Re: Comments on Composition and Comportment of the IETF Nominating Committee draft

 

> Il 07/07/2026 15:34 CEST Joel Halpern <[email protected]> ha scritto:
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> There are a couple of assertions in your email that I question.
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> II have no disagreement with your observation that diverse teams produce (statistically) better results.
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Honestly, this really depends on the job. Most of the IETF positions require strong technical and organization-specific competence: as long as all candidates meet a sufficient threshold in terms of competence (not necessarily being a super expert, but at least knowing enough so that the rest can be learned quickly), diversity in other dimensions generally produces better results. However, I think we can agree that having a diverse but incompetent person in a position of high responsibility can lead to disasters.
 
This is why I think that the most important factor for a successful diversification of IETF appointments is that Nomcom members value diversity and pursue it without even needing to be forced to do so by the process. Maybe in some basic dimensions we could have guiding principles, such as "the set of appointees SHOULD NOT be composed entirely of candidates from the same gender". Also, it's fine to think at how to conduct the process in ways that minimize the chances of discrimination (towards those who do not speak English natively, for example). But all in all, a clear community input to the Nomcom to pursue more diversity in its choices should be the starting point.

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Vittorio Bertola | Head of Policy & Innovation, Open-Xchange
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