I copied the following text from the IETF Application Area Web Page:
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Starting a working group
A working group is started to do work that the IETF thinks should be done.
Since you are the IETF, you decide!
The steps towards forming a working group are:
- Propose the idea to interested people. Often, existing WG lists and other
public fora are good for getting things aired.
- Convince the Area Directors that it is a good idea.
- Write a Charter for the working group. This should contain:
- The name and acronym for the WG
- One or more proposed chairpersons
- The name of the mailing list and its archive
- The purpose of the WG: What it will produce, and why
- The goals and milestones: When it will produce what it expects
to produce.
- Proposed editors for any documents to be produced should be
shown if possible.
If any of these are missing from the charter, it will be rejected summarily;
GET IT RIGHT!
Mail the charter to both area directors, with a CC to
iesg-secretary at cnri.reston.va.us. The area directors then either give
feedback or forward it to the IESG and IAB; expect at least 2 weeks to pass
before final approval is given. Note that final approval of chairs and
editors may be negotiated between the area directors and the proposers and
is subject to IESG review. Except in exceptional circumstances, WGs will not
be approved with one person acting as both chair and editor of a critical
document, nor will WGs be approved when different positions are expected to
emerge and the proposed chair is strongly identified with one of the positions.
When the IESG has approved the WG, it will be announced on the ietf-announce
list. This is the official "creation date" of the WG. If the IESG rejects
the charter, the ADs are responsible for telling the proposers why it was
rejected.
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Harald has confirmed that we can start the motions to get a WG formed even
before we hold the BOF in San Jose. This means that as soon as we are all
happy with the polishing of the Charter we can hand it in.
Regards,
Carl-Uno
Carl-Uno Manros
Xerox Corporation
701 S. Aviation Blvd.
M/S: ESAE-231
El Segundo, CA 90245, USA
E-mail: manros at cp10.es.xerox.com