





Network Working Group                                         G. Fishman
Request for Comments: 3356                             Bell Laboratories
Obsoletes: 2436                                               S. Bradner
Category: Informational                               Harvard University
                                                             August 2002

           Internet Engineering Task Force and International
             Telecommunication Union - Telecommunications
            Standardization Sector Collaboration Guidelines

Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document provides guidance to aid in the understanding of
   collaboration on standards development between the International
   Telecommunication Union -- Telecommunication Standardization Sector
   (ITU-T) and the Internet Society (ISOC) / Internet Engineering Task
   Force (IETF).  It is an update of and obsoletes RFC 2436.  The
   updates reflect changes in the IETF and ITU-T since RFC 2436 was
   written.  The bulk of this document is common text with ITU-T
   Supplement 3 to the ITU-T A-Series Recommendations.

   Note:  This was approved by ITU-T TSAG on 30 November 2001 as a
   Supplement to the ITU-T A-Series of Recommendations (will be numbered
   as A-Series Supplement 3).

Table of Contents

   1.  Scope...........................................................2
   2.  Introduction ...................................................2
   3.  Guidance on collaboration.......................................3
   3.1 How to interact on ITU-T or IETF work items.....................3
   3.2 Representation..................................................4
   3.3 Document sharing................................................7
   3.4 Simple cross referencing........................................8
   3.5 Additional items................................................8
   4.  Security Considerations........................................10
   5.  Non-normative references.......................................10
   6.  Acknowledgements...............................................10



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   7.  Changes since RFC 2436.........................................10
   8.  Author's addresses.............................................11
   9.  Full Copyright Statement.......................................12

1. Scope

   This document provides guidance to aid in the understanding of
   collaboration on standards development between the ITU-T and the
   Internet Society (ISOC) / Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

   In the IETF, work is done in Working Groups (WG), mostly through
   open, public mailing lists rather than face-to-face meetings.  WGs
   are organized into Areas, each Area being managed by two co-Area
   Directors.  Collectively, the Area Directors comprise the Internet
   Engineering Steering Group (IESG).

   In the ITU-T, work is defined by study Questions which are worked on
   mostly through meetings led by Rapporteurs.  Questions are generally
   grouped within Working Parties (WPs) led by a WP Chairman.  Working
   Parties report to a parent Study Group led by a SG Chairman.

2. Introduction

   The telecommunication industry is faced with an explosion in growth
   of the Internet and other IP (Internet Protocol) based networks.
   Operators, manufacturers and software/application providers alike are
   reconsidering their business directions and Standards Development
   Organizations and Forums and Consortia are facing an immense
   challenge to address this situation.

   These challenges were considered by TSAG in September 1998 and IETF
   shortly thereafter, when it was initially recognized that the ITU-T
   and ISOC/IETF were already collaborating in a number of areas, and
   that this collaboration must be strengthened within the context of
   changes in work emphasis and direction within the ITU-T on studies
   related to IP based networks.

   For example, many Study Groups already address aspects of IP based
   networks.  There are many topics of interest to ITU-T Study Groups in
   the IP area that should be investigated (e.g., signaling, routing,
   security, numbering & addressing, integrated management, performance,
   IP - telecom interworking, access).  Since many of these topics are
   also being investigated by the IETF, there is a requirement for close
   collaboration.







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   The current level of cooperation between the ITU-T and the IETF
   should be built upon to ensure that the competence and experience of
   each organization is brought to bear in the most effective manner and
   in collaboration with the other.  This document provides guidelines
   for collaboration between the ITU-T and the IETF.

3. Guidance on Collaboration

   This section builds on existing collaborative processes and details
   some of the more important guidance points that each organization
   should be aware of for effective collaboration.

3.1 How to Interact on ITU-T or IETF Work Items

   Study Groups that have identified work topics that are IP-related
   should evaluate the relationship with topics defined in the IETF.
   Current IETF Working Groups and their charters (IETF definition of
   the scope of work) are listed in the IETF archives (see section 3.5).

