| Internet-Draft | The IETF Chair Has an Emergency Stand-In | June 2026 |
| Eggert | Expires 31 December 2026 | [Page] |
This document defines a succession of emergency stand-ins in case the IETF Chair becomes incapacitated.¶
This note is to be removed before publishing as an RFC.¶
The latest revision of this draft can be found at https://ietf-wg-procon.github.io/ietf-chair-standin/draft-eggert-procon-chair-standin.html. Status information for this document may be found at https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-eggert-procon-chair-standin/.¶
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The role of the IETF Chair is a single point of failure for the organization, with no defined processes for allowing others to quickly and/or temporarily take over aspects of the role if the IETF Chair becomes partially or fully unable to serve. (The defined process is that for "mid-term vacancies" per Section 3.5 of [RFC8713], which can take up to six weeks to complete and only allows for the permanent replacement of the IETF Chair by another individual.)¶
This section describes who may stand in for the IETF Chair in case of emergency if they become unable to fulfill their duties.¶
As described in Section 1, the IETF Chair role is at the moment a single point of failure for the organization. In an emergency that incapacitated the IETF Chair, a recall petition followed by executing a "mid-term vacancy" replacement would need to be executed to name a new IETF Chair. This process will likely take several weeks at best, during which time there is no defined stand-in for the IETF Chair.¶
This document proposes that the IETF Chair, at their sole discretion, designates another Area Director as their stand-in immediately upon being seated and at anytime afterward in case changes need to be made. In case the IETF Chair becomes incapacitated, the stand-in will automatically and immediately assume the role of the IETF Chair. This emergency delegation ends as soon as the NomCom appoints a new IETF Chair or the IETF Chair declares themselves fit for duty again.¶
The usual security considerations [RFC3552] do not apply to this document.¶
This document has no IANA actions.¶
These individuals suggested improvements to this document:¶