‘The Year of IETF’ by ISOC

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Society (ISOC) recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the IETF, the world’s leading Internet standards development body, just as ISOC has declared this year, “The Year of the IETF”.

The IETF is a large open international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. Its principal task today is the development and publication of technical specifications and standards for basic Internet protocols and is open to any interested individual.

The first IETF meeting was held on the afternoon of January 16, 1986, in San Diego, California. As a community-driven activity the IETF went on to pioneer a unique, open process for standards development. Open to all, and based on principles such as “rough consensus and running code”, the IETF has enabled the development of standards that have supported every aspect of the Internet’s phenomenal growth.

IETF Chair, Brian Carpenter said that the group is unique, “Unlike other standards bodies, there is very little in the way of formal hierarchy and there are no membership requirements or fees. The IETF welcomes broad participation by anyone interested in the future technical evolution and stability of the Internet - and IETF standards are available to all, without charge.”

For the chairman of the Internet Architecture Board at IETF, Leslie Daiglethere, the body has reach global recognition of its achievements especially in support of the development of Internet technology. As the demands on the Internet increase, “the IETF clearly has a vital role to play in ensuring that Internet technologies continue to evolve in a coherent and coordinated manner.”

Internet Architecture Board provides architectural oversight of IETF activities.

While the President of the Internet Society (ISOC), Lynn St.Amour, descributed it thus; “The success of the IETF has largely been due to a pragmatic, consensus-based approach to technology standards development.” Stressing, “Many of the principles of coop January 19, 2006 ration and collaboration that were developed in the IETF are now being successfully applied in other global forums. ISOC is proud to be associated with the IETF - we value its members’ accomplishments over the last 20 years and look forward to celebrating these achievements over the course of 2006.”

ISOC has declared 2006 “The Year of the IETF” and will be running several activities during the year in celebration of the IETF’s 20th anniversary.