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Arising from a one-day conference, participants at the 2019 Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum on the Internet Governance for Development (IG4D) and Nigeria IPv6 Roundtable have called on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government to initiate an executive order to fast-track migration of digital networks in Nigeria to IPv6.
A communiqué from the forum, organized by DigitalSENSE Africa Media, in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), identified the proposed executive order as a matter of urgency.
Participants, under the chairmanship of former Institute of Software Practitiones of Nigeria (ISPON) chief, Chris Uwaje, and endorsed by the executive director, operations, DigitalSENSE Africa Media, Mrs. Nkem Nweke, in the communiqué, noted that the executive order, if done immediately with a timeline of 18 months, would be a booster to the migration from IPv4 to IPv6.
“There should be an executive order for all digital networks in Nigeria to migrate from IPv4 to IPv6 within 18 months,” part of the communiqué read.
They also called for immediate revision of the National Information and Communications Technology policies to pave the way for the establishment of a National Digital Strategy for the country.
Government, the participants argued, should ensure that all new IT equipment supplied to them are IPv6-compliant and government should set a target date for MDAs to have IPv6-compliant networks, outside the national deadline.
“There should be IPv6 awareness and capacity building, by organising seminars and trainings, possibly incorporating IPv6 into university curriculum,” the communiqué also read.
With government playing an active role in the growth and development of ICT in Nigeria, it would engender an enabling environment for stakeholders, while on the other hand students, youth and women, and all users of the Internet were encouraged to make judicious use of the Internet bearing in mind the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) existing in the European Union.
Additionally, participants demanded that government should make haste to sign into law the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill, which seeks equal freedom of expression online
