I will not tell you another secret because there is no secret now in this meeting room but when Abdurrahman talked about the jumping from 2 to 30 percent and now to 55 percent and the Saudi Arabia now 65 percent now we are working with both of them to see what is the bottleneck not to move above 70 percent so hopefully next year we meet we’ll see that both countries are more than 70 percent IPv6 and once again thank you for your cooperation so this was at the national level so let’s see how the multi-stakeholder works at the regional level we have with us here colleagues and friend Adel, the director of the Arab regional office at the ITU in Cairo. So Adel, based on what you heard from the two regulators and based on our successful collaboration in some countries doing some national IPv6 strategies, what you can tell us about your experience working in a multi-stakeholder approach with regulators, technical community, academic, private sector and other groups?

ADEL DARWICH: Thank you very much Shafiq, first of all allow me to thank RIPE NCC and our host Saudi Arabia for having this wonderful event of IGF here in the city of Riyadh in this fabulous arena if I may say. Talking about multi-stake collaboration you mentioned 2.7 it’s now 2.6 so we’re getting closer to connecting the unconnected. I believe multi-stakeholderism has been an advocate of our Secretary General Doreen Bogdan-Martin for quite a while now. At ITU we’ve been working together on setting standards in the standardization bureau, we’ve been working together on developing at the national levels jointly with the regional offices in the development bureau. We’ve seen that this effort and we’re proud to say that we have two very excellent examples in the region however the rest of the region is catching up. With the outcome of smart cities, IOTs in the marketplace more and more IPv6 need is required in the technical arena as well. What we’ve seen that the interest that was mainly from governments in the past decade has now shifted to the operators. We’ve seen more and more operators coming to the table discussing on that platform seeing how can they learn, how can they get more capacity building initiatives and that’s where ourselves and RIPE NCC have been working closely on that as well. We’ve launched a few training institutions as well, and courses around the region. This has been very successful. And we foresee that the region is going to lead globally the IPv6, if I may say, race in the coming few years. Thank you. Back to you, Shefi.

CHAFIC CHAYA: Thank you, Adel. Thank you. A third secret, that we are working with ITU on two or three IPv6 strategies for some countries that they are still lagging behind. And I looked towards Hisham. While we saw that there are some countries, especially in the Gulf region, they are progressing, and they are doing very successful in IPv6, why other countries in the region are still lagging behind? What reasons behind this, let’s say, not catching up with other countries?

HISHAM IBRAHIM: Thanks for the question, Shafiq. So I think there’s two really important things here. The first one was mentioned already in the successful engagements, which is getting everybody around the table, making sure that everybody understands the ultimate goal that we’re trying to achieve. It didn’t come down as a top-down, you have to do this, you have to implement by this time. It actually was trying to get everybody to buy in and understand, working together. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. There is no one organization or entity that can just get IPv6 deployed in a country. It really has to be a collaborative effort, which is why we’re having this session at an IGF, very appropriate. But the second one is, there was deep understanding from the countries that were mentioned and others that are doing IPv6 of what they want to achieve. They don’t just want to continue to run the internet. They don’t want to continue to run services. They want to be able to provide platforms to support, again, innovation. what comes next, future technologies, and not be limited by a technology that we already knew from the 90s is already dying out. And that mentality is really key. Now, because they understood this, they actually were able to sit down and work with the community on coming up with KPIs that made sense, coming up with action plans that made sense, and acting on them, and reacting if there was something not working. So I believe Abdurrahman mentioned like the vendors, if there is a vendor that they had an issue with, then bringing them over and understanding what the issue was. If there was an issue with a perception that IPv6 is more difficult or more costly, then explaining how this actually is not the case and doing the training and stuff. However, we have seen other examples that weren’t as successful in the region. That they would, all of a sudden, you would find overnight a national IPv6 roadmap being developed. And in X number of years, we’re going to have traffic of X number of things that is usually developed by external consultants without talking with the community, without having the understanding of the different dynamics that are in the country. And they’re just making impossible promises, which has also led some people to be skeptic. Because these deadlines, these flag days come and go, and nothing really changes. And the internet continues to run. So people then assume, well, it’s not really that big a deal. And I believe those approaches have hurt more than they have helped. Whereas, working together, understanding what we’re trying to do, allowing for that permissionless innovation, was really the key of the success all along.

