The Role of the IRTF Chair
RFC 7827
Internet Architecture Board (IAB) L. Eggert
Request for Comments: 7827 NetApp
Category: Informational March 2016
ISSN: 2070-1721
The Role of the IRTF Chair
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 document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for informational purposes.
This document is a product of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB)
and represents information that the IAB has deemed valuable to
provide for permanent record. It represents the consensus of the
Internet Architecture Board (IAB). Documents approved for
publication by the IAB are not a candidate for any level of Internet
Standard; see 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/rfc7827.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2016 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
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This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
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Eggert Informational [Page 1]
RFC 7827 The Role of the IRTF Chair March 2016
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Duties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1. Strategic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2. Administrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.3. IAB Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1. Introduction
The Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) focuses on longer-term
research issues related to the Internet, while its 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 that 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 in the IRTF Stream [RFC5743].
The IRTF Chair is appointed by the IAB [RFC2014] for two-year terms
and manages the IRTF in consultation with the Internet Research
Steering Group (IRSG) and -- for some types of decisions -- the IAB.
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.
There is no general appeals process defined for the IRTF. However,
[RFC2014] states that when an RG disagrees with the IRTF Chair's
decision to close the group, it can appeal to the IAB. Since the
IRTF Chair serves at the discretion of the IAB, it has been current
practice to generalize this special case in [RFC2014]: any grievances
related to the IRTF Chair can be taken to the IAB, and it takes
appropriate measures.
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RFC 7827 The Role of the IRTF Chair March 2016
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.
2.1. Strategic
Arguably, the most important part of the duties of the IRTF Chair is
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