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

Hi Vittorio,
At 08:09 AM 07-07-2026, Vittorio Bertola wrote:
>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.

The 15 positions opened yearly do not require strong technical 
competence.  There is an expectation that the people filling those 
positions will do the work.  If the work is not done, it may 
highlight a disconnect between what the community expected and what 
the person said he/she was doing.

>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.

The part of that community which I interacted with did not appear to 
be from one gender only.  I did not ask anyone for their personal 
details as that information is not necessary in a discussion.

I doubt that the entire community expects the person to write perfect English.

Regards,
S. Moonesamy