CHAFIC CHAYA: Thank you, Hisham. Through the last few years, working with regulators, and especially with the CST and TIDRA, we noticed that the concept changed from regulation to collaboration. And this is really a big shift. So, Misab, can you tell us what challenges you tackled during gathering the whole stakeholders around one table? Because we know the operators, the ISPs, they have their own secrets. They don’t want to talk or discuss things between competitors. So, how did you manage to get all these players together around the table?

MUSAAB ALAMMAR: Thank you so much. First of all, as you all know and as mentioned by my colleague here, Dr. Rahman, that IPv6 is not revenue generating. So, operators and ISPs, they are not expecting to get money back from this, at least from, let’s say, direct revenue. So, it was a real challenge at the beginning. And on top of that, at 2008, as I mentioned earlier, that some ISPs and operators, they still have an equipment and devices in their networks not yet supporting the IPv6. So, our secret recipe is having like an IPv6 task force at the beginning, gathering all the operators and the experts all over the nation, having a periodic discussion about the importance and the challenges, providing them like a lab to do their experiments to make sure that they are doing something safe, not harming their network, and giving them the time needed to shift and change all of their equipment without reinvesting again on a network equipment that can still last for more years. So, this is what we have done to have a smooth, let’s say, transition from v4 to v6. And we didn’t have any issues, because we gave them the time, we raised the awareness, we did a lot of capacity building with partnerships, with experts all over the world. And thankfully, it was as smooth as you can see in the trend. So we did that very smoothly. For those countries who will start today, it will be challenging for them. There will be a cost of changing this equipment and putting a configuration. And even the devices in the network, some devices, phone devices, it requires a long time for testing. And these devices, it has to be certified for IPv6, then it will be enabled with IPv6 in that specific country. So I think this is how it should be. A point I would like to add is we didn’t work only on the test provider side. We worked on the enterprise side. We secured or we created a manual for them to understand or to do a full plan, including a technical aspect in that, let’s say, guideline. And through that, they will be able to make a good plan to provide their internet services supporting IPv6. And one of the things that I would like to celebrate with you today, we had just, they had just finished the DGA, the digital government, the authority. They just finished something called Qiyas. The Qiyas program is just to measure the readiness of the entities, the governmental entities for the digital transformation. With a collaboration with them, with DGA in specific, we had some kind of criteria that those entities, those governmental entities who enabled IPv6, they will gain higher score in terms of the readiness for the digital transformation. So we are not only focusing on the service provider. We’re also focusing on the supply, helping them to provide the needed services on IPv6 as well.

CHAFIC CHAYA: Thank you, Massab. It’s really interesting, you know, the steps and your activities that you take during these years. Once again, I will go to Tidra because, you know, even though your experiences have a lot of similarities, but different steps and different, let’s say, plans and projects. Because I know that, I don’t know if you remember, Abdurrahman, we talked about why we don’t regulate IPv6. You said, no, we’re not regulated. So, what is the strategy of Tidra? Why you didn’t go in this direction? And how you encouraged and, you know, give this opportunity for the operators to work with you and the soft regulation, let’s say, to achieve this successful result?

