The Internet is changing. The current network protocol, Internet Protocol, version 4 (IPv4), has reached the end of its life, and to maintain connectivity with its constituents the United States (U.S.) Federal Government must provide leadership on the process of evolving to the next Internet Protocol, version 6 (IPv6). The current Federal efforts were established to ensure the Federal Government’s business continuity as the legacy Internet based on IPv4 can no longer expand to meet demand.

On February 3rd 2011, the last available IPv4 addresses were released regionally for consumption. The Asia Pacific region exhausted its supply in April 2011, and the European and North American region’s supplies are projected to follow shortly.

However, there is more to the IPv6 transition than achieving the basic objective of providing additional addresses. This document is the latest version of the IPv6 Roadmap, and is the key guidance document for supporting Federal agencies in their achievement of the 2012 and 2014 objectives, as well as the strategic vision for beyond 2014.