Network Working Group L. Andersson Internet-Draft Acreo AB Expires: July 27, 2006 January 23, 2006 Guidelines for Acting as an IETF Liaison to Another Organization draft-iab-liaison-guidelines-01.txt Status of this Memo By submitting this Internet-Draft, each author represents that any applicable patent or other IPR claims of which he or she is aware have been or will be disclosed, and any of which he or she becomes aware will be disclosed, in accordance with Section 6 of BCP 79. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet- Drafts. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt. The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html. This Internet-Draft will expire on July 27, 2006. Copyright Notice Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006). Abstract Whenever IETF decides to enter into a liaison relationship with another organization, such as a Standards Development Organization (SDO), a consortium, or an industrial forum, a liaison manager is appointed. The procedures used by the IAB to establish and maintain liaison relationships between the IETF and other organizations are described in RFC 4052 [RFC4052]. This document gives guidelines on expectations, tasks, responsibilities and mandate of the liaison managers. Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 1] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 Conventions used in this document The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119]. Table of Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. IETF Liaison Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.1. Related documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.2. Written information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.3. A Person Acting As a Liaison Manager . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2.4. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3. Liaison Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3.1. Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3.2. Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.3. Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3.4. Mandate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3.4.1. Speaking for the IETF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3.5. Relationship management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3.5.1. IETF consensus process on liaison statements . . . . . 9 3.5.2. Incoming Liaison Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 3.5.3. Ambigous incoming Liaison Statements . . . . . . . . . 10 3.5.4. Liaison managers representing other SDOs . . . . . . . 10 4. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 5. IANA considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 6. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 7. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 7.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 7.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . . . . 17 Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 2] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 1. Introduction The IETF communicates extensively with other organizations on issues relating to the development of Internet standards. Part of this communication occurs in written form, known as "liaison statements". In order to ensure the delivery of liaison statements, as well as to enable other forms of communication, the IETF appoints a liaison manager to be responsible for the relationship with the other organization. We normally speak of such a person as "the liaison" from the IETF to the other organization. The organizations IETF establishes liaison relationships with include Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) such as ITU-T or IEEE 802, consortia, and industrial forums such as Global Grid Forum. Usually IETF liaisons are concerned with groups that develop standards and technical specifications. Whenever the IETF decides to enter into a liaison relationship, a liaison manager is appointed. The procedures used by the IAB to establish and maintain liaison relationships between the IETF and other organizations are described in RFC 4052 [RFC4052]. The role of the liaison manager has grown in importance to the IETF. This document supplements [RFC4052] by providing guidelines for liaison managers and liaison representatives to other organizations. Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 3] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 2. IETF Liaison Relationships A major goal of the IETF is to develop standards for the Internet, enabling the development of interoperable implementations. In order to develop Internet standards, it is sometimes necessary for the IETF to communicate with other organizations which develop standards for other types of networks, for Internet applications or for technologies that the Internet uses. Sometimes the IETF and other organizations consider it mutually beneficial to have certain rules governing the relationship. The organizations then enter into a "liaison relationship". At a high level, both sides agree to undertake certain responsibilities with respect to each other. The most basic liaison responsibility is to communicate information as necessary, and to respond to requests from liaison organizations. 2.1. Related documents The IETF liaison process is specified in several documents. RFC 4052 [RFC4052] specifies how the IAB manages the IETF liaison relationship; RFC 4053 [RFC4053] specifies how liaison statements should be treated; RFC 3356 [RFC3356] describes the collaboration between the IETF and ITU-T. 2.2. Written information Extensive communication may occur between the IETF and the organizations it has liaison relationships with. Much of this information is sent in liaison statements and typically contains plans, new developments and time schedules that one party believes that the other party should be aware of. For example, when a liaison organization needs to reference an IETF Internet-Draft within a specification that is under development, a liaison statement is often sent to the IETF requesting that an RFC number be assigned within the required timeframe. In response, the IETF can provide the RFC number or explain why it is not possible to provide this within the timeframe requested. Requests for expedited action on RFCs by organizations other than ITU-T have not typically come in the form of liaison statements. For example, 3GPP/PP2 and OMA provide the IETF with an updated list of dependencies on a monthly basis, indicating what documents are needed and the required timeframe. The liaison manager tracks the dependency list and conveys the request for expedited publication to the appropriate AD. Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 4] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 2.3. A Person Acting As a Liaison Manager Whenever the IETF enters into a liaison relationship with another organization, a liaison manager (often referred to as "the IETF liaison") is appointed. This document describes the expectations, tasks and responsibilities of the liaison manager. Decisions on IETF liaison relationships are the responsibility of the IAB. This includes whether the IETF should have a liaison relationship with a particular organization or not. The IAB is also responsible for appointing both liaison managers and liaison representatives. In some cases, it may be necessary to have more than one person handling the liaison relationship with a given organization. For example, the time commitment required may be too substantial, or the technical scope of the liaison relationship may be too broad to be handled by a single individual. In such cases the IAB may appoint a liaison representative to manage one aspect of the liaison relationship between the IETF and the other organization. 2.4. Terminology Terminology relating to IETF liaison procedures is found in [RFC4052]. Terms defined below are valid for this document only. Liaison manager A person appointed to manage an IETF liaison relationship with another organization. Liaison representative A person appointed to manage a certain (sub-)aspect of an IETF liaison relationship with another organization. Since it is only the scale of the responsibilities, mandate and tasks that is different, the rest of this document only explicitly mentions liaison managers. IETF consensus RFC 2026 [RFC2026] and RFC 2418 [RFC2418] discuss the IETF consensus process. In this document the term "IETF consensus" is used to indicate either consensus of the IETF as an organization, an Area within IETF or a working group. There the term "IETF consensus" needs to be interpreted in the context in which it is used. Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 5] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 3. Liaison Guidelines Since liaison relationships are intended to be mutually beneficial, the IETF liaison to another organization must act as a bi-directional communication link between the IETF and the other organization. Since the liaison manager has been appointed by the IETF, the liaison manager is accountable to the IETF. RFC 4052 lists some of the tasks and expectations relating to liaison managers. This document provides more detailed discussion and describes how the role is executed. 3.1. Expectations There are certain expectations placed on liaison managers appointed by the IETF. Examples of these expectations are listed below. Competence A person appointed to act as a liaison manager on behalf of the IETF is expected to have a thorough technical understanding of the key issues in the subject area, as well as an understanding of the concerns important to stakeholders in both organizations. An IETF liaison manager needs to have knowledge of the IETF's consensus process in general, as well as the consensus process(es) applying to the key issues within the liaison relationship. The technical competence of the liaison manager is important, but the essence of the liaison manager role is management of the liaison process according to the rules that have been agreed upon. In the liaison manager role, the liaison manager acts as a representative of the IETF and not an independent voice with respect to topics of discussion in the liaison relationship. The liaison manager must therefore be careful to distinguish their own views from documented IETF consensus in his or her dealings with the liaison organization. Perspective Liaison relationships are designed for the mutual benefit of the organizations participating in the liaison. As such, swift information flow in both directions is a firm requirement. The role of an IETF liaison manager is to promote the interests of the IETF with respect to all topics within the scope of the liaison relationship. Since the liaison manager "wears an IETF hat", it is NOT the task of a liaison manager to promote the interests of the liaised organization within the IETF. Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 6] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 Distance When appointing an appropriate person to manage a liaison relationship, the IAB needs to take into account any conflicts of interest that the individual being considered might have. Before a person is appointed to manage a liaison relationship he or she will be asked to explicitly state any conflicts of interest. The IAB will not appoint a person to a liaison manager position if there is a strong conflict of interest. For example, an individual with an industry or organizational leadership position in an organization would typically not be suitable for appointment as an IETF liaison to that organization. Commitment and opportunity A liaison manager needs to be committed to addressing the issues relevant to the liaison relationship. To handle the job properly, it is necessary for the liaison be able to allocate sufficient time to the task. Timeliness It is expected that a liaison manger will make the IETF aware of new developments in the subject area in a timely fashion. 