ABDULRAHMAN ALMARZOOQI: Thank you, Dr. Shafiq, for this question. So, there was a discussion actually, internally, whether we should come up with a regulation or a policy to govern and mandate IPv6. And honestly, at the time, I was opposing any regulatory instrument toward that. In my opinion, the IPv6 is well understood by people who are in the technology and the technical aspects. Maybe it’s not well understood by business people. If we came up with a regulation, then that would go to regulatory departments, commercial departments, and they will start thinking about how to be defensive about it and perhaps drag it and delay it as much as possible. That’s their natural attitude toward regulation. say, let’s try to slow it down. Maybe this will create burden on us, cost on us, and things like that. We said, that’s not the right approach. Let’s talk to the technical people, to the engineering people. They understand this very well. And we talk to them. And we tell them, what do you need to empower you if you want to do changes? Of course, the engineers, they would think about, let’s draw a plan. Let’s try to do it as smooth as possible. There is a refresh cycle for all the systems. If you talk to anyone from engineering, they know what I’m talking about, refresh cycles. They know that this device has to live for five years, seven years. Then there will be a time where it has to be changed. What they’ve done is basically, early on when we were talking about IPv6, they put a plan in place that all devices that they will procure has to be, by default, compatible with IPv6. This is done years ahead. But when it comes to the action, the actual action where it will be deployed, and they will try to make it all IPv6, then, of course, they’ll have to do tests. They have to do all of these things. And when there is a device that needs to be changed, they’ll wait for the refresh cycle, and they will change that device so that it’s IPv6 compatible. So we came to them, and we told them, OK, what’s a reasonable time frame for you if you want to start providing IPv6? They said, well, for us, one of the operators said, we’re ready. We’ll start. We’ll start with a certain segment of our customers, with a certain segment of the network, and they will build an experience and then migrate slowly. slowly up until the entire network is IPv6 and then of course it will be dual stack meaning that IPv4 and IPv6 both of them will work it depends on the customer if everything is compatible with IPv6 he will he will get an IPv6 address and then the traffic will be IPv6 all the way natively from the source to the destination so they said the other operator said we need some time we have some core functions within the network still not fully IPv6 ready we need around a year to do it that’s fine a year is a reasonable time when we think about the decades of when IPv6 existed so we waited for a year and they’ve done their fresh and they started pushing IPv6 so that’s in a in a in a nutshell why we thought collaboration as you mentioned dr. Shafiq is a better approach when we talk about moving from IPv4 to IPv6

CHAFIC CHAYA: thank you yes and I totally agree with you other back to ITU we listen to the experts from the capacity building and policy perspective we know that these two activities capacity building and and standardization as you mentioned is at the heart of the ITU work and activity so how ITU once again your office in the Middle East region how you you can ensure that all the Arab countries in the region can catch up with this IPv6 adoption as a critical tool for development and and bridging the digital gap

ADEL DARWICH: Thank you very much, Shafiq. First of all, if you’ll allow me maybe to comment on what Abdulrahman mentioned, and I totally agree sometimes regulation is not the route to go, but we’ve also seen over the past few years that the business model and the business needs of telecom companies have changed. This has forced the community to now start focusing on other services, especially post-COVID, where now telecom industry has become a pillar for digitization of every other sector. So the need has grown dramatically and the focus and the business mindset has changed as well. Now, as ITU, of course, we can’t do it by ourselves. We’re just one player in the field, if I may say, again going back to multi-stakeholderism. What’s key for us is we support when it comes to capacity building. So that’s one thing we do jointly with RIPE NCC. We’ve worked with governments, whether it’s ministries or regulators, to set up strategies and policies. Light-touch regulation, we always encourage to allow for innovation. That’s very important for us. At the same time, we have established a center a few years back in Sudan, which is the IPv6 ITU Center. We’ve trained a few instructors from that center as well, high quality level of training as well. And they have been like ambassadors of IPv6 promotion, if you like, within the region. Now, we’ve done this not only in the Arab region, but globally as well. We promote IPv6 usage, especially within the work that is done in Study Group 20 as well in the ITU-T sector, which is related to smart cities and IOTs. But mainly that has been our focus for the past few years. Now, as I mentioned earlier on, because the business model has changed, in recent couple of years, we’ve seen requests coming in from operators without even the government. We’ve seen that operators now want to take the lead on moving to IPv6. Which again, that serves our joint purpose or aim in this field as well. Thank you.

CHAFIC CHAYA: Thank you, Adel. Before we take the questions from the floor, and if we have any online questions or feedback, Vahan. So, for Hisham, I will go back to the recent article you wrote about the Internet and what’s the Internet. Is what we are doing is regulating the Internet or we need to regulate the application who run over the Internet? Can you just share your thoughts why we should not regulate the Internet?

