Ericsson's Arkko named IETF General Area chairman

Jari Arkko, Ericsson Expert in Internet Architecture, will take over the chairmanship of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the organisation has announced. Arkko's two-year term will begin when current chairman Russ Housley steps down in March.

Jari Arkko

"The IETF nominating committee has worked on selecting persons for IETF chair and other leadership positions. On March 13, I will start my work as IETF chair" Arkko said in a statement confirming his appointment.

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a large, open international community whose mission is to make the Internet work better.

It does this by producing high-quality technical documents to influence how people design, use and manage the Internet.

This work is divided into eight specific areas, with the chairperson of the IETF as a whole also overseeing work in one of those areas, known as the General Area.

Arkko described the importance of the work done by the IETF to companies like Ericsson.

"The mission of the IETF is to make the Internet work better. The Internet is not centrally managed, but rather people with very different perspectives have to agree on how it works in a manner that allows computers in the Internet to talk to each other," he said.

"This allows the Internet to continue its growth, and promotes the building of new innovative applications. The IETF is a forum for users, vendors, and operators to discuss and develop the basic Internet standards.

Arkko said that during his upcoming two-year tenure, the focus would be on responding to the developing demands for the Internet technology as mobile devices and smart objects overtake the number of other types of devices on the Internet.

"Naturally we have to respond to the developing demands for the Internet technology itself. The Internet continues to evolve - for instance, mobile devices and smart objects are overtaking the number of other types of devices in the Internet. Security, scaling the network and deployment of IPv6 will also continue to be important in the coming years."

Representing hundreds of different organisations, IETF members come from over 60 countries. They include network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers who share a common interest in the evolution of the Internet architecture and its smooth operation.

"Jari Arkko's appointment is a recognition of all the hard work he has put in," says Jan Färjh, Ericsson's Head of Standardization & Industry.

"It's also a possibility for Ericsson to further show our long-term commitment to global standardization work. Jari's dedicated way of working and his excellent competence will contribute in a brilliant way in his new role.

Färjh's positive sentiments were echoed by Sara Mazur, Head of Ericsson Research.

"I see the work done in IETF as extremely important, and Ericsson will benefit on having such an accomplished person such as Jari Arkko leading the work as chair of IETF.

"We at Ericsson Research continuously work to have internationally-recognized leading experts and assume leading positions in all that we do, and Jari´s appointment is an excellent example of that."

Jari Arkko lives in the small city of Kauniainen in Finland, and studied computer science and industrial economics at the Helsinki University of Technology before joining Ericsson in 1991.