Virginia Governor Tim Kaine cut the ceremonial ribbon at the opening of America's first Ipv6 training center, and demonstrated the technology at the new state-of-the-art facility in Herndon. The training center will educate and prepare government agencies, corporations and individuals for the impact IPv6 will have on organizations, technology, customers and the bottom line.

"Virginia is the national epicenter of the next generation Internet," said Kaine. "I am pleased that Command Information is leading the way in helping businesses and government agencies across the Commonwealth and the nation realize the tremendous benefits IPv6 brings to our citizens and our economy."

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), was created to upgrade the current 35 year old system IPv4, which was developed in the 1970's. IPv6, with its ability to provide 3.4 trillion trillion trillion IP addresses, will allow for mobile devices, TVs and videogame systems to be directly connected to the global Internet. China, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea have a five-year head start on the U.S. with IPv6, but the federal government has mandated its own transition to IPv6 by 2008, which is well underway.

Command Information designed the center to run entirely on the next generation Internet with IPv6-capable devices and networks powering the facility. The center is equipped with systems running in native IPv6 mode including Microsoft Vista PCs and native IPv6 connectivity to dozens of sites around the country.

At a time when IPv6 is just beginning to be implemented in the United States, it is difficult for most people to conceptualize its real world applications. Many organizations are already experimenting with IPv6 and some have already integrated its technological benefits into their operations. For example, IPv6 improves the military's "spoke & wheel" communication system in the field by allowing soldiers, sailors and airmen to be connected to each other directly and know what their counterparts are doing even if headquarters is offline. Home and warehouse automation sensors are being deployed without the need for added expensive network and security operations. IPv6 is already implemented around the world and is being integrated into the United States starting with the federal government agencies.

KW