HISHAM IBRAHIM: Happy to answer the question. So, the word Internet is used on a daily base because it touches a lot of what we do. However, it doesn’t always mean the same thing to the same people, right? When somebody technical like myself talks about the Internet, we’re talking about that network of networks that are interconnected, that allow packets to go from point A to point B, regardless of what is built on top of it. Whether those packets are web traffic, whether they’re another application, that stuff that’s built on top of the Internet. Whereas, it became the word Internet because it became a big part of our lives. It became a shorthand for everything that is built on top of that network. Now, some of the things that are built on top of that network have issues that need to be dealt with. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the Internet has an issue. And a prime example of this is something that I usually say. I have a son that likes to play Fortnite. And he’s not even 10 years old yet, but he knows when the network is lagging, because he comes to the Internet. to me and says, it’s lagging, I cannot play, I cannot play. So he’s driving up the measurements and the demands like any good customer would. But then he comes and says, the internet is not working. Now, it’s very difficult to lecture a nine year old and say, actually the internet is working, the problem is with your application. Because that’s really the thing, he cannot connect to a server. It’s not like the internet around the world is not working. But it’s become such a shorthand that people are used to, if you cannot connect to your favorite app on your phone, the internet has an issue. If a service that you’re using has privacy issues or trust and safety issues, then we need to fix the internet. Whereas the internet works and functions. So really, it’s becoming to a point that it’s dangerous, especially when you see the amount of meetings and discussions in governance forums that are talking about fixing the internet, while indeed what they’re talking about is platform issues. So misinformation is not an internet issue, it’s a platform issue. Privacy issues, again, not the internet. Issues related to, like I was saying, trust and safety. There’s a lot of them that fall under the word internet. And the equivalent that I can give is saying, you need to fix the internet because your Windows machine that you’re using is not allowing you to connect. Being able to distinguish where the problem is and dealing with it in the right appropriate forums and talking with the right language about it is key, or else you end up trying to regulate a future technology by changing fundamentals that made the internet what it is in the first place. And that kills innovation.

CHAFIC CHAYA: Thank you, Hisham. Thanks so much for this. And I think this is a misconception that every day we see this during. our daily life. So I will open the floor for some questions and I believe Khaled you raised your hand. I will give you the floor, please.

KHALED FATTAL: Thank you. Can you hear me? Yep. Khaled Fattal. Many of you may know me. I’ve been involved, you know, we’re talking about internet governance. I was there when Kofi Annan convened the experts in 2004 and I was there. So that engagement led to the creation of IGF. The reason I’m bringing this to your attention here is the experiences that I heard from UAE and from Saudi about IPv6 moving from IPv4 to IPv6 and the reasons why it took such a long time is something I’m going to draw to for the benefit of the community. In addition to the examples that you mentioned earlier on as to why the uptake was not there and then all of a sudden now it jumped from 2% to 30% or something like this in UAE. This is where the community needs leadership because I think it was UAE example when you talked about needing to make the case, correct? Or was it Saudi? I can’t remember. Somebody was saying that the decision-makers, the telecom operators or whatever, were to make the case why we should go to IPv6. In certain areas the case cannot be made, it needs leadership and I cannot underscore this enough because today and I attend conferences all over the world from cyber to AI to whatever and for the last couple of years everything is about AI. I have news for you Kentucky Fried Chicken is doing AI now. You’re laughing. I’m joking, but the truth here is everybody’s jumping on the bandwagon, but nobody’s asking What can we do that is unique now? The uniqueness could be how you your country could develop a competitive advantage in that space How can it be the innovator not just the trendsetter because everybody’s following so my point here is I? Thank Shafiq for asking me to come here to listen in because you created this thought in my mind How can we learn from the examples that not everything can be made a Case for it requires leadership, and that comes from the government it comes from the Regulator, and I can share something else with you one of the partners clients. I can’t say who who we work with Had in in in a European country owns now more than 80% of the 5g towers Why I share this with you here is you think what are they doing with 5g towers? They’ve they figured a different business model So if you’re innovating, and if you’re thinking outside of the box, and you’re thinking how can I create a competitive advantage for my country? There are many ways to create competitive advantages, and it starts with leadership So I hope this compels the local actors to consider how they can take leadership roles Thank you, Shafiq. I’m sorry for taking too much time

CHAFIC CHAYA: Well said really well said Khaled, and I will take two words from his contribution to ask Your colleagues here. He talked about the leadership. Yes, we know that in in Europe private sector leads in This region and it’s not something negative at all government’s lead Without the collaboration With these guys without the cooperation with regulators and once again This is not because the government’s want to lead because they want to control everything no They want to lead because they have the authority they have the How we say it the best venue to get people around the same table and they have the expertise to deal with this. Alone as RIPE NCC we couldn’t get all the operators and ISPs. So this is one thing and the second thing is 5G and this is I will leave this the last question for Hisham because 5G Khaled is a hunger technology for IPv6. So I will leave two minutes per each speaker to give his thoughts and like closing remarks we still have 10 minutes and then we close. I will start with ITU.