   A Study Group may decide that development of a Recommendation on a
   particular topic may benefit from collaboration with the IETF.  The
   Study Group should identify this collaboration in its work plan
   (specifically in that of each Question involved), describing the goal
   of the collaboration and its expected outcome.

   An IETF Working Group should also evaluate and identify areas of
   relationship with the ITU-T and document the collaboration with the
   ITU-T Study Group in its charter.  The following sections outline a
   process that can be used to enable each group to learn about the
   other's new work items.

3.1.1 How the ITU-T Learns About Existing IETF Work Items

   The responsibility is on individual Study Groups to review the
   current IETF Working Groups to determine if there are any topics of
   mutual interest.  Should a Study Group believe that there is an
   opportunity for collaboration on a topic of mutual interest, it
   should contact both the IETF Working Group Chair and the Area
   Director(s) responsible.

3.1.2 How the ITU-T learns about proposed new IETF work items

   The IETF maintains a mailing list for the distribution of proposed
   new work items among standards development organizations.  The IETF
   forwards draft charters for all new and revised Working Groups and
   Birds Of a Feather session announcements to the IETF NewWork mailing
   list.  An ITU-T mail exploder is subscribed to this list.  It is
   recommended that each Study Group subscribe to this ITU-T exploder,



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   which is maintained by the TSB.  Members of the SG-specific listname
   may include the SG Chairman, SG Vice Chairmen, Working Party
   Chairmen, concerned Rapporteurs, other experts designated by the SG
   and the SG Counselor.  This will enable the SGs to monitor the new
   work items for possible overlap or interest to their Study Group.  It
   is expected that this mailing list will see a few messages per month.
   Each SG Chairman, or designated representative, may provide comments
   on these charters by responding to the IESG mailing list at
   iesg@ietf.org clearly indicating their ITU-T position and the nature
   of their concern.  Plain-text email is preferred on the IESG mailing
   list.

   It should be noted that the IETF turnaround time for new Working
   Group charters is two weeks.  As a result, the mailing list should be
   consistently monitored.

3.1.3 How the IETF Learns About ITU-T Work Items

   The ITU-T work programme is documented in the Questions of each Study
   Group.  These can be found on the ITU-T web site.

   Study Groups should send updates to the IETF NewWork mailing list as
   they occur.  Area Directors or WG Chairs should provide comments to
   the relevant SG Chairman in cases of possible overlap or interest.

3.2 Representation

   ISOC, including its standards body IETF, is a Sector Member of the
   ITU-T.  As a result, ISOC delegates are therefore afforded the same
   rights as other ITU-T Sector Members (see 3.2.1).  Conversely, ITU-T
   delegates may participate in the work of the IETF as representatives
   of the ITU-T (see 3.2.2).  To promote collaboration it is useful to
   facilitate communication between the organizations as further
   described below.

3.2.1 IETF Recognition at ITU-T

   Participants from the IETF may participate in ITU-T meetings as ISOC
   delegates if the appropriate IETF Working Group (or Area) has
   approved their attendance.  This approval will be communicated to the
   TSB in the form of a registration for a particular ITU-T meeting by
   the IAB Chair.

3.2.2 ITU-T Recognition at ISOC/IETF

   ITU-T Study Group Chairmen can authorize one or more members to
   attend an IETF meeting as an official ITU-T delegate speaking
   authoritatively on behalf of the activities of the Study Group (or a



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   particular Rapporteur Group).  The Study Group Chairman sends the
   ITU-T list of delegates by email to the Working Group chair, with a
   copy to the Area Directors, and also to the Study Group.  Note that,
   according to IETF process, opinions expressed by any such delegate
   are given equal weight with opinions expressed by other working group
   participants.

3.2.3 Communication Contacts

   To foster ongoing communication between the ITU-T and IETF, it is
   important to identify and establish contact points within each
   organization.  Contact points may include:

   1) ITU-T Study Group Chairman and IETF Area Director

      An IETF Area Director is the individual responsible for overseeing
      a major focus of activity with a scope similar to that of an ITU-T
      Study Group Chairman.  These positions are both relatively long-
      term (of several years) and offer the stability of contact points
      between the two organizations for a given topic.

