Increasing the Number of Area Directors in an IETF Area

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
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   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.

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).

   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
   Area was when they requested that the Nominating Committee provide a
   second Area Director in the Routing Area in 1999.  Although the
   number of Area Directors in an Area hasn't changed since then, the
   IESG continues to be responsible for specifying the positions that
   the Nominating Committee fills each year.

   It is consistent with the IESG's role in creating and dismantling
   entire Areas to allow the IESG flexibility in assigning enough Area
   Directors who have been selected by the Nominating Committee to
   effectively manage the working groups within an Area.

   Note the requirement in RFC 7437 ([RFC7437], BCP 10) that the
   Nominating Committee review (approximately) half the positions for
   the IESG each year is unchanged.  The Nominating Committee may assign
   an appropriate term duration for each position to ensure the ideal
   application of this rule in the future, and this is also unchanged.

3.  Normative Text Change

   For this text (OLD) 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.

   Replace with this text (NEW):

      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 more Area Directors.

   For this text (OLD) in Section 1, "Introduction" of RFC 2418
   ([RFC2418]):

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

   Replace with this text (NEW):

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

   Informational RFCs such as RFC 3710 ([RFC3710]) and informal
   descriptions of IETF organizational structure that also describe IETF
   Areas as being managed by one or two Area Directors should be
   considered updated by this normative specification.

4.  Security Considerations

   This document updates an IETF process BCP and has no direct Internet
   security implications.

5.  References

5.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2026]  Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision
              3", BCP 9, RFC 2026, October 1996,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2026>.

   [RFC2418]  Bradner, S., "IETF Working Group Guidelines and
              Procedures", BCP 25, RFC 2418, September 1998,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2418>.

   [RFC7437]  Kucherawy, M., Ed., "IAB, IESG, and IAOC Selection,
              Confirmation, and Recall Process: Operation of the
              Nominating and Recall Committees", BCP 10, RFC 7437,
              January 2015, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7437>.

5.2.  Informative References

   [RFC1396]  Crocker, S., "The Process for Organization of Internet
              Standards Working Group (POISED)", RFC 1396, January 1993,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1396>.

   [RFC3710]  Alvestrand, H., "An IESG charter", RFC 3710, February
              2004, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3710>.

Acknowledgements

   Thanks to Barry Leiba and Jari Arkko for applying the giggle test to
   version -00 of this document, and to Adrian Farrel, Alexey Melnikov,
   Brian Carpenter, Christer Holmberg, David Crocker, David Harrington,
   Donald Eastlake, Kathleen Moriarty, Murray Kucherawy, Susan Hares,
   Stephan Farrell, and Stewart Bryant for providing review comments.

   Thanks to Fred Baker, Michael St. Johns, and Scott Bradner for
   providing a better understanding of the history of how the IESG ended
   up with two Area Directors in most Areas and even, at one point,
   three Area Directors in one Area.

Author's Address

   Spencer Dawkins
   Huawei Technologies

   EMail: spencerdawkins.ietf@gmail.com