A new world of more secure, more mobile and more user-friendly Internet features awaits us.

These features may include the ability to track hackers and cyber-terrorists to their own computers, tiers of Internet speeds for different uses, and mobile phones with instant access to any part of the globe.

And (could it be?) an end to junk mail.

The next generation of global communication “is going to blow everyone away,” said Roger Carlsen, head of the educational technology program at Wright State University.

Technological upgrade needed

But to get there in an orderly fashion will require a technical leap to a new system of coding and handling the soaring number of electronic devices connected to the web — a move that, so far, few businesses and organizations have been willing to make, Internet experts say.

Internet Protocol, or IP, is the system that assigns a unique numerical address to every device that connects to the Internet, from computers to smart phones and game consoles. It’s how digital devices are able to identify and “talk to” each other.

But a world hungry for more information has already gobbled up nearly all the 4.3 billion IP addresses created by the founders of the Internet, a system called IPv4.

Estimates on how soon addresses will be depleted vary from six months to two years. Cisco, the world’s largest manufacturer of networking equipment, puts the date in July 2011.

Just a few tweaks?

Most experts doubt we’re headed for a calamity where new computers and smart phones aren’t able to connect to the Internet.

There are ways of tweaking the current system for more access, including the reassignment of unused IP addresses and a hub system that allows a single computer to access the Internet for other networked devices.

“We could probably hobble along that way for the next five to 10 years,” said Bryan Fite, a Dayton-based digital security consultant and the organizer of DayCon, the region’s annual hackers convention.

IPv6 underused

But to find a long-term remedy for the shortage, and to pave the way for the next generation of Internet capabilities, will require a leap to a more costly and complicated system of addresses called IPv6.

Need an IP address? IPv6 will generate about 2 billion addresses for each human on earth.

IPv6 also will enable the Internet to more easily “prioritize” packets of information, speeding ahead those packets needed to enhance real-time and interactive communications.

So far, only a very small percentage of businesses and organizations have switched to the new system.

In a 2008 survey, Google found that just 1 percent of the world’s Web users had plugged into IPv6.

Other challenges

The challenge is not just the cost of new equipment and software to handle IPv6, but retraining technicians to operate and maintain a far more complicated system.

“Right now there are probably only 25 people in the world who really understand IPv6,” Fite said.

The federal government has been pushing the switch to the new system by requiring IPv6-compatible equipment from all of its vendors, including those supplying the Department of Defense.

The big players such as Apple, Microsoft, AOL and Time Warner already have complied.

Modern Catch-22

Still, smaller organizations, including the University of Dayton, are hesitant to jump in until the use of IPv6 becomes more widespread.

Caught in a technological Catch-22, they say they can’t justify the time and money needed to invest in the new system if no one else is using it.

“It doesn’t do much good to be on the leading edge with IPv6 if you’re communicating with IPv4 equipment,” said Bill Halter, UD’s IT risk management officer.

“Right now, we’re strategizing on (the switch) — how best to go about it,” Halter said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2437 or jdebrosse@DaytonDailyNews.com.