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The Role of the IRTF Chair
draft-iab-irtf-chair-description-00

The information below is for an old version of the document.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 7827.
Author Lars Eggert
Last updated 2016-01-27 (Latest revision 2016-01-14)
Replaces draft-eggert-irtf-chair-description
RFC stream Internet Architecture Board (IAB)
Formats
Stream IAB state (None)
Consensus boilerplate Unknown
IAB shepherd (None)
draft-iab-irtf-chair-description-00
Internet Architecture Board (IAB)                              L. Eggert
Internet-Draft                                                    NetApp
Intended status: Informational                          January 14, 2016
Expires: July 17, 2016

                       The Role of the IRTF Chair
                  draft-iab-irtf-chair-description-00

Abstract

   This document briefly describes the role of the Chair of the Internet
   Research Task Force (IRTF), discusses its duties and outlines the
   skill set a candidate for the role should ideally have.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
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   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on July 17, 2016.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2016 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Duties  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     2.1.  Strategic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     2.2.  Administrative  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     2.3.  IAB Membership  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   3.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   4.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   5.  Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   6.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8

1.  Introduction

   The Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) focuses on longer term
   research issues related to the Internet while the sister
   organization, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), focuses on
   the shorter term issues of engineering and standards making.

   The IRTF consists of a number of topical and long-term Research
   Groups (RGs).  These groups work on issues related to Internet
   protocols, applications, architecture and technology.  RGs have the
   stable long term membership which is needed to promote the
   development of research collaboration and teamwork in exploring
   research issues.  Individual contributors participate in the IRTF,
   rather than representatives of organizations.

   [RFC2014] details the procedures by which RGs operate.  [RFC4440]
   discusses a view from the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) on the
   IRTF and its relationship to the IETF.  The RFC Editor publishes
   documents from the IRTF and its RGs on the IRTF Stream [RFC5743].

   The IRTF Chair manages the IRTF in consultation with the Internet
   Research Steering Group (IRSG).  The IRSG membership includes the
   IRTF Chair, the chairs of the various RGs and other individuals
   ("members at large") from the research community selected by the IRTF
   Chair.

2.  Duties

   This section discusses the various duties of the IRTF chair and
   outlines the skill set a candidate for the role should ideally have.

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2.1.  Strategic

   Arguably the most important part of the duties of the IRTF Chair is
   strategic, and concern shaping of the purpose and scope of the IRTF,
   by making decisions about which RGs to charter, which RGs to
   terminate, and which other activities or efforts the IRTF should
   organize or affiliate itself with in order to further its charter and
   increase the interaction and collaboration between network research,
   engineering, operations and standardization.

   For some new RGs, the research and engineering community brings a
   proposal to the IRTF Chair for discussion.  However, it is common for
   the IRTF Chair to identify a new area of research that is considered
   of importance to the Internet, actively motivate people in the
   research and engineering community to consider the formation of an
   RG, and help them navigate the process for doing so.

   In order to be able to fulfill this duty, it is important for the
   IRTF Chair to be involved in both the academic research community as
   well as engineering or operational communities.  Without a
   demonstrated history of participation in these often somewhat
   isolated communities it will be very difficult to identify areas of
   academic research that are suitable for being brought into the IRTF.
   A good network of contacts in these communities will be very helpful
   in identifying and motivating potential RG chairs and participants.

   Involvement in the academic research community can be demonstrated
   through a publication record, membership in conference program and
   organizational committees, participation in publicly funded
   collaborative research projects, among others.

   In addition to chartering new RGs, it is equally important for the
   IRTF to end RGs that have run out of energy, are focused on issues no
   longer considered important for the Internet, or are otherwise not
   operating well.  Careful communication and good people skills are
   essential in order to explain the reasons for concluding an RG.  The
   same skill set is also useful when explaining to proponents of a new
   RG why their request is being denied.

   The Applied Networking Research Prize (ANRP) is a joint award of the
   Internet Society (ISOC) and an example of a strategic initiative that
   since its inception in 2011 now turned into more of an administrative
   duty.  The IRTF Chair and an ISOC representative pick and chair the
   ANRP selection committee, which advertises the ANRP, encourages
   community nominations for the prizes, and reviews nominations and
   selects prize winners.  The IRTF Chair and the ISOC representative
   also mentor the ANRP winners, who are often IETF newcomers, and

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   introduce them to other attendees who may have an interest in their
   work.