3.2. Responsibilities The liaison manager provides information to the IETF community in order to enable the IETF to make decisions based on the best possible information. Information communicated by the IETF liaison to the liased organization is based on IETF consensus. The liaison manager works with the liaised organization to ensure that communication is clear. As part of this, the liaison manager must clearly differentiate their own independent positions from those which represent IETF consensus. It is the responsibility of the liaison manager to ensure that the liaised organization provides its requirements to the IETF and that the IETF consensus is clearly understood. This is particularly important in situations where the IETF and the liased organization differ substantially in their positions. In this situation the liaison manager needs to facilitate prompt communication so that the IETF the the liased organization can stay in close communication. The liaison managers are responsible for clearly and correctly communicating the IETF consensus position to the liased organization. This includes, when specifically instructed, to carry any messages from the IETF to the peer organization. Generally, these Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 7] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 communications "represent the IETF", and therefore due care and consensus must be applied in their construction. The liaison managers are responsible for ensuring that relevant information originating from the liaised organization, or other information coming to the attention of the liaison manager, reaches the correct destination within the IETF, in a timely and correct way. 3.3. Tasks Examples of tasks performed by the liaison manager are provided below. Depending on the nature of liaised organization the task may vary in frequency and relative importance. 1. Attend relevant meetings and participate in conference calls and mailing lists within the liased organization. Report back to the IETF on the developments of interest. 2. A liaison manager is encouraged to communicate; sometimes this involves holding frequent update meetings with a team of IETFers involved in the liaised organization and other interested parties within the IETF, e.g. working group chairs and ADs. A significant result of holding such meetings is an increased understanding, and eventually IETF support, for the other organizations goals. 3. Prepare updates as requested. The target for these updates (e.g., the IAB, an AD, a WG) will typically be identified upon establishment of the liaison relationship and/or the appointment of the liaison manager. 4. Oversee delivery of liaison statements addressed to the IETF. This includes ensuring that liaison statements are delivered to the appropriate destination within the IETF, as well as sheparding the timely creation of responses by the IETF. 5. Work with the liaised organization to ensure that the IETF's liaison statements are appropriately directed and responded to in a timely fashion. To accomplish this, the liaison needs to build a contact network. 6. Communicate and coordinate with other IETF liaison managers where the activities of two or more liaised organizations overlap. 7. Assist with the preparation of IETF liaison statements based on IETF consensus. Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 8] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 8. Liaison mangers and liaison representatives shall report to the IETF on the status of the liaison relationship and keep track of outstanding issues on behalf of the IETF. The frequency of the reports and the recipients of the reports within the IETF will be decided when the liaison relationship is set up and may be changed at any time by an IAB decision. IAB or other parties within the IETF may probe for liaison reports as needed or at reegular intervals. 3.4. Mandate In Section Section 3.2 and in Section Section 3.3, tasks and responsibilities are listed which enable the IETF to obtain the information to correctly interact with the liased organizations and to develop and clearly communicate IETF consensus. The mandate for IETF liaison managers is strictly limited to conveying IETF consensus to the liaised organization. The liaison manager MUST NOT on their own initiative, send liaison statements to a liaised organization on behalf of IETF, its areas and working groups. Liaison statements are only sent following the process specified in [RFC4052]. Liaison statements are only sent on the initiative of the IETF chair, the IAB chair, IETF Area Directors or IETF working group chairs. 3.4.1. Speaking for the IETF The IETF functions based on rough consensus, which means that the right to speak for the IETF cannot be delegated. The liaison manager speaks on behalf of the IETF on the subject matter of the liaison, but only after making sure that the IETF consensus is understood. Some guidelines for understanding IETF consensus are provided above; however, the most important requirement is close and detailed coordination/consultation with the IETF community. 3.5. Relationship management Liaison managers will be involved in activities for which they are not directly responsible, but that might greatly benefit from their expertise. Some of these activities are outlined below. 3.5.1. IETF consensus process on liaison statements Liaison statements and other messages sent to a liaised organization should be based on rough consensus within IETF or one of its working groups or areas. Though the liaison manager is not responsible for determining consensus, it is important that the liaison manager participate in the process and makes his/her expertise and knowledge Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 9] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 available. How consensus is arrived at may vary according to the circumstnaces. Some issues are new and in these cases an open discussion on a mailing list should be undertaken. For some issues consensus has already been arrived at and in these cases the liaison statement can be written and sent (such as by a working group chair), possibly involving the liaison manager 3.5.2. Incoming Liaison Statements When the IETF receives a liaison statement or other communication from an organization with which it has an liaison relationship, the IETF is committed to providing a timely response. This means that IETF will respond within the time requested, and provide information as accurately as possible. This commitment has been one of the key discussion points in the past, such as within the (g)mpls change process [I-D.andersson-rtg-gmpls-change]. This commitment does not mean that the IETF will uncritically accept the content in the incoming liaison statement. To the extent the liaison contains requirements on IETF technology or protocols they will be taken into consideration based on their technical merit. 