IAOC report in advance of IETF 99

[IAOC Chair <[e-mail]>]

This report is provided in advance of IETF99 for the purpose of giving IETF participants more detail of the current work of the IAOC. Please feel free to bring any questions about its contents to the IETF Plenary in Prague, or share them directly with the IAOC ([e-mail]).

As noted on June 13, 2017, Ray Pelletier has decided to retire from his position as the first IETF Administrative Director (IAD), effective October 31, 2017. We appreciate Ray’s 12 years of hard work in setting up the IETF’s administrative activities and leading it through so many years of evolution. We have invited Ray to join us for IETF 100 in Singapore, and we look forward to formally thanking him at that time!

As set out in BCP 101, the IAOC has formed a hiring committee in response to the upcoming vacancy. Recognizing that the IASA 2.0 work is fully underway and may yield a different structure for the IETF’s administration, the current search is for an interim IETF Administrative director, who will help ensure that the IETF’s administration continues to function smoothly over the next 12 to 18 months until any new plans are finalized and implemented as a result of IASA 2.0. The committee has opened a position and put out a call for applicants (see https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/ietf-announce/U3rvMfiYpEtWGHTJ3kX-SwQrm7o ).

The IAOC would like to thank everyone who replied to our call for volunteers for IAOC Committee work. We have added Charles Eckel to the Finance Committee, as well as Joseph Lorenzo Hall and Wendy Seltzer to the Legal Committee. Avri Doria has been appointed as co-Chair of the Meetings Committee. The Sponsorship Committee has been constituted, with Joel Bion, Gonzalo Camarillo, Glenn Deen, Lars Eggert and John Kristoff as community member appointees. The IAOC would also like to thank all departing community member appointees; the current membership can be seen here: http://iaoc.ietf.org/committees .

Since the beginning of the year the IAOC has been working with the Internet Society to increase the IETF’s administrative support by extending our relationship with AMS. Going forward, AMS will provide administrative support for the IAOC to ensure regular publication of minutes, documents, and other materials related to IASA work. Please look for Liz Flynn, who will take on the new work, in Prague, and join us in welcoming her to the team.

Additionally, AMS will be taking on some of the finance and accounting work for the overall IETF that was previously handled within ISOC, with a transition phase through July and August of this year. ISOC will remain responsible for audits and general oversight. We expect this move will be transparent to the general IETF participant, just as ISOC's previous efforts were.

Following up on concerns discussed at the beginning of 2017, the IAOC has effected a change of venue for the IETF 102 meeting in July of 2018. Instead of San Francisco, the meeting will now be held in Montreal. Securing the venue for Montreal required changing the dates from the week later to July 15-20, 2018. See https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/ietf/aaGWFpxPyLptVsKxvgSRNI9Kgvc/?qid=64f779732f5bd1cc36b14177aec9cb66 for the IETF Chair’s call for feedback on moving the meeting dates on May 2, 2017. See https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/ietf-announce/WS9N8eeO35tbe876-_6GmrgnSvY for much more detail on the IAOC deliberations and our expectation of the impact.

Work continues to finalize the venue for the IETF 103 meeting scheduled for November 2018 and we plan to have an update for the community when contract negotiations conclude.

Before IETF 98, we felt we were on the verge of releasing the long-awaited and much-reviewed. IETF Privacy Policy. Final details have finally been resolved, and expect an update very soon.

Last, but certainly not least, the IAOC is watching the IETF meeting registration level trend. Over the course of the last 6 meetings, it seems registration levels have been dropping below (usually accurately predictable) budgeted levels. Each meeting can be explained on its own, but the IAOC is exploring whether there is a trend to note. The numbers are important for at least two reasons: the first is that attendance is a metric of the perceived value of the IETF. The second, which is in the purview of the IAOC, is the inevitable impact on our budget as income levels drop. Expect to see this theme in more detail as we develop and deliver the 2018 IETF budget.

Leslie Daigle,
IAOC Chair, for the IAOC.