Policymakers Program to the IETF
Bringing Policy Experts and the IETF Together
As the organizational home of the IETF, the Internet Society has developed the Policymakers Program to the IETF to allow for close interaction between policy experts from developing countries and IETF technical participants in an environment that supports dialogue, information sharing, and problem solving. The program also provides an opportunity for the IETF to gain a better understanding of policy concerns and priorities.
The Internet Society believes this interaction is critical, because, although very technical, IETF discussions shape the way online communications happen, and policy influences how these technical solutions are implemented and used by society at large. By working together, everyone benefits.
Building Support for Open Standards
The Policymakers Program to the IETF focuses on bridging the gap between the technical community and policymakers by giving policy experts an opportunity to interact directly with the open, multi-stakeholder community of technical experts at the IETF.
The goal is to build support among policymakers worldwide for the IETF’s unique model of standards development and how that contributes to the global Internet and to provide an opportunity for the IETF to gain a better understanding of the concerns and priorities in developing countries.
Topics addressed in the program include the following areas where the IETF’s work intersects with policy:
- Aspects of the Domain Name System (DNS)
- Overview of IP Routing
- Introduction to Interconnection and Traffic Exchange
- Security and Privacy Protocols
- Quality of Service (QoS)
- Open Standards Processes
Who Are Participants in the Policymakers Program to the IETF?
Participants in the Internet Society’s Policymakers Program to the IETF are senior-level policymakers in their country, organization, or region. They have deep experience in communications policy at the local, regional, or global level. Since 2012, the Internet Society has hosted policymakers from over 53 countries, crossing all regions, to attend the IETF.
Sponsor the IETF Policy Program
About IETF
The world’s premier Internet standards-setting organization, the IETF is responsible for developing many of the Internet’s most important standards, such as TCP/IP, email (POP, SMTP, IMAP), instant messaging (XMPP), VoIP (SIP, RTCWEB), and IPv6.
The IETF is an open, international community of volunteer specialists, including operators, network designers, researchers, and vendors, who collaborate to develop and promote the open standards that lie at the heart of the Internet.
The mission of the IETF is to produce high quality, relevant technical and engineering documents that influence the way people design, use, and manage the Internet in such a way as to make the Internet work better.
The IETF holds three open, face-to-face meetings in varying locations around the world each year.