3.5.3. Ambigous incoming Liaison Statements Sometimes the IETF, IETF areas or IETF working groups receives liaison statements from a liaised organisation that is sent to the wrong destination. At other times the liaision statement is sent to working groups that is not chartered to do the work that the liaison statement addresses. In some cases it might be the situation that no working group is chartered to do the work. In such cases the liaison manager should assist in finding the appropriate recipient within the IETF that might respond to the incoming liaison statement. Sometimes this might require that the intended response is made available for review on one of the IETF mailing lists. 3.5.4. Liaison managers representing other SDOs Liased organizations may appoint a person to act as a liaison manager for "their side" of the relationship. This is the person that will speak for the other organization within the IETF. The other organization needs to make this person known to the IETF. This person might request a slot on a working group agenda to discuss developments and plans of the liaised organization. Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 10] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 The mandate of liaison managers from other organizations are recognized by the IETF to the extent needed to understand the information received from the liaison manager. In all other respects he/she participates in IETF activities under the same conditions and rules as any other IETF participant. IETF liaison managers should work to include the liaison manager from the liaised organization within their contact network. Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 11] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 4. Security Considerations This document does not specify any protocol or "bits on the wire". However, since interaction with other standards-making organizations often relates to security, the liaison manager can assist with security related issues, resulting in improved security for Internet protocols. Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 12] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 5. IANA considerations There are no requests to the IANA herein. Note that the liaison manager very often has to understand and bridge questions regarding IETF namespace. Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 13] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 6. Acknowledgements This document was developed as part of a conversation regarding the requirements on IETF liaison managers and representatives. Several IAB members have significantly contributed to the document. Also, the document has been improved thanks to suggestions and review from Allison Mankin, Dave Meyer and Leslie Daigle. A special thanks to Bernard Aboba who apart from drawing on his experience as a liaison manager has made many useful comments on the subjet matter, also have spent time on correcting language and grammar. Members of the IAB at the time of approval of this document were: Bernard Aboba Loa Andersson Brian Carpenter Leslie Daigle Patrik Falstrom Bob Hinden Kurtis Lindqvist David Meyer Pekka Nikander Eric Rescorla Pete Resnick Jonathan Rosenberg Lixia Zhang Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 14] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 7. References 7.1. Normative References [RFC2026] Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 3", BCP 9, RFC 2026, October 1996. [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997. [RFC2418] Bradner, S., "IETF Working Group Guidelines and Procedures", BCP 25, RFC 2418, September 1998. [RFC4052] Daigle, L. and Internet Architecture Board, "IAB Processes for Management of IETF Liaison Relationships", BCP 102, RFC 4052, April 2005. 7.2. Informative References [I-D.andersson-rtg-gmpls-change] Andersson, L., "MPLS and GMPLS Change Process", draft-andersson-rtg-gmpls-change-02 (work in progress), December 2005. [RFC3356] Fishman, G. and S. Bradner, "Internet Engineering Task Force and International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunications Standardization Sector Collaboration Guidelines", RFC 3356, August 2002. [RFC4053] Trowbridge, S., Bradner, S., and F. Baker, "Procedures for Handling Liaison Statements to and from the IETF", BCP 103, RFC 4053, April 2005. Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 15] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 Author's Address Loa Andersson Acreo AB Email: loa@pi.se Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 16] Internet-Draft Liaison Guidelines January 2006 Intellectual Property Statement The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in this document or the extent to which any license under such rights might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has made any independent effort to identify any such rights. Information on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be found in BCP 78 and BCP 79. Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at http://www.ietf.org/ipr. The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement this standard. Please address the information to the IETF at ietf-ipr@ietf.org. Disclaimer of Validity This document and the information contained herein are provided on an "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Copyright Statement Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006). This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights. Acknowledgment Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the Internet Society. Andersson Expires July 27, 2006 [Page 17]