O>> purposes.
O>>
O>> o Review IASA functioning with respect to meeting the IETF
O>> community’s working needs.
O>>
O>> The IAOC’s role is to review, not carry out the work of, the IAD
O>> and IASA. As such, it is expected the IAOC will have monthly
O>> teleconferences and periodic face to face meetings, probably
O>> coincident with IETF plenary meetings, consistent with ensuring
O>> an efficient and effective operation.
O>>
O>> 2.1.4 IASA Funding
O>>
O>> The IASA is supported financially in 3 ways:
O>>
O>> 1. IETF meeting revenues. The IAD, in consultation with the
O>> IAOC, sets the meeting fees as part of the budgeting process.
O>> All meeting revenues go to the IASA.
O>>
O>> 2. Designated ISOC donations. The IETF and IASA do no specific
O>> fund raising activities; this maintains separation between
O>> fundraising and standards activities. Any organization
O>> interested in supporting the IETF activity will continue to
O>> be directed to ISOC, and any funds ISOC receives specifically
O>> for IETF activities (as part of an ISOC program that allows
O>> for specific designation) will be put in the IASA bank
O>> account for IASA management.
O>>
O>> 3. Other ISOC support. ISOC will deposit in the IASA account,
O>> each quarter, the funds committed to providing as part of the
O>> IASA budget (where the meeting revenues and specific
O>>
O>> donations do not cover the budget). These funds may come
O>> from member fees or from other revenue streams ISOC may
O>> create.
O>>
O>> Note that the goal is to achieve and maintain a viable IETF
O>> support function based on meeting fees and specified donations,
O>> and the IAOC and ISOC are expected to work together to attain
O>> that goal. (I.e., dropping the meeting fees to $0 and expecting
O>> ISOC to pick up the slack is not desirable; nor is raising the
O>> meeting fees to prohibitive levels to fund all non-meeting-
O>> related activities!).
O>>
O>> Also, in normal operating circumstances, the IASA would look to
O>> have a 6 month operating reserve for its activities. Rather than
O>> having the IASA attempt to accrue that in its bank account, the
O>> IASA looks to ISOC to build and provide that operational reserve
O>> (through whatever mechanism instrument ISOC deems appropriate --
O>> line of credit, financial reserves, etc). Such reserves do not
O>> appear instantaneously; the goal is to reach that level of
O>> reserve by 3 years after the creation of the IASA. It is not
O>> expected that any funds associated with such reserve will be held
O>> in the IASA bank account.
O>>
O>> 2.2 IAOC Membership, Selection and Accountability
O>>
O>> Note: This section is particularly subject to change as we work
O>> to find the best way to achieve the key principles. The key
O>> principles being adhered to are that while this should be
O>> reasonably separate from IETF Standards process management:
O>>
O>> o the IETF and IAB Chairs need to be involved to a level that
O>> permits them to be involved in and oversee the aspects
O>> pertinent to their roles in managing the technical work (e.g.,
O>> the IAB looks after the RFC Editor relationship)
O>>
O>> o the IETF and IAB Chairs must not be critical path to getting
O>> decisions to and through the IASA.
O>>
O>> The current draft, below, therefore makes the IETF Chair ex
O>> officio voting member of the IAOC, and the IAB Chair a non-voting
O>> liaison. Future versions may change either or both, depending on
O>> what makes sense to the IETF community in its deliberations.
O>>
O>> The IAOC will consist of seven voting members who will be
O>> selected as follows:
O>>
O>> o 2 members chosen by the IETF Nominations Committee (NomCom)
O>>
O>> o 1 member chosen by the IESG
O>>
O>> o 1 member chosen by the IAB
O>>
O>> o 1 member chosen by the ISOC Board of Trustees
O>>
O>> o The IETF Chair (ex officio)
O>>
O>> o The ISOC President/CEO (ex officio)
O>>
O>> There will also be two non-voting, ex officio liaisons:
O>>
O>> o The IAB Chair
O>>
O>> o The IETF Administrative Director
O>>
O>> The voting members of the IAOC will choose their own chair each
O>> year using a consensus mechanism of its choosing. Any appointed
O>> voting member of the IAOC may serve as the IAOC Chair (i.e., not
O>> the IETF Chair or the ISOC President/CEO). The role of the IAOC
O>> Chair is to organize the IAOC. The IAOC Chair has no formal
O>> duties for representing the IAOC, except as directed by IAOC
O>> consensus.
