Novotel Araneta Cubao, Quezon City | 7 November 2025, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Quezon City, Philippines – Following last year’s Stakeholders‘ Discussion forum on the status of the Philippines’ IPv6 adoption efforts, through the lens of the past and present and where we are headed, the DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI), together with the Asia Open RAN Academy (AORA), organized an IPv6 Conference that tackles the Governance of Technology Adoption this time.

The conference was bold in its statement—IPv6 is 10% technical, 90% political, aptly summing up DOST-ASTI’s more than two-decade IPv6 advocacy as the forerunner of IPv6 research in the country. According to DOST-ASTI Director Dr. Franz de Leon, “...the infrastructure, network, hardware, and software to deploy IPv6 nationwide are already in place.” The political will, therefore, is the more important driver for IPv6 enablement.

With digital transformation as one of President Marcos’ priorities, strengthening the country’s digital infrastructure is central to achieving the government’s broader digital transformation goals. IPv6 is key to this. The country’s push toward digital transformation requires a network infrastructure that is resilient, future-ready, and able to support emerging technologies. This is also what the conference underscores—the importance of sustaining a dynamic and cooperative telecommunications ecosystem. It is a crucial collective effort, as emphasized by DOST Program Secretary Renato Solidum, if the Philippines wishes not to fall behind in the competitive throes of digital structure with our regional neighbors.

Across the Asia-Pacific, efforts are made not as a top-down push, but as a regional partnership for a stronger, more inclusive Internet. The event itself was part of ASTI’s Open Network Testbed Laboratory for Internet Technologies Deployment and Experimentation (ON-IDLE) Project, funded by the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) Foundation through its 2023 ISIF Asia IPv6 grant. Its Head of Stakeholder Relations, Mr. Aftab Siddiqui, expressed his hope to visit an only-IPv6 Philippines in the future. “It can be done,” he states with conviction, “It has been done in other parts of the world—why can’t we do it here?”

Working closely with the APNIC Foundation is the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC). Its Director General, Jia Rong Low, encourages the view of policy as a guide for behavior instead of a means for control. According to him, “Given the correlation between growth, innovation, and IPv6, perhaps we can think about having policies that continue to promote and facilitate growth and innovation on the internet.” An example of this is the directive of DICT Program Secretary Henry Aguda upon his assumption of office, as narrated by DICT Assistant Secretary June Vincent Manuel Gaudan, to have “All DICT-managed networks, systems, and government digital platforms transition to comply with the IPv6 standards… within the year.”

All in all, the conference served as a convergence point for related efforts that promote wider connectivity and open technology adoption. Complementing these efforts is the recently enacted Konektadong Pinoy Act, a legislative measure aimed at improving data transmission and expanding connectivity through a more open, accessible, and competitive framework. An experts’ panel examined the impact of the Konektadong Pinoy Act on accelerating IPv6 adoption and deployment of other emerging technologies. The question ‘What will the Konektadong Pinoy Act mean for accelerating IPv6 and emerging technologies?’ was left on the table, analyzed and dissected by panelists Grace Mirandilla-Santos, Dr. Alvin Marcelo, Denis Villorente, Joel Dabao, and Vincent Atienza.

In the end, legislation is concluded to be more than a policy—it is an opportunity to embed openness, competition, and inclusivity into the connectivity landscape. The discussion reflected a consensus: governance does not end with the passing of a law or drafting of a policy—it is about creating an ecosystem where adoption becomes inevitable.

The Open Mic Discussion reinforced the same message. Participants from across the academe, government, and industry expressed a shared sense of urgency covering many issues—from the deployment logistics to the fundamental step of bringing IPv6 out of the DOST bubble and into the embrace of the masses, making Agham na ramdam a lived reality.

The Conference is part of DOST-ASTI’s Open Network Testbed Laboratory for Internet Technologies Deployment and Experimentation (ON-IDLE) Project, which is funded by a grant from the APNIC Foundation, through the ISIF Asia.

With support from long-standing partners from the local internet community like the Philippine Network Operators Group (PhNOG), Internet Society - Philippine Chapter, and internet advocacy groups, the event served as a call-to-action to work together to build a resilient, inclusive, and competitive digital infrastructure for the country.

About ON-IDLE

The project, with the Asia Open RAN Academy (AORA) as cooperating partner, leverages PREGINET’s proven capability and experience in IPv6 over a two-decade period, as well as the partnerships and relationships we have built with academe, telecommunication companies, network operators and service providers, Internet development advocates, and training institutions.

ON-IDLE activities are geared towards IPv6 capacity building, advocacy and deployment, strengthening research on advanced network technologies.