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.








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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).





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  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.





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  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>.







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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: [email protected]
































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