Increasing the Number of Area Directors in an IETF Area
RFC 7475

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                        S. Dawkins
Request for Comments: 7475                                        Huawei
BCP: 9                                                        March 2015
Updates: 2026, 2418
Category: Best Current Practice
ISSN: 2070-1721

        Increasing the Number of Area Directors in an IETF Area

Abstract

   This document removes a limit on the number of Area Directors who
   manage an Area in the definition of "IETF Area".  This document
   updates RFC 2026 (BCP 9) and RFC 2418 (BCP 25).

Status of This Memo

   This memo documents an Internet Best Current Practice.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It has been approved for publication by the Internet
   Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on BCPs is
   available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7475.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2015 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
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
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   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Dawkins                   Best Current Practice                 [Page 1]
RFC 7475             More Area Directors in an Area           March 2015

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction and Scope  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Discussion  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   3.  Normative Text Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   5.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     5.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     5.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5

1.  Introduction and Scope

   This document updates RFC 2026 ([RFC2026], BCP 9) to remove a limit
   on the number of Area Directors who manage an Area in the definition
   of "IETF Area".  This document also updates RFC 2418 ([RFC2418], BCP
   25) to reflect this updated definition.

   The change described in this document is intended to allow the IESG
   additional flexibility in organizing the IETF's work.  It does not
   make any changes to the role of an Area and does not argue that
   assigning more than two Area Directors to an Area is an optimal
   solution in the long run.  In particular, this change is not intended
   to increase the size of the IESG significantly.  If several Areas
   will require more than two Area Directors, the IESG should consider
   investigating alternative ways of organizing the IETF's work.

2.  Discussion

   In recent discussions, the IESG has explored splitting and combining
   Areas.  One proposal resulted in a single Area that would be managed
   by three Area Directors.

   An Area managed by three Area Directors conflicts with this
   definition in Section 14, "DEFINITIONS OF TERMS" of RFC 2026
   ([RFC2026]):

      IETF Area - A management division within the IETF.  An Area
      consists of Working Groups related to a general topic such as
      routing.  An Area is managed by one or two Area Directors.

   A similar statement appears in Section 1, "Introduction" of RFC 2418
   ([RFC2418]):

      Each IETF area is managed by one or two Area Directors (ADs).

Dawkins                   Best Current Practice                 [Page 2]
RFC 7475             More Area Directors in an Area           March 2015

   While it's true that recent IESGs have had two Area Directors in each
   Area except for the General Area, the number of Area Directors in
   each Area has varied since the publication of RFC 1396 ([RFC1396]).
   (For reference, see <http://www.ietf.org/iesg/past-members.html>.)

   This variation was due to a number of factors, including workload and
   personal preferences, and happened as a natural part of the IESG
   organizing itself to do the work the IESG is chartered to do.

   At one point, the IESG placed three Area Directors in a single Area
   (Scott Bradner, Deirdre Kostick, and Michael O'Dell, in the
   Operational & Management Requirements Area, between IETF 36 and IETF
   37 in 1996).

   The last time the IESG increased the number of Area Directors in an