ADEL DARWICH: Thank you very much Shafiq. I would say leadership should be at the multi-stakeholder level because if you have one entity pushing you have cost implications. So leadership should be like you said it has to be the whole of the community. It’s the operators, it’s the policy makers, it’s the regulators. They all have to agree that whatever they’re doing whether it’s IPv6 or anything else in the industry has to be to the benefit of the whole. So that’s very key and I also believe we need to continue collaborating with the different stakeholders and as Khaled mentioned the business model is not just 5G. The business model all together has changed a lot. We’re not talking the same technology and the same services as we did 10 years ago. It’s very different today. With Google Glasses coming into the play today and I heard that it’s become a you know reality people are using it today. With all these devices imagine you’re gonna have like 10-20 devices on you in the coming five years. So all these devices are going to be talking through the public network. There’s going to be needs for that. Are the telecom operators and the environment innovative enough to accompany all these services? So I think it’s a multi-stakeholderism. Everybody needs to come together and we need to look at the future.

CHAFIC CHAYA: Thank you. Thank you Adel. Hisham or I will leave Hisham to the end because he will take more than three minutes I know. Abdelrahman please go ahead. Or Musab, both of one of you.

ABDULRAHMAN ALMARZOOQI: Khaled Fattah, well said. Leadership I think is is a key and of course you need leadership but you need also the stakeholders to co-own the problem with you as well so that they are because at the end of the day they are the one who will actually make the difference and take the actions. For us I think yes it needs a bit of convincing. We played the argument of telecom is not telecom anymore. They are digital. There is a lot on stake. You have IOTs, you have cloud computing, AI, you have all these emerging technologies. They’re all need robust and strong infrastructure. You need to develop your infrastructure to cope for all these changes. I think that’s a mindset shift that need to happen when when we when you talk about ISPs or telcos. They are not just telcos. They need to move to be digital companies that that they have to have a bigger role and of course they they need a stronger and more advanced networks. One more comment I have when when Dr. Shafiq talked about leadership in the in our region is is usually from the public sector and the government and I had this couple of times People talk to me, because I’m also from the digital government, they tell me I wish, sometimes I hear these comments, I wish some of our companies build good user experience and applications, digital applications like the government of the UAE. I’ve heard this a couple of times, and we’ve seen this. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, when he comes on stage in 2013, he came up and said, I want all the government to be mobile. All the government authorities in the UAE have actually built mobile applications well ahead of the rest of the private sector in our country.

Agreement Points

Multi-stakeholder collaboration is key to successful IPv6 deployment

speakers

CHAFIC CHAYA

MUSAAB ALAMMAR

ABDULRAHMAN ALMARZOOQI

ADEL DARWICH

arguments

Multi-stakeholder collaboration key to success

Saudi Arabia achieved 65% IPv6 adoption through national strategy

UAE increased from 2% to 55% IPv6 adoption in 18 months

ITU supports capacity building and policy development for IPv6

summary

All speakers emphasized the importance of collaboration between various stakeholders, including governments, regulators, technical communities, and the private sector, in successfully deploying IPv6.

Challenges in IPv6 adoption

speakers

MUSAAB ALAMMAR

ABDULRAHMAN ALMARZOOQI

ADEL DARWICH

arguments

IPv6 not directly revenue-generating for operators

Gradual equipment upgrades needed to support IPv6

Business models changing, increasing demand for IPv6

summary

Speakers acknowledged the challenges in IPv6 adoption, including the lack of immediate financial benefits for operators and the need for gradual equipment upgrades. However, they also noted that changing business models are increasing the demand for IPv6.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the importance of collaboration and multi-stakeholder leadership over strict regulation in promoting IPv6 adoption and internet governance.

speakers

ABDULRAHMAN ALMARZOOQI

ADEL DARWICH

arguments

Collaboration preferred over regulation for IPv6 adoption

Multi-stakeholder leadership needed for internet governance

Unexpected Consensus

Government leadership in digital transformation

speakers

ABDULRAHMAN ALMARZOOQI

KHALED FATTAL

arguments

Government leadership important in Middle East region

Leadership needed to drive adoption without clear business case

explanation

Both speakers highlighted the importance of government leadership in driving digital transformation and IPv6 adoption, especially when there isn’t a clear business case. This consensus is unexpected as it challenges the common perception that the private sector usually leads in technological advancements.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement include the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration, the challenges and strategies for IPv6 adoption, and the role of leadership in driving technological changes.

