​The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) announced a 50% increase in IPv6 adoption compared to 2020 placing the Kingdom among the top ten countries in the world and the first in the Middle East for the adoption of the most modern version of the internet protocol.

Internet protocols provide an identification for devices connected to the network to route traffic across the Internet. IPv6 is the most recent version of internet protocol, which has more advanced and better features than the earlier version IPv4.

Through a winning strategy, CITC has been raising awareness on the importance of IPv6 and encouraging major government and private sector players in Saudi Arabia to adopt the newest protocol version. The commission formed the “IPv6 Taskforce”, including public and private sector members, which provides an opportunity for information exchange, unifies efforts to achieve common goals, and supports the adoption of IPv6 in the Kingdom.

In addition, CITC organized workshops and training programs, hosted by local and international experts in IPv6. The commission also published an IPv6 guideline including practical information on how to activate the new version of internet protocol in the Kingdom.

Mohammed Al-Tamimi, governor of CITC, expressed his delight with the announcement, “We are proud of the growth in the percentage of IPv6 users in the Kingdom, following concerted efforts by CITC to raise awareness and encourage adoption of this latest protocol. We had great cooperation from operators and other government and private sector organizations and the results were that by 50% increase in IPv6 adoption compared to 2020 ), placing KSA in the top ten countries in the world and first among the Middle East. We are extremely proud of this achievement and will continue to work hard to turn Saudi Arabia into a digital society.”​