IRTF Chair

Internet Research Task Force (IRTF)

Responsibilities

The IRTF is managed by the IRTF Chair in consultation with the Internet Research Steering Group (IRSG). The IRTF Chair is appointed by the IAB. RFC 7827 details the role of the Chair further.

The IRTF Chair is responsible for ensuring that Research Groups produce coherent, coordinated, architecturally consistent and timely output as a contribution to the overall evolution of the Internet architecture. In addition to the detailed tasks related to Research Groups outlined below, the IRTF Chair may also from time to time arrange for topical workshops attended by the IRSG and perhaps other experts in the field.

Planning
The IRTF Chair monitors the range of activities. This may include encouraging the formation of Research Groups directly, rather than waiting for proposals from IRTF participants.
Research Group Coordination
The IRTF Chair coordinates the work done by the various Research Groups.
Reporting
The IRTF Chair reports on IRTF progress to the to the IAB and the wider Internet community.
Progress Tracking
The IRTF Chair tracks and manages the progress of the various Research Groups with the aid of a regular status report on documents and accomplishments from the Research Group Chairs.

Anyone interested in creating an IRTF Research Group must submit a charter for the proposed group to the IRTF Chair along with a list of proposed founding members. The formation of a Research Group requires a charter which is initially negotiated between a prospective Research Group Chair and the IRTF Chair. When the prospective Chair and the IRTF Chair are satisfied with the charter form and content, it becomes the basis for forming a Research Group.

Current Chair

Dirk Kutscher is an Associate Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) where is directing the Future Networked Systems Laboratory (FNSL). Dirk’s main interests lie in the intersection of distributed computing and networking and in Internet architecture. Previously, Dirk has been a co-chair of the Information-Centric Networking Research Group (ICNRG) and the Decentralization of the Internet Research Group (DINRG). Dirk previously worked as the CTO for Virtual Networking in Huawei’s German Research Center, the Chief Researcher for Networking at NEC Laboratories Europe, and was a Visiting Researcher at KDDI R&D Laboratories in Japan. Dirk holds a German Diploma in Computer Science and a PhD degree from Universität Bremen in Germany.

Dirk Kutscher

Past Chairs