The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today urged businesses to prepare for the transition to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), an updated Internet addressing system, with the release of a new "IPv6 Readiness Tool."

All devices that connect to the Internet, such as computers, smartphones, and smart grid technologies, require an Internet Protocol (IP) address.  IPv6 is designed to expand the number of IP addresses available because the current number of Internet Protocol version four (IPv4) addresses will eventually exhaust. While industry action and planning are needed, consumers do not need to take action to prepare for the IPv6 transition.

The new tool, a comprehensive checklist for businesses preparing to deploy and adopt IPv6, was developed by experts from industry and the Internet technical community in response to a call from White House Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra at an IPv6 workshop hosted by NTIA last September. 

"The IPv6 transition will pave the way for a next-generation Internet," said White House CTO Aneesh Chopra. "I urge all U.S. businesses that depend on the Internet to make the IPv6 transition a priority by starting the planning process now."

The planning tool outlines IPv6 preparedness issues, such as the technical needs associated with deployment. The purpose of the tool is to help business leaders identify readiness issues and to bring these issues to the attention of senior corporate management to ensure successful IPv6 deployment and accelerated innovation.

"The development of this tool demonstrates the value of bringing together stakeholders to address today's pressing Internet issues," said Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling. "The IPv6 transition is critical to the continued growth of the Internet, an engine for facilitating commerce and economic growth. We will continue to highlight the importance of this issue and encourage companies to share best practices to further IPv6 uptake."

The IPv6 readiness tool and further IPv6 resources can be found here.

The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is holding the Cloud Computing Forum and Workshop III on April 7-8 at its Gaithersburg, Md., campus.  At this morning's keynote, the theme was “A Global View of Cloud Computing” and it featured a discussion between U.S. Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra and Alan Marcus, the Senior Director, Head of IT and Telecommunications Industries, World Economic Forum USA.

Kundra has called upon NIST to help accelerate the federal government’s adoption of secure cloud computing practices by leading efforts to develop standards and guidelines in collaboration with standards bodies, the private sector, other government agencies and other stakeholders.

Working groups that were formed during the NIST Cloud Computing Forum & Workshop II in November 2010 will provide progress reports on a range of cloud computing issues throughout the meeting.

NIST scientists are demonstrating Koala, a simulator of a cloud service model. They are using modeling and analysis methods developed to study complex systems to understand the behavior of a cloud during both normal and highly stressed operations. A panel on Friday, April 8, “Cloud Innovation: Math and Science,” will explore innovative uses of the cloud and how it can be leveraged in the scientific process.

Learn more about NIST’s cloud computing initiative.

The Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau today released new data on Native Hawaiian- and Other Pacific Islander-owned businesses from the 2007 Survey of Business Owners. The number of Native Hawaiian- and Other Pacific Islander-owned businesses in the United States increased 31.1 percent between 2002 and 2007 to 37,957 businesses. These firms generated $6.5 billion in receipts in 2007, a 51.6 percent increase from 2002. This compares to a 17.9-percent increase in the total number of U.S. businesses between 2002 and 2007 and a rise in total business receipts of 32.9 percent.

The Survey of Business Owners: Native Hawaiian- and Other Pacific Islander-Owned Businesses: 2007 provides data on the number and percent of Native Hawaiian- and Other Pacific Islander-owned businesses, sales and receipts at the national, state and local levels, as well as other detailed information. The survey is conducted every five years as part of the economic census. The 2007 survey collected data from a sample of more than 2.3 million businesses.

“This important look at the economic activity of Native Hawaiian- and Other Pacific Islander-owned businesses is the only comprehensive and regularly collected data on this group,” said Tom Mesenbourg, deputy director of the U.S. Census Bureau. “These data confirm that businesses owned by Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders continue to grow both in number and in sales at rates that are faster than national rates for all businesses.”

States with the highest number of Native Hawaiian- and Other Pacific Islander-owned businesses were Hawaii, with 11,383 firms (30.0 percent of all Native Hawaiian- and Pacific Islander-owned businesses nationwide), and California, with 9,255 firms (24.4 percent of all Native Hawaiian- and Pacific Islander-owned businesses nationwide).

For more results from the 2007 Survey of Business Owners, visit http://www.census.gov/econ/sbo/.

El Paso now has one of the lowest crime rates among big American cities.

Posted by Secretary Janet Napolitano and Secretary Gary Locke

This op-ed appeared in The Wall Street Journal on April 4, 2011

Over the last few weeks, mayors, sheriffs, business leaders and citizens have joined together with a simple but powerful message: America's Southwest border communities are open for business. This is a message the American people need to hear.

Unfortunately, there is a widespread misperception that the Southwest is wracked by violence spilling over from Mexico's ongoing drug war. The facts tell a different story. Some of America's safest communities are in the Southwest border region, with crime rates in cities along the border staying steady or dropping over the past decade. For example, the crime rate in Tucson, Ariz., fell 15% between 2008 and 2009 and 21% in Brownsville, Texas, over the same period.

In the last two years, the Obama administration has made historic deployments of manpower, technology and infrastructure to help secure our Southwest border. These efforts—along with the heroic work of our Border Patrol agents—are paying off.

Between fiscal years 2009 and 2010, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized 81% more currency, 25% more drugs, and 47% more weapons along the Southwest border than they did between fiscal years 2007 and 2008. Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal aliens—the best indicator of illegal immigration—have dropped by 36% over the past two years to less than a third of its all-time high.