O>>
O>> The members of the IAOC will typically serve two year terms.
O>> Initially, the IESG and ISOC Board will make one-year
O>> appointments, the IAB will make a two-year appointment, and the
O>> Nomcom will make one one-year appointment and one two-year
O>> appointment to establish a pattern where approximately half of
O>> the IAOC is selected each term.
O>>
O>> The two NomCom selected members will be selected using the
O>> procedures described in RFC 3777. For the initial selection, the
O>> IESG will provide the list of desired qualifications for these
O>> positions. In later years, this list will be provided by the
O>> IAOC.
O>>
O>> While there are no hard rules regarding how the IAB and the IESG
O>> should select members of the IAOC, it is not expected that they
O>> will typically choose current IAB or IESG members, if only to
O>> avoid overloading existing leadership. However, they should
O>> choose people who are familiar with the administrative support
O>> needs of the IAB, the IESG and/or the IETF standards process. It
O>> is suggested that a fairly open process be followed for these
O>> selections, perhaps with an open call for nominations and/or a
O>> period of public comment on the candidates. The IAB and IESG are
O>> encouraged to look at the procedure for IAB selection of ISOC
O>> Trustees for an example of how this might work.
O>>
O>> Although the IAB and IESG will choose some members of the IAOC,
O>> those members will not directly represent the bodies that chose
O>> them. All members of the IAOC are accountable directly to the
O>> IETF community. To receive direct feedback from the community,
O>> the IAOC will hold an open meeting at least once per year at an
O>> IETF meeting. This may take the form of an open IAOC plenary or
O>> a working meeting held during an IETF meeting slot. The form and
O>> contents of this meeting are left to the discretion of the IAOC
O>> Chair.
O>>
O>> Decisions of IAOC members or the entire IAOC are subject to
O>> appeal using the procedures described in RFC 2026. The initial
O>> appeal of an individual decision will go to the full IAOC.
O>> Appeals of IAOC decisions will go to the IESG and continue up the
O>> chain as necessary (to the IAB and the ISOC Board). The IAOC
O>> will play no role (aside from possible administrative support) in
O>> appeals of WG Chair, IESG or IAB decisions.
O>>
O>> In the event that an IAOC member abrogates his duties or acts
O>> against the bests interests of the IETF community, IAOC members
O>> are subject to recall using the recall procedure defined in RFC
O>> 3777. IAB and IESG-appointed members of the IAOC are not subject
O>> to recall by their appointing bodies.
O>>
O>> 2.3 IASA Budget Process
O>>
O>> While the IASA sets a budget for the IETF’s administrative needs,
O>> its budget process clearly needs to be closely coordinated with
O>> ISOC’s. The specific timeline will be established each year,
O>> before the second IETF meeting. A general annual timeline for
O>> budgeting will be:
O>>
O>> July 1 The IAD presents a budget proposal (for the following
O>> fiscal year, with 3 year projections) to the IAOC.
O>>
O>> August 1 The IAOC approves the budget proposal for IETF purposes,
O>> after any appropriate revisions. As the ISOC President is
O>> part of the IAOC, the IAOC should have a preliminary
O>> indication of how the budget will fit with ISOC’s own
O>> budgetary expectations. The budget proposal is passed to the
O>> ISOC Board of Trustees for review in accordance with their
O>> fiduciary duty.
O>>
O>> September 1 The ISOC Board of Trustees approves the budget
O>> proposal provisionally. During the next 2 months, the budget
O>> may be revised to be integrated in ISOC’s overall budgeting
O>> process.
O>>
O>>
O>> November 1 Final budget to the ISOC Board for approval.