   2) ITU-T Rapporteur and IETF Working Group Chair

      An IETF Working Group Chair is an individual who is assigned to
      lead the work on a specific task within one particular Area with a
      scope similar to that of an ITU-T Rapporteur.  These positions are
      working positions (of a year or more) that typically end when the
      work on a specific topic ends.  Collaboration here is very
      beneficial to ensure the actual work gets done.

   3) Other Contact Points

      It may be beneficial to establish additional contact points for
      specific topics of mutual interest.  These contact points should
      be established early in the work effort, and in some cases the
      contact point identified by each organization may be the same
      individual.

   Note that the current IETF Area Directors and Working Group Chairs
   can be found in the IETF Working Group charters.  The current ITU-T
   Study Group Chairmen and Rapporteurs are listed on the ITU-T web
   page.

3.2.4 Communication

   Informal communication between contact points and experts of both
   organizations is encouraged.  However, note that formal communication
   from an ITU-T Study Group, Working Party or Rapporteur to an



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   associated IETF contact point must be explicitly approved and
   identified as coming from the Study Group, Working Party or
   Rapporteur Group, respectively.  Formal communication from the ITU-T
   to the IETF should be addressed to the appropriate Working Group
   Chairs and Area Directors with a copy to the email address
   "statements@ietf.org."  These communications are placed by the IETF
   onto a liaison statements web page at
   http://www.ietf.org/IESG/liaison.html.  An individual at the IETF is
   assigned responsibility for dealing with each communication that is
   received.  The name and contact information of the responsible person
   is listed with the links to the communications on this web page.

   Conversely, formal communication from an IETF Working Group or Area
   Director must also be explicitly approved and identified before
   forwarding to any ITU-T contact.  This approval is indicated in IETF
   communication by copying the appropriate Working Group Chairs and
   Area Directors.  Formal communication is intended to allow the
   sharing of positions between the IETF and the ITU-T outside of actual
   documents (as described in 3.3).  This would cover such things as
   comments on documents and requests for input.  The approved
   communication is simply emailed from one body contact to another (the
   appropriate mailing lists, as described in 3.2.5 may be copied).

3.2.5 Mailing Lists

   All IETF Working Groups and all ITU-T Study Group Questions have
   associated mailing lists.

   In the IETF, the mailing list is the primary vehicle for discussion
   and decision-making.  It is recommended that the ITU-T experts
   interested in particular IETF Working Group topics subscribe to and
   participate in these lists.  IETF WG mailing lists are open to all
   subscribers.  The IETF Working Group mailing list subscription and
   archive information are noted in each Working Group's charter.  In
   the ITU-T, the TSB has set up formal mailing lists for Questions,
   Working Parties and other topics within Study Groups (more detail can
   be found on the ITU website).  These mailing lists are typically used
   for discussion of ITU-T contributions.  Note that individual
   subscribers to this list must be affiliated with an ITU-T member (at
   this time, there is no blanket inclusion of all IETF participants as
   members, however, as a member, ISOC may designate representatives to
   subscribe).  Alternatively, ITU-T members operate personal mailing
   lists on various topics with no restrictions on membership (e.g.,
   IETF participants are welcome).







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3.3 Document Sharing

   During the course of ITU-T and IETF collaboration it is important to
   share working drafts and documents among the technical working
   groups.  Initially proposed concepts and specifications typically can
   be circulated by email (often just repeating the concept and not
   including the details of the specification) on both the IETF and
   ITU-T mailing lists.  In addition, working texts (or URLs) of draft
   Recommendations, Internet Drafts or RFCs may also be sent between the
   organizations as described below.

   Internet Drafts are available on the IETF web site.  The ITU-T can
   make selected ITU-T documents available in a common FTP area on the
   ITU-T web site.  Although a communication can point to a URL where a
   non-ASCII document (e.g., Word) can be downloaded, Word attachments
   to an IETF mailing list are discouraged.  It should also be
   recognized that the official version of all IETF documents are in
   ASCII.

