Network Working Group L. Daigle
Internet-Draft Editor
Expires: May 26, 2004 Internet Architecture Board
IAB
November 26, 2003
IAB Processes for management of liaison relationships
draft-iab-liaison-mgt-00
Status of this Memo
This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that
other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-
Drafts.
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt.
The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.
This Internet-Draft will expire on May 26, 2004.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This document discusses the procedures the IAB uses to select
organizations to form and maintain liaison relationships with. It
further discusses the expectations that the IAB has of such
organizations and of the people assigned to manage those
relationships.
Daigle & Internet Architecture Board Expires May 26, 2004 [Page 1]
Internet-Draft IAB Liaison Management November 2003
Table of Contents
1. Liaison Relationships and Personnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Aspects of Liaisons and Liaison Management . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1 Liaison Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Liaison Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.3 Liaison Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3. Summary of IETF Liaison Role Expectations . . . . . . . . . . 6
4. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Daigle & Internet Architecture Board Expires May 26, 2004 [Page 2]
Internet-Draft IAB Liaison Management November 2003
1. Liaison Relationships and Personnel
The IETF, as an organization, has the need to engage in joint
endeavors with various other formal organizations. For example, as
the IETF is one of many Standards Development Organizations, or SDOs.
Increasingly, SDOs find it necessary to communicate and coordinate
their activities involving Internet-related technologies, to avoid
overlaps and to manage interactions between their groups. They do
this in many ways: they send people to each other's meetings, they
exchange email and more formal notes call "liaison statements", and
they hold formal meetings. These relationships are generically
referred to as liaison relationships. Often, a person is designated
to manage a "liaison relationship"; that person is generally called
the "IETF liaison" to that organization.
The IETF has chartered the Internet Architecture Board to manage
liaison relationships. In its charter [2], the IAB states that
The IAB acts as representative of the interests of the IETF and
the Internet Society in technical liaison relationships with other
organizations concerned with standards and other technical and
organizational issues relevant to the world-wide Internet.
Liaisons are kept as informal as possible and must be of
demonstrable value in improving the quality of IETF
specifications. Individual members of the IETF are appointed as
liaisons to other organizations by the IAB or IESG as appropriate.
Daigle & Internet Architecture Board Expires May 26, 2004 [Page 3]
Internet-Draft IAB Liaison Management November 2003
2. Aspects of Liaisons and Liaison Management
2.1 Liaison Relationships
A liaison relationship is set up when it is mutually agreeable and
needed, in the view of the other organization, the IAB, and the IETF
participants conducting the work. There is no set process or form
for this; the IETF participants and the peer organization approach
the IAB, and after discussion come to an agreement to form the
relationship.
The IAB's expectation in setting up the relationship is that there
will be a mutual exchange of views, resulting in documents developed
in both organizations. If the peer organization wants the IETF to
adopt a document, someone from that organization may propose and
Internet-Draft following the usual procedures, or an IETF participant
may do so. Such work will be accomplished in an IETF working group
in the usual manner, chartered and managed by the IESG according to
IETF procedures [1]. The peer organization often has different
organizational structure and different procedures than the IETF,
which will require some flexibility on the part of both organizations
to accommodate. The IAB expects that the peer organization will use
the relationship carefully, allowing time for the processes it
requests to occur and not making unreasonable demands.
2.2 Liaison Manager
As described above, most work on mutually interesting topics will be
carried out in the usual way within the IETF and the peer
organization. Therefore, most communications will be informal in
nature (e.g., working group, mailing list discussions, etc).
From time to time, it may be important for the peer organization to
send a more formal communication, making a request or declaring an
official position.To ensure that communications are smooth and the
results proper, the IAB requests that any such formal email or
liaison statement to an IETF organization, the following be copied:
statements@ietf.org, the appropriate working group, the IAB-
designated liaison manager, and the relevant area directors. The
email will generally be addressed to the area director, if the matter
is larger than a single working group, or the working group chair.
The function of the liaison manager, or "liaison", is to ensure that
communication is maintained, is productive, and is timely. He or she
may use any businesslike approach to that necessary, from private
communications to public communications, and bringing in other
parties as needed. If a communication from a peer organization is
addressed to an inappropriate party, such as being sent to the
Daigle & Internet Architecture Board Expires May 26, 2004 [Page 4]
Internet-Draft IAB Liaison Management November 2003
working group but not copying the AD or being sent to the wrong
working group, the liaison manager should redirect or otherwise
augment the communication.
Since the IAB is ultimately responsible for liaison relationships,
anyone who has a problem with one (whether an IETF participant or a
person from the peer organization) should first consult the IAB's
designated liaison relationship manager, and if that does not result
in a satisfactory outcome, the IAB itself.
2.3 Liaison Communications
Communications between organizationns use a variety of formal and
informal channels. The stated preference of the IETF, which is
largely an informal organization, is to use informal channels, as
these have historically worked well to expedite matters. In some
cases, however, more formal communications are appropriate. In such
cases, the established procedures of many organizations use a form
known as a "liaison statement". Procedures for sending, managing,
and responding to liaison statements are discussed in draft-baker-
liaisons.
Daigle & Internet Architecture Board Expires May 26, 2004 [Page 5]
Internet-Draft IAB Liaison Management November 2003
3. Summary of IETF Liaison Role Expectations
While the requirements will certainly vary depending on the nature of
the peer organization and the type of joint work being undertaken,
the general expectations of a liaison appointed by the IAB are as
follows:
Attend relevant meetings of the peer organization and report back
to the appopriate IETF organization any material updates.
Carry any messages from the IETF to the peer organization, when
specifically instructed (in this case, the message does "represent
the IETF").
Prepare occasional updates -- e.g., to the IAB, an AD, a WG. The
target of these updates will generally be identified upon
appointment.
Ensure that any liaison statement addressed to the IETF reaches
the appropriate destination within the IETF, and work to ensure
that whatever relevant response from the IETF is created and sent
in a timely fashion.
Daigle & Internet Architecture Board Expires May 26, 2004 [Page 6]
Internet-Draft IAB Liaison Management November 2003
4. Security Considerations
The security of the Internet is not threatened by these procedures.
Daigle & Internet Architecture Board Expires May 26, 2004 [Page 7]
Internet-Draft IAB Liaison Management November 2003
5. Acknowledgements
This document was developed as part of a conversation regarding the
management of draft-baker-liaisons, and the authors of that document
contributed significantly to it.
Daigle & Internet Architecture Board Expires May 26, 2004 [Page 8]
Internet-Draft IAB Liaison Management November 2003
Normative References
[1] Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 3", BCP
9, RFC 2026, October 1996.
[2] Internet Architecture Board and B. Carpenter, "Charter of the
Internet Architecture Board (IAB)", BCP 39, RFC 2850, May 2000.
Daigle & Internet Architecture Board Expires May 26, 2004 [Page 9]
Internet-Draft IAB Liaison Management November 2003
Informative References
Authors' Addresses
Leslie Daigle
Editor
Internet Architecture Board
IAB
EMail: iab@iab.org
Daigle & Internet Architecture Board Expires May 26, 2004 [Page 10]
Internet-Draft IAB Liaison Management November 2003
Full Copyright Statement
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.
This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this
document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
English.
The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.
This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
"AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Acknowledgement
Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
Internet Society.
Daigle & Internet Architecture Board Expires May 26, 2004 [Page 11]