O>>
O>> The IAD will provide monthly accountings of expenses, and will
O>> update forecasts of expenditures quarterly. This may necessitate
O>> the adjustment of the IASA budget. The revised budget will need
O>> to be approved by the IAOC and ISOC Board of Trustees.
O>>
O>> 2.4 Relationship of the IAOC to Existing IETF Leadership
O>>
O>> The IAOC will be directly accountable to the IETF Community.
O>> However, the nature of the IAOC’s work will involve treating the
O>> IESG and IAB as internal customers. The IAOC should not consider
O>> its work successful unless the IESG and IAB are satisfied with
O>> the administrative support that they are receiving.
O>>
O>> 2.5 ISOC Responsibilities for IASA
O>>
O>> Within ISOC, support for the IASA should be structured to meet
O>> the following goals:
O>>
O>> Transparency: The IETF community should have complete visibility
O>> into the financial and legal structure of the ISOC standards
O>> activity. In particular, the IETF community should have access
O>> to a detailed budget for the entire standards activity,
O>> quarterly financial reports and audited annual financials. In
O>> addition, key contract material and MOUs should be publicly
O>> available. Most of these goals are already met by ISOC today.
O>> The IAOC will be responsible for providing the IETF community
O>> with regular overviews of the state of affairs.
O>>
O>> Unification: As part of this arrangement, ISOC’s sponsorship of
O>> the RFC Editor, IAB and IESG, as well as insurance coverage
O>> for the IETF will be managed as part of the IASA under the
O>> IAOC.
O>>
O>> Independence: The IASA should be financially and legally distinct
O>> from other ISOC activities. IETF meeting fees should be
O>> deposited in a separate IETF-specific bank account and used to
O>> fund the IASA under the direction and oversight of the IAOC.
O>> Any fees or payments collected from IETF meeting sponsors
O>> should also be deposited into this account. This account will
O>> be administered by the IAD and used to fund the IASA in
O>> accordance with a budget and policies that are developed as
O>> described above.
O>>
O>> Support: ISOC may, from time to time, choose to transfer other
O>> funds into this account to fund IETF administrative projects
O>> or to cover IETF meeting revenue shortfalls. There may also
O>>
O>> be cases where ISOC chooses to loan money to the IASA to help
O>> with temporary cash flow issues. These cases should be
O>> carefully documented and tracked on both sides. ISOC will
O>> work to provide the 6 month operational reserve for IASA
O>> functioning described above.
O>>
O>> Removability: While there is no current plan to transfer the
O>> legal and financial home of the IASA to another corporation,
O>> the IASA should be structured to enable a clean transition in
O>> the event that the IETF community decides, through BCP
O>> publication, that such a transition is required. In that
O>> case, the IAOC will give ISOC a minimum six months notice
O>> before the transition formally occurs. During that period,
O>> the IAOC and ISOC will work together to create a smooth
O>> transition that does not result in any significant service
O>> outages or missed IETF meetings. All contracts that are
O>> executed by ISOC as part of the IASA should either include a
O>> clause allowing termination or transfer by ISOC with six
O>> months notice, or should be transferrable to another
O>> corporation in the event that the IASA is transitioned away
O>> from ISOC in the future. Any accrued funds, and IETF-specific
O>> intellectual property rights (concerning administrative data
O>> and/ or tools) would also be expected to be transitioned to
O>> any new entity, as well.
O>>
O>> Within the constraints outlined above, all other details of how
O>> to structure this activity within ISOC (as a cost center, a
O>> department or a formal subsidiary) should be determined by ISOC
O>> in consultation with the IAOC.
O>>
O>> 3. Workplan for Formalizing the IETF Administrative Support
O>> Activity
O>>
O>> This section proposes a workplan and schedule for formalizing the
O>> IETF administrative support activity (IASA) for the remainder of
O>> 2004 and 2005.
O>>
O>> 3.1 Workplan Goals
O>>
O>> This workplan is intended to satisfy four goals:
O>>
O>> o Satisfy the IETF’s need for support functions through 2005,
O>> with a careful transition that minimizes the risk of
O>> substantial disruption to the IETF standards process.
