The “ITU Technical Assistance to Montenegro" is an important part of the implementation of the ITU Regional Initiative for Europe on “broadband infrastructure, broadcasting and spectrum management" which, among other, seeks to assist countries in enhancing telecommunication
infrastructure, including support for quality of-service monitoring systems, national IXP deployment and transition from IPv4 to IPv6. This work is also in line with ITU Resolution 180 (Rev. Dubai, 2018), “Facilitating the transition from IPv4 to IPv6" which noted the importance of providing technical assistance from experts in IPv4 and IPv6 deployment to Member States.
Montenegro is among the countries most hit by Covid-19 in the region in 2020 and digitalization is seen by the Government of Montenegro, as one of the strategic solutions helping the country to recover economic loss. Therefore, building the solid foundation of the future digital infrastructure based on iPv6 is one of the prerequisites for accelerated and sustainable digital transformation. The Government of Montenegro and the Regulatory Authority have requested the ITU for assistance in this respect. So far, support of the ITU has covered three elements as follows:
- development of a National Workshop for Montenegro on IPv6 strategies, policies and implementation.
- the organisation of a “training of experts" equipping more than 20 professionals in Montenegro on the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 in collaboration with MUST university.
- the elaboration of a ITU Technical Assistance paper detailing the building blocks for future actions needed at the country level including requirements for the elaboration of the IPv6 laboratory, including cost estimations and use cases.
To grant sustainability of this process, in fact, the creation of an IPv6 Laboratory at the country level providing the foundation for educational programmes in tertiary education and re-skilling and upskilling trainings is of utmost importance. ITU assistance on this front is under way and expected to be completed in Q4 2021..