3.3.1 IETF to ITU-T

   IETF documents (e.g., Internet Drafts) can be submitted to a Study
   Group as a Contribution from ISOC.  In order to ensure that the IETF
   has properly authorized this, the IETF Working Group must agree that
   the specific drafts are of mutual interest, that there is a benefit
   in forwarding them to the ITU-T for review, comment and potential use
   and that the document status is accurately represented in the cover
   letter.  Once agreed, the appropriate Area Directors would review the
   Working Group request and give approval.  The contributions would
   then be forwarded (with the noted approval) to the TSB for
   circulation as a Study Group Contribution (see 3.2.4).

3.3.2 ITU-T to IETF

   A Study Group or Working Party may send texts of draft new or revised
   Recommendations, clearly indicating their status, to the IETF as
   contributions in the form of Internet Drafts.  Internet Drafts are
   IETF temporary documents that expire six months after being
   published.  The Study Group or Working Party must decide that there
   is a benefit in forwarding them to the IETF for review, comment and
   potential use.  Terms of reference for Rapporteur Group meetings may
   authorize Rapporteur Groups to send working documents, in the form of
   Internet Drafts, to the IETF.

   In these cases, the document editor would be instructed to prepare
   the contribution in Internet Draft format (in ASCII and optionally
   postscript format as per [RFC2223]) and submit it to the Internet
   Draft editor (email internet-drafts@ietf.org).  Alternatively, the



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   Study Group, Working Party or Rapporteur Group could agree to post
   the document on a web site and merely document its existence with a
   short Internet Draft that contains a summary and the document URL.
   The URL can point to a Word document as long as it is publicly
   available and with the understanding that it will not be eligible for
   publication as an RFC in that format.

   Both the Rapporteur and the Document Editor should be identified as
   contacts in the contribution.  The contribution must also clearly
   indicate that the Internet Draft is a working document of a
   particular ITU-T Study Group.

3.3.3 ITU-T & IETF

   It is envisaged that the processes of 3.3.1 & 3.3.2 will often be
   used simultaneously by both an IETF Working Group and an ITU-T Study
   Group to collaborate on a topic of mutual interest.

   It is also envisaged that the outcome of the collaboration will be
   the documentation in full by one body and its referencing by the
   other (see section 3.4 for details).  That is, common or joint text
   is discouraged because of the current differences in procedures for
   document approval and revision.  Where complementary work is being
   undertaken in both organizations that will result in Recommendations
   or RFCs, due allowance should be given to the differing perspectives,
   working methods, and procedures of the two organizations.  That is,
   each organization should understand the other organization's
   procedures and strive to respect them in the collaboration.

3.4 Simple Cross Referencing

   ITU-T Recommendation A.5 describes the process for including
   references to documents of other organizations in ITU-T
   Recommendations.  Information specific to referencing IETF RFCs is
   found at http://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-t/sdo/ref-a.5/isocietf.html.

   IETF RFC2026, specifically section 7.1.1, describes the process for
   referencing other open standards (like ITU-T Recommendations) in IETF
   RFCs.

3.5  Additional Items

3.5.1 Several URLs to IETF procedures are provided here for information:

   RFC2223  - Instructions to RFC Authors, October 1997
      http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2223.txt





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   RFC2026  - The Internet Standards Process Revision 3, October 1996
      http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2026.txt

   RFC2418 - IETF Working Group Guidelines and Procedures, September
      1998 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2418.txt

   Current list and status of all IETF RFCs:
      ftp://ftp.ietf.org/rfc/rfc-index.txt

   Current list and description of all IETF Internet Drafts:
      ftp://ftp.ietf.org/internet-drafts/1id-abstracts.txt

   Current list of IETF Working Groups and their Charters: (includes
      Area Directors and Chair contacts, Mailing list information, etc.)
      http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/wg-dir.html

   RFC Editor pages about publishing RFCs:
      http://www.rfc-editor.org/howtopub.html

   Current list of liaison statements:
      http://www.ietf.org/IESG/liaison.html

   IETF Intellectual Property Rights Notices:
      http://www.ietf.org/ipr.html

3.5.2 Current ITU-T information can be found on the ITU website:
      (includes contacts, organization, Recommendations for purchase,
      mailing list info, etc.)

