Draft: RIPE Working Group Chair Job Description and Procedures [2025]

Table of contents

1. Introduction and scope
2. Role of Working Groups in RIPE
3. Responsibilities of the Working Group Chairs
   3.1 Organising WG sessions
   3.2 WG Mailing Lists
   3.3 RIPE Working Group Chairs and the Policy Development Process
4. Working Group Chair Selection Process
5. Working Group Chair Collective
6. Acknowledgements
7. References

1. Introduction and Scope

RIPE working group (WG) chairs are an essential part of the RIPE community. All WG chairs serve as volunteers. They play an important role in building trust in the processes and values agreed by the RIPE community and in enabling RIPE to meet its objective: the administrative and technical coordination for the stable operation of the Internet through a community-driven, bottom-up process.

RIPE WG chairs facilitate discussions and policy developments. They look after the wellbeing of the working group as a whole and ensure that all voices are heard. 

This document describes the role, responsibilities, and expectations for RIPE WG chairs. It covers the overall management and leadership of a RIPE WG, including preparation and management of WG sessions, development and review of the charter, work items and chair selection process as well as the management and moderation of the WG mailing list. 

2. Role of Working Groups in RIPE

RIPE working groups focus on specific areas of interest to the RIPE community, such as developments in technology, legislation and regulation, and operational co-operation.

RIPE working groups make their work available to the community, to the RIPE NCC, to governments, and to civil society as resources for capacity building, recommendations for best practice, policy statements, briefings, and advice.

Each working group has a charter which sets out the current focus and objectives of the WG. The charter is developed by the members of the WG together with the WG chairs. WG charters and work items should be reviewed on a regular basis.

3. Roles and Responsibilities of Working Group Chairs

WG chairs have a leadership role in the community and take on the responsibility to guide and manage a particular WG. WGs typically have two or three co-chairs who can share the workload and work as a team. The co-chairs jointly take on all the duties of leading their working group. These duties are described in the next following sections.

3.1 Organising WG Sessions

WGs typically convene at RIPE Meetings. However, this is not a requirement. If a WG has no open work items or no agenda points, it can also skip a meeting. In addition to that, it is possible to hold interim sessions online. This can be useful if there is an urgent matter to discuss or if not all agenda items can be covered during a RIPE Meeting. The RIPE NCC can help facilitate these interim meetings. 

The WG co-chairs are responsible for managing the working group's agenda and workload. This means identifying what should be discussed or worked on and when.

WG chairs are responsible for ensuring that voices from across the RIPE community are heard. This might mean selecting volunteers for a particular task. When doing this, the co-chairs must serve the best interests of the whole community.

3.1.1 Preparing the agenda

WG chairs need to send out a call for agenda items to the WG mailing list before each meeting. WG chairs are encouraged to actively solicit content. An agenda should be published two weeks before the meeting at the latest. WG chairs are responsible for setting the agenda based on the input received. It is also their responsibility to keep those who submitted agenda items or presentations informed about the status of their submission. This should be done well in time before the meeting, so that presenters can take this into account when making travel plans.  

3.1.2 Running a WG session

During a WG session, it is the responsibility of the WG chairs to present the agenda, introduce the speakers, facilitate discussion and watch the time. WG chairs coordinate before each meeting and distribute the tasks (e.g. introducing speakers, time keeping, discussion moderation). It is recommended that at least one of the co-chairs is present at a WG session. Remote chairing is also possible.

3.1.3 RIPE Working Group Minutes

Minutes of WG sessions are typically provided by the RIPE secretariat (the RIPE NCC). RIPE NCC staff share draft minutes with the WG chairs after each meeting. It is the responsibility of the WG chairs to review the minutes and share them with the WG before they are marked as final on the working group's webpage. 

3.2 Working Group Mailing Lists

Each RIPE WG has a mailing list, which enables the WG to continue its activities throughout the year, in between, and during, RIPE meetings.

All mailing lists are publicly archived and open to everyone interested in the activity of the WG.

RIPE WG chairs are responsible for monitoring, managing and moderating their WG mailing list. This means they encourage and facilitate discussion and open debate. They also ensure the RIPE Code of Conduct is followed. If there is misconduct on the list, it is the responsibility of the chairs to deal with that. This should be done in collaboration with the RIPE Code of Conduct Team. More information can be found in Mailing List Guidelines for RIPE Working Chairs.

3.3. RIPE Working Group Chairs and the PDP

Policy development is a formal process for the RIPE community to communicate requirements to the RIPE NCC. Usually, this activity takes place in only a few WGs. Occasionally, the scope of  a particular policy proposal might fit better in another WG. For this reason, it is very important that all WG chairs are familiar with the policy development process and the way consensus is built to come to the best possible outcome.

In addition, the WG Chairs’ Collective (WGCC) occasionally has to review the handling of a specific policy proposal, as a first level of appeal.

4. Working Group Chair Selection Process

Each WG selects their co-chairs on a regular basis. The process should be announced well in advance to the WG members to avoid surprise and to encourage as many volunteers as possible. 

Most WGs have agreed to follow a number of best practices:

• Having volunteer nominations sent directly to the WG co-chairs (and not on the list)
• Implementing terms of two or three years for each co-chair
• Holding a selection process that allows for online participation

5. Working Group Chairs Collective

All WG chairs together with the RIPE Chair Team meet regularly to exchange ideas and to provide feedback to the RIPE NCC and to discuss any other topics relevant to their role.

As a collective, RIPE WG chairs have a number of closely defined responsibilities. They are described in a separate document. 

6. Acknowledgements

Thanks to all current Working Group chairs for review. 

7. References

• RIPE Working Group Chairs Training
• Interim Meetings
• Mailing List Moderation
• Tasks of the WG Chair Collective
• Policy Development Process
• RIPE Code of Conduct and Process

8. Document History

Reviewed by WG chairs

Sent to community

Last Call

Consensus declared