Consensus level

There is a high level of consensus among the speakers on the key issues surrounding IPv6 deployment and internet governance. This consensus implies a shared understanding of the challenges and potential solutions, which could facilitate more effective implementation of IPv6 and related policies in the region.

Different Viewpoints

Approach to IPv6 adoption

speakers

MUSAAB ALAMMAR

ABDULRAHMAN ALMARZOOQI

arguments

Saudi Arabia achieved 65% IPv6 adoption through national strategy

Collaboration preferred over regulation for IPv6 adoption

summary

While both countries achieved high IPv6 adoption rates, Saudi Arabia implemented a national strategy, whereas UAE preferred collaboration over regulation.

Unexpected Differences

Role of government leadership

speakers

ABDULRAHMAN ALMARZOOQI

ADEL DARWICH

arguments

Government leadership important in Middle East region

Multi-stakeholder leadership needed for internet governance

explanation

While both speakers emphasized the importance of leadership, there was an unexpected difference in their views on the source of leadership. Almarzooqi highlighted the importance of government leadership, while Darwich advocated for multi-stakeholder leadership.

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement centered around the approach to IPv6 adoption, the role of government versus multi-stakeholder leadership, and the balance between regulation and collaboration.

difference_level

The level of disagreement among the speakers was relatively low, with most differences being in approach rather than fundamental goals. This suggests a general consensus on the importance of IPv6 adoption, but varied strategies based on local contexts and experiences. These differences in approach could lead to valuable exchanges of best practices and potentially more effective strategies for global IPv6 adoption.

Partial Agreements

All speakers agreed on the importance of IPv6 adoption, but differed in their approaches to addressing the lack of immediate financial benefits for operators. Saudi Arabia used a national strategy, UAE focused on collaboration, and ITU emphasized changing business models.

speakers

MUSAAB ALAMMAR

ABDULRAHMAN ALMARZOOQI

ADEL DARWICH

arguments

IPv6 not directly revenue-generating for operators

Collaboration preferred over regulation for IPv6 adoption

Business models changing, increasing demand for IPv6

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the importance of collaboration and multi-stakeholder leadership over strict regulation in promoting IPv6 adoption and internet governance.

speakers

ABDULRAHMAN ALMARZOOQI

ADEL DARWICH

arguments

Collaboration preferred over regulation for IPv6 adoption

Multi-stakeholder leadership needed for internet governance

Key Takeaways

Multi-stakeholder collaboration was crucial for successful IPv6 deployment in countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE

Government leadership and regulatory support played an important role in driving IPv6 adoption in the Middle East region

Gradual, planned transitions and capacity building were more effective than mandates for IPv6 implementation

The business case for IPv6 is not always clear, requiring leadership to drive adoption

There is a need to distinguish between regulating internet infrastructure and regulating applications/services built on top of it

Resolutions and Action Items

Continue collaboration between regulators, technical community, and private sector to further increase IPv6 adoption

Work on increasing IPv6 adoption above 70% in Saudi Arabia and UAE

ITU to continue supporting capacity building and policy development for IPv6 in other countries

Unresolved Issues

How to accelerate IPv6 adoption in countries lagging behind in the region

How to create compelling business cases for IPv6 adoption in some contexts

Balancing regulation vs. collaboration approaches for technology adoption

Suggested Compromises

Using ‘soft regulation’ and collaborative approaches rather than strict mandates for IPv6 adoption

Allowing gradual equipment upgrades to support IPv6 rather than forcing immediate overhauls

IPv6 ensures scalability, ensures connectivity and helps the ITU efforts in bridging the 2.7 unconnected till now to be connected.

speaker

Chafic Chaya

reason

This comment frames IPv6 not just as a technical upgrade, but as a critical tool for expanding internet access globally. It connects the technical discussion to broader development goals.

impact

It set the tone for discussing IPv6 in terms of its societal impact rather than just technical details. This framing was echoed by other speakers throughout the discussion.