   ITU-T Main page: http://www.itu.int/ITU-T

   List of all ITU-T Recommendations:
      http://www.itu.int/publibase/itu-t/

   ITU-T Study Group main page for Study Group NN (where NN is the
      2-digit SG number):
      http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/studygroups/comNN/index.html

   ITU-T Special Study Group on IMT-2000 and beyond:
      http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/studygroups/ssg/index.html

   Intellectual Property policies, forms and databases:
      http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/dbase/patent/index.html








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   ITU-T operational matters including:
      Recommendation A.1 - Study Group work methods
      Recommendation A.2 - Preparation of written contributions
      Recommendation A.4 - Communication process between ITU-T and
      forums and consortia
      Recommendation A.5 - Include reference to documents of other
      organizations in ITU-T Recs
      Recommendation A.8 - Alternative Approval Process for
      Recommendations: http://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-t/rec/A

   ITU T Procedures including:
      Resolution 1 - Rules of Procedure for ITU-T
      Resolution 2 - Study Group responsibility and mandates
      http://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-t/wtsa-res/index.html

   Authors Guide for drafting ITU-T Recommendations:
      http://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-t/guide/64657.html

   Templates for contributions:
      http://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-t/com2/template/w2000tem/index.html

4. Security Considerations

   Documents that describe cooperation procedures, like this one does,
   have no direct Internet security implications.

5. Non-normative references

   [RFC2026] Bradner. S, " The Internet Standards Process -- Revision
             3", BCP 9, RFC 2026, October 1996.

   [RFC2223] Postel, J. and J. Reynolds, "Instructions to RFC Authors",
             RFC 2223, October 1997.

   [RFC2436] Brett, R., Bradner, S. and G. Parsons, "Collaboration
             between ISOC/IETF and ITU-T", RFC 2436, October 1998.

6. Acknowledgements

   This document is based on the text from RFC 2436 and benefited
   greatly from discussions during the November 2001 ITU-T TSAG meeting.

7. Changes since RFC 2436

   The wording has been cleaned up in a number of places, a few
   additional references have been provided, and the details of the
   cooperation process have been modified slightly.




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   Sec 3.2.1 - Registration for IETF representatives to ITU-T meetings
      is now done by IAB Chair instead of the ISOC VP for Standards.
   Sec 3.2.2 - Notice of ITU-T delegates to IETF Working Group meetings
      is now sent to the Working Group chairs and appropriate Area
      Directors instead of the ISOC VP for Standards.
   Sec 3.2.4 - Official communications from the ITU-T to the IETF now
      are sent to the appropriate Working Group Chairs and Area
      Directors with a copy to the email address "statements@ietf.org"
      instead of to the ISOC VP for Standards.  A description of the new
      IETF liaison statements web page was added.  Official approval of
      messages from the IETF to the ITU-T is now indicated by having the
      appropriate Working Group Chairs and Area Directors copied on the
      message.
   Sec 3.3 - A description of the new ITU-T common FTP area was added.
   Sec 3.3.1 - The appropriate Area Directors now review documents to be
      sent to the ITU-T instead of the ISOC VP for Standards.
   Annex A was removed as unneeded.

8. Author's addresses

   Gary Fishman
   Bell Laboratories
   101 Crawfords Corner Road
   Room 4D-605B
   Holmdel, NJ 07733-3030
   USA
   +1 732 949 3401
   EMail: garyfishman@lucent.com


   Scott Bradner
   Harvard University
   29 Oxford St.
   Cambridge MA 02138
   USA
   +1 617 495 3864
   EMail: sob@Harvard.edu














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9.  Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002).  All Rights Reserved.

   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
   English.

   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS 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.

Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.



















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