   Chairmanship of the ANRP selection committee also relies on strong
   ties to the academic research community, to identify suitable
   selection committee members and to encourage nominations for suitable
   work that is published in a given year.  The selection committee
   operates similar to a program committee for an academic conference
   (more specifically, it performs a function similar to the selection
   of a best paper award).  It is therefore useful if the IRTF Chair has
   firsthand experience serving on program committees, and ideally,
   chairing them.

2.2.  Administrative

   A good fraction of the duties of the IRTF Chair are administrative.
   Some of them may be permanently or temporarily delegated to other
   IRSG members, but they ultimately always remain the IRTF Chair's
   responsibility.

   Some of those related to publishing documents on the IRTF RFC Stream,
   such as ensuring sufficient review, so that documents published are
   of good quality, scheduling the required Internet Engineering
   Steering Group (IESG) review [RFC5742], and following up with the
   IESG, IANA and the RFC Editor during and after the publication
   process.

   Other administrative duties include reviewing and approving requests
   from the RGs for time slots during IETF meetings or interim meetings
   elsewhere, ensuring that meeting materials are submitted on schedule,
   maintaining the IRTF web site, and - in cooperation with the RG
   chairs - ensuring that the IETF datatracker correctly reflects the
   status of the various IRTF-related documents.

   The IRTF Chair appoints, replaces and manages the RG chairs and the
   IRSG, and follows the research work of the chartered and proposed RGs
   to a degree that is sufficient to let them develop an understanding
   on whether they are generally operating well.

   The IRTF Chair also defines the operational procedures for the IRTF
   (in the boundaries defined by [RFC2014]) and the IRSG.  At the
   moment, these procedures are captured as a set of wiki pages
   [IRTF-WIKI] and it is the duty of the IRTF Chair to refine and update
   these descriptions as procedures evolve.  When process questions on
   the IRSG or in an RG arise (e.g., on IPR, liaison statements,
   consensus procedures, copyright, plagiarism, document publication,
   etc.), the IRTF Chair is frequently consulted and needs to have
   sufficient familiarity in the area to provide a definitive answer, or

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   at least be able to identify an external party for further
   consultation.

   The IRSG tries to schedule a working dinner during each IETF meeting,
   and the IRTF Chair is responsible for organizing the agenda and a
   suitable venue.

   The IRTF Chair provides a status report on the IRTF to the IAB on a
   monthly basis, and also writes a regular column for the IETF Journal
   [IETF-JOURNAL] on recent IRTF-related events.

   During each IETF meeting, the IRTF Chair is responsible for
   organizing and chairing the "IRTF Open Meeting", during which topics
   related to the IRTF are being presented and discussed.  This includes
   a report by the IRTF Chair on the status of the IRTF and its RGs (an
   abbreviated version of this report is also usually given during the
   IETF Technical Plenary) as well as other presentations from RGs, ANRP
   prize winners, individuals wishing to propose new RGS, or others.

   These administrative duties are very similar to part of the duties of
   an Area Director (AD) in the IETF and require the same set of
   organizational and communication skills [IESG-EXP].  They also
   require a regular time commitment throughout the year, the ability to
   attend most of the IETF meetings in person, as well as some other
   related travel.

   The IRTF Chair regularly interacts with the ADs and the IESG for
   document reviews, IETF meeting agenda planning, and often provides
   input on various IETF efforts and topics.  The IRTF Chair also
   regularly interacts with the IETF Administrative Oversight Committee
   (IAOC) and the IETF Secretariat for meeting planning, budgeting and
   other organizational purposes.  In addition, the IRTF Chair also
   interacts with the Tools Team to provide input on how IETF tools can
   best support the operation of the IRTF.  Finally, the IRTF Chair is
   the owner of the IRTF RFC Stream and is hence part of the group that
   reviews the RFC Editor's performance and operation; and engages with
   the Independent Stream Editor in cases where submissions on that RFC
   Stream have relationships to the IRTF.  A good understanding of the
   purpose and procedures of these different bodies and a good working
   relationship with the individuals serving on them is important.