O>>
O>> o Establish IETF community consensus and ISOC approval of a BCP
O>> formalizing the IASA as described in this scenario before any
O>> actions are taken that will have long term effects (hiring,
O>>
O>> contacts, etc.)
O>>
O>> o Make sure that decisions with long term impact, such as hiring
O>> the IAD and establishing contracts for administrative support,
O>> are made by people chosen for that purpose who will be
O>> responsible to the community for the effectiveness of this
O>> effort (the IAD and members of the IAOC) -- not by our already
O>> overloaded technical leadership.
O>>
O>> o Within the above constraints, move as quickly as possible
O>> towards a well-defined administrative support structure that
O>> is transparent and accountable to the IETF community.
O>>
O>> 3.2 Workplan Overview
O>>
O>> There are three major elements to this workplan which can, to
O>> some degree, take place in parallel after we establish IETF
O>> community consensus to pursue Scenario O:
O>>
O>> o Finalizing the BCP text and getting it approved by the IETF
O>> community and ISOC.
O>>
O>> o Selecting IASA leadership. This includes appointing an
O>> interim IAOC, recruiting the IAD, and eventually appointing
O>> the full IAOC.
O>>
O>> o Negotiating agreements with service providers. This includes
O>> determining the structure and work flow of the IASA, deciding
O>> which portions of the IASA should be staffed via an open
O>> request for proposals (RFP) process, and issuing a RFP for
O>> those portions, as well as establishing sole source contracts
O>> or MOUs for other portions of the IASA.
O>>
O>> Each of the three items listed above is described in more detail
O>> in the following sections.
O>>
O>> 3.3 Approval by the IETF Community and ISOC
O>>
O>> In scenario O, the IASA is formalized in a BCP that is approved
O>> by the IETF community and accepted by the ISOC Board of Trustees.
O>> There are three steps in this process:
O>>
O>> 1. Establishment of IETF community consensus that we should
O>> pursue Scenario O as defined in a joint IAB/IESG
O>> recommendation based on this proposal. This consensus will
O>> be established through community discussion and a formal two-
O>> week consensus call issued by the IETF chair on the IETF
O>> mailing list.
O>>
O>> 2. Establishment of IETF community consensus on a BCP that
O>> formalizes the IASA as described. This consensus would be
O>> established through public discussion, a four week IETF Last
O>> Call and IESG review and approval.
O>>
O>> 3. ISOC approval of the BCP and acceptance of ISOC’s
O>> responsibilities as described therein. This approval and
O>> acceptance would be signified by an ISOC Board resolution.
O>>
O>> The timeline for these three stages is rather long, but there is
O>> significant progress that can be made in other areas once we have
O>> established IETF community consensus to pursue this scenario.
O>>
O>> 3.4 Selecting IASA Leadership
O>>
O>> Once we have IETF consensus to pursue this scenario, we can
O>> appoint an interim IAOC to begin working on the IASA transition.
O>> The interim IAOC could do substantial work on non-binding tasks,
O>> such as beginning the recruitment process for an IAD, determining
O>> the structure of the IASA work, issuing RFPs and negotiating
O>> potential agreements with service providers. The interim IAOC
O>> would not be empowered to make binding agreements, but could work
O>> appropriate consultants and advisors to make a lot of progress
O>> towards determining the initial structure and work flow of the
O>> IASA.
O>>
O>> Because the IETF Nominations Commitee (NomCom) process for new
O>> positions will consume a lot of resources and take a long time to
O>> complete, we propose that the interim IAOC consist of:
O>>
O>> o 1 IESG selected member
O>>
O>> o 1 IAB selected member
O>>
O>> o 1 ISOC selected member
O>>
O>> o The IETF Chair
O>>
O>> o The ISOC President/CEO
O>>
O>> The IAB chair will serve as a liaison, as described above.
O>>
O>> The IESG and ISOC Board appointments will be expected to serve
O>> until the first IETF meeting of 2006, and the IAB appointment
O>> will be expected to serve until the first IETF meeting of 2007,
O>> assuming that the BCP is approved and the IAOC continues to have
O>> appointed members from these bodies.
