As part of its work to look at potential agreements with service providers, the IASA Transition Team has been reviewing the possibilities for IETF secretariat functions for 2005. As you have heard, CNRI has committed to running the IETF Secretariat for 2005, as it has done in the past, unless and until a suitable alternate arrangement is established.
The IASA Transition Team has been informed by CNRI and NeuStar that discussions are underway to sell Foretec to NeuStar, after which NeuStar would create a new, non-profit company with the intent of offering continuing Secretariat services to the IETF with changed management and under new rules of financial transparency and management control. To date, we are unaware of any binding agreements having been made between CNRI and NeuStar.
The IASA TT observes that this arrangement would have the advantage of preserving the continuity of the Secretariat operation and ensuring that both the 2005 meeting schedule and the ongoing support of the IESG and working groups proceed without interruption. At the same time, a very large portion of the goals of the Administrative Restructuring effort would be accomplished. Specifically, within the next few months:
o The IASA operation will be in place as an IETF-controlled activity within the Internet Society
o There will be full financial transparency and accountability
o There will be full management accountability
o All future intellectual property will be unequivocally accessible to the IETF and the community.
Therefore, the Transition Team is favorably inclined to consider a proposal from NeuStar for continuing Secretariat services under very specific conditions.
1. This arrangement would be for a limited period of time, after which the IASA will review the performance and proceed to an open RFP (in which this new company could reasonably compete)
2. The operating relationship between the IASA and the NeuStar entity would be based on the IASA-Secretariat relationship framework described below.
Leslie, for The IASA Transition Team
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Proposed IASA-Secretariat relationship framework
Upon establishment of the IASA, it (or the appropriate component of the IASA, as defined by the BCP) will interact with the organization(s) providing secretariat services as follows:
1. The IASA, on behalf of the IETF expects to operate under a written agreement with the provider(s) of IETF secretariat functions.
2. The IASA will be accountable for all money received and expended on behalf of the IETF (as described in the IASA BCP). This necessarily means that the IASA is responsible for decisions related to expenditures. Implementation details for decision making, requests, and authorization will be defined in the written agreement(s) between IASA and the provider(s).
2.1 The IASA will approve new meeting location proposals.
2.2 The IASA will manage proposals for administrative infrastructure improvements (software, tools requirements and expenditures).
2.3 The IASA will be responsible for maintaining the IETF administrative work descriptions and assignments, beyond the existing definition of "secretariat" activities.
3. The IASA will evaluate the performance of the services and will make decisions for service continuation or termination.
4. In principle, all data and any other IPR created or collected on behalf of the IETF for secretariat purposes will be made accessible to the IASA on a regular basis, and the IASA may make that data available to other parties to perform activities not included in the secretariat functions.
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