There has been skepticism about the importance of IPv6, simply because the expected run out of IPv4, the crisis that people anticipated in the 90s, never really happened. And that’s a good thing, not necessarily a bad thing.

speaker

Hisham Ibrahim

reason

This comment addresses a common misconception about IPv6 and reframes the lack of crisis as a positive outcome rather than a reason for complacency.

impact

It shifted the discussion from crisis-driven urgency to a more nuanced view of IPv6 as an enabler of future innovation. This perspective was reinforced by later comments about the need for IPv6 in emerging technologies.

Our secret recipe is having like an IPv6 task force at the beginning, gathering all the operators and the experts all over the nation, having a periodic discussion about the importance and the challenges, providing them like a lab to do their experiments to make sure that they are doing something safe, not harming their network, and giving them the time needed to shift and change all of their equipment without reinvesting again on a network equipment that can still last for more years.

speaker

Musaab Alammar

reason

This comment provides concrete, practical insights into how to successfully implement IPv6 at a national level. It emphasizes collaboration and gradual transition rather than top-down mandates.

impact

It sparked a more detailed discussion of implementation strategies, with other speakers sharing their own experiences and approaches. This shifted the conversation from theoretical benefits to practical execution.

There was a discussion actually, internally, whether we should come up with a regulation or a policy to govern and mandate IPv6. And honestly, at the time, I was opposing any regulatory instrument toward that.

speaker

Abdulrahman Almarzooqi

reason

This comment challenges the assumption that regulation is always the best approach for technological adoption. It introduces the idea that collaboration can be more effective than mandates.

impact

It led to a deeper discussion about the role of regulators in technological transitions, with other speakers echoing the importance of collaboration over regulation. This represented a shift in thinking about how to drive IPv6 adoption.

So really, it’s becoming to a point that it’s dangerous, especially when you see the amount of meetings and discussions in governance forums that are talking about fixing the internet, while indeed what they’re talking about is platform issues.

speaker

Hisham Ibrahim

reason

This comment highlights a crucial distinction between internet infrastructure and applications built on top of it. It warns against conflating these issues in policy discussions.

impact

It broadened the discussion beyond IPv6 to touch on larger issues of internet governance and regulation. This comment prompted reflection on the proper scope and targets of internet-related policies.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by moving it from a technical focus on IPv6 to a broader conversation about implementation strategies, the role of different stakeholders, and the relationship between internet infrastructure and applications. The speakers collectively built a narrative that emphasized collaboration, gradual transition, and the importance of distinguishing between different layers of internet technology when considering policy and regulation. This nuanced approach provided a more comprehensive view of the challenges and opportunities surrounding IPv6 adoption.

What are the bottlenecks preventing IPv6 adoption from moving above 70% in Saudi Arabia and UAE?

speaker

Chafic Chaya

explanation

Understanding these bottlenecks is crucial for achieving even higher IPv6 adoption rates in leading countries.

How can other countries in the region catch up with the successful IPv6 deployment seen in Gulf countries?

speaker

Chafic Chaya

explanation

Identifying strategies for lagging countries to accelerate their IPv6 adoption is important for regional progress.

How can the business model for IPv6 adoption be improved to incentivize telecom operators and ISPs?

speaker

Abdulrahman Almarzooqi

explanation

Addressing the lack of direct revenue from IPv6 is crucial for encouraging wider adoption among service providers.

What strategies can be employed to ensure smooth transitions from IPv4 to IPv6 for countries just starting the process?

speaker

Musaab Alammar

explanation

Developing effective transition strategies is important for countries that are behind in IPv6 adoption.

How can the ITU ensure that all Arab countries in the region catch up with IPv6 adoption?

speaker

Chafic Chaya

explanation

Identifying ways to support lagging countries in the region is crucial for bridging the digital gap.

How can countries develop unique competitive advantages in the IPv6 and emerging technology space?

speaker

Khaled Fattal

explanation

Exploring ways for countries to innovate and lead in technology adoption is important for economic development.

How can the telecom industry adapt to support the increasing number of connected devices and emerging technologies like AI and AR?

speaker

Adel Darwich

explanation

Understanding how to prepare network infrastructure for future technologies is crucial for long-term planning.