2.3.  IAB Membership

   The IRTF Chair serves as an "ex officio" member of the IAB [RFC2850],
   and is expected to participate in IAB discussions and activities
   alongside the NomCom-appointed IAB members.

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   This duty benefits from expertise that is similar to those of full
   IAB members [IAB-EXP], and requires a similar time and travel
   commitment, for example, to attend IAB retreats, relevant IAB
   workshops as well as other meetings the IAB is participating in or
   organizing.  Per [IAB-EXP], "it is desirable for IAB members to have
   technical leadership experience, operational management backgrounds,
   research or academic backgrounds, implementation experience, and
   experience in other bodies involved in Internet governance."

   The IRTF Chair frequently provides input to "birds-of-a-feather"
   (BoF) sessions, either as an ex officio IAB member (i.e., as a "BoF
   shepherd") or because it may be unclear whether a proposed effort
   should be started as an IETF WG or an IRTF RG.

3.  Security Considerations

   This document raises no security considerations.

4.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no IANA considerations.

5.  Acknowledgments

   Robert Sparks, Brian Trammell, Stephen Farrell, Niels ten Oever, Dirk
   Kutscher, Aaron Falk, Jana Iyengar and Mat Ford provided input to
   this document.

   Lars Eggert has received funding from the European Union's Horizon
   2020 research and innovation program 2014-2018 under grant agreement
   No. 644866 ("SSICLOPS").  This document reflects only the authors'
   views and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that
   may be made of the information it contains.

   This document is being prepared in a Github repository [REPO] using
   Martin Thomson's I-D template [ID-TEMPLATE] and Carsten Bormann's
   [KRAMDOWN-RFC2629].

6.  Informative References

   [IAB-EXP]  NomCom 2015, "Desired Expertise: Member of the Internet
              Architecture Board", 2015,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/nomcom/2015/
              requirements/#iab-member>.

   [ID-TEMPLATE]
              Thomson, M., "martinthomson/i-d-template", n.d.,
              <https://github.com/martinthomson/i-d-template>.

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   [IESG-EXP]
              NomCom 2015, "Generic IESG Member Expertise", 2015,
              <http://trac.tools.ietf.org/group/iesg/trac/wiki/
              GenericExpertise>.

   [IETF-JOURNAL]
              Internet Society, "The IETF Journal", n.d.,
              <http://www.internetsociety.org/publications/
              ietf-journal>.

   [IRTF-WIKI]
              Internet Research Task Force, "IRTF Wiki", n.d.,
              <http://trac.tools.ietf.org/group/irtf/trac/wiki>.

   [KRAMDOWN-RFC2629]
              Bormann, C., "cabo/kramdown-rfc2629", n.d.,
              <https://github.com/cabo/kramdown-rfc2629>.

   [REPO]     Eggert, L., "larseggert/irtf-chair-description", n.d.,
              <https://github.com/larseggert/irtf-chair-description>.

   [RFC2014]  Weinrib, A. and J. Postel, "IRTF Research Group Guidelines
              and Procedures", BCP 8, RFC 2014, DOI 10.17487/RFC2014,
              October 1996, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2014>.

   [RFC2850]  Internet Architecture Board and B. Carpenter, Ed.,
              "Charter of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB)",
              BCP 39, RFC 2850, DOI 10.17487/RFC2850, May 2000,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2850>.

   [RFC4440]  Floyd, S., Ed., Paxson, V., Ed., Falk, A., Ed., and IAB,
              "IAB Thoughts on the Role of the Internet Research Task
              Force (IRTF)", RFC 4440, DOI 10.17487/RFC4440, March 2006,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4440>.

   [RFC5742]  Alvestrand, H. and R. Housley, "IESG Procedures for
              Handling of Independent and IRTF Stream Submissions",
              BCP 92, RFC 5742, DOI 10.17487/RFC5742, December 2009,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5742>.

   [RFC5743]  Falk, A., "Definition of an Internet Research Task Force
              (IRTF) Document Stream", RFC 5743, DOI 10.17487/RFC5743,
              December 2009, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5743>.

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Author's Address

   Lars Eggert
   NetApp
   Sonnenallee 1
   Kirchheim bei Muenchen  85551
   Germany

   Phone: +49 151 120 55791
   Email: lars@netapp.com

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