The fourth annual Internet Governance Forum kicks off in Egypt today, with registry group the Number Resource Organization (NRO) using the event to highlight the importance of fair access to internet number resources across all regions, and the need for the move to IPv6.

The NRO, which is comprised of the world's five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs), will argue that responsible management of IP addresses is vital to the future success of the internet.

The organisation pointed out that 90 per cent of the current IPv4 addresses have already been allocated, making the migration to the new protocol a matter of urgency.

"The RIRs will each receive one of the last five blocks of IPv4 addresses from IANA at the same time," said Raúl Echeberría, executive director of the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry.

"Because the RIRs that serve the least developed regions (LACNIC and AfriNIC) allocate addresses at a slower rate, it is likely that we will continue to allocate IPv4 addresses after the other RIRs have run out. This will allow these developing regions some critical extra time to deploy IPv6 efficiently and effectively.

"Regardless of the exact date of IPv4 address exhaustion, the NRO, and the RIR system that it represents, will ensure that IPv6 addresses are distributed responsibly and fairly."