O>>
O>>
O>> After all of the interim IAOC members are selected, they will
O>> choose an interim IAOC chair from among the appointed members.
O>>
O>> When the BCP is approved, if the BCP indicates that there will be
O>> NomCom selected IAOC members they will be chosen at that time.
O>> Any adjustments to appointed members based on the BCP contents
O>> will also be made at that time. The IAOC will transition from
O>> interim to non-interim status when all non-interim members are
O>> seated. A new, non-interim chair selection process will then
O>> commence.
O>>
O>> 3.5 Recruiting the IETF Administrative Director
O>>
O>> The interim IAOC should appoint an IAD selection committee to
O>> recruit and select the IETF Administrative Director. This
O>> committee will consist entirely of IAOC members or liaisons, and
O>> will, at minimum, include the IETF chair and the ISOC President.
O>> If the IAOC chooses, this committee could include the entire
O>> IAOC.
O>>
O>> The IAD selection committee should determine a job description
O>> for the IAD, in consultation with other IETF leaders and the IETF
O>> community. Once the job description is established, the IAD
O>> selection committee should recruiting candidates for the
O>> position.
O>>
O>> Although the interim IAOC is not empowered to hire the IAD as a
O>> full-time employee, it might be possible for the IAOC to ask ISOC
O>> to engage the potential IAD as a consultant to help with other
O>> tasks during the interim period.
O>>
O>> 3.6 Establishing Agreement with Service Providers
O>>
O>> The most important activity of the IAOC during late 2004 and
O>> early 2005 will be to determine the structure and work flow of
O>> the IASA and to establish contracts or other agreements with
O>> service providers to do the required work. This work includes
O>> the following functions as defined in the consultant’s report:
O>>
O>> o Technical infrastructure
O>>
O>> o Meeting management
O>>
O>> o Clerk’s office
O>>
O>> o RFC Editor services to support IETF standards publication
O>>
O>> o IANA services to support IETF standards publication
O>>
O>> The interim IAOC should work with IETF leaders and other
O>> knowledgeable members of the community to determine the structure
O>> and work flow required for the IASA activity and make
O>> corresponding adjustments to the above list, if necessary. The
O>> interim IAOC can also identify which areas of IASA work should
O>> continue to be provided by existing IETF service providers, and
O>> work with those providers to establish proposed contracts or
O>> agreements for later approval by the non-interim IAOC. The IAOC
O>> can also choose to start an RFP process for any services that
O>> they believe should be filled through an open RFP process.
O>>
O>> 3.7 Establishing a 2005 Operating Budget
O>>
O>> Because the ISOC 2005 budgeting process will be finalized before
O>> the non-interim IAOC is seated, the interim IAOC should work with
O>> the ISOC staff and President to establish a proposed 2005
O>> operating budget for the IASA. Since this will happen in advance
O>> of full knowledge regarding the costs of 2005 operations, it may
O>> be subject to significant adjustment later.
O>>
O>> 3.8 Proposed Schedule for IASA Transition
O>>
O>> As described above, the three stages of the IETF community and
O>> ISOC approval process will take some time. If the community
O>> chooses scenario O and we reach quick consensus on the details,
O>> an optimistic schedule for this approval would be:
O>>
O>> 1. IETF discussion of this proposal and other scenarios through
O>> 1-Oct-2005. IAB/IESG discusses this proposal with ISOC
O>> Board.
O>>
O>> 2. IAB/IESG joint recommendation issued on 8-Oct-04, including
O>> full BCP proposal.
O>>
O>> 3. Community discussion of the joint IAB/IESG recommendation
O>> through 22-Oct-04.
O>>
O>> 4. Two-week community consensus call issued on the IETF list on
O>> 23-Oct-04 regarding rough community consensus to pursue this
O>> direction and appoint an interim IAOC -- extends through
O>> IETF 61. IAOC selecting bodies begin search, based on
O>> expected community consensus.
O>>
O>> 5. Rough community consensus declared on 8-Nov-04 to pursue
O>> Scenario O and appoint the interim IAOC.