CZ:Wishlist/Establish Relationship with External Organization/Editorial council proposal

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Proposal to establish a new internet workgroup

This request proposes the establishment of a new internet subgroup that operates within the computers and engineering workgroups. The arguments supporting this request are:

• Currently, internet articles are handled within the computers workgroup. However, the subject matter addressed by these articles is more clearly categorized as the application of computing and communications to the provision of internet service. Communications technology is foundational in the internet and its study is an engineering discipline.
• Some authors involved in writing about internet topics also have expertise in computing. However, many do not. For example, the theory, design and engineering of physical layer mechanisms requires little or no understanding of computing (other than how to use computers to run applications supporting this activity). Topics in this area are more closely related to mathematics, electronics and physics, the practical application of which is part of engineering.
• Many contributors who write about the internet have no interest at all in computing. They focus on internet specific issues, such as internet performance, internet stability, internet security, and internet architecture.
• The separation of computing and internet design/engineering is recognized by the separation of the organizations that focus on these issues from those that focus on computing. The IEEE Computer Society and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) sponsor conferences and journals in computing. However, the internet is not a main area of interest for these organizations. The IEEE Communications Society addresses many issues that relate to internetworking. Especially at the physical layer, it hosts conferences and supports journals that contribute significantly to the development of the internet.

Consequently, the establishment of an internet subgroup associated with both the computers and engineering workgroups follows common practice in the technical community. It would allow authors and editors who focus on the internet to work within a community of interest that matches their own.

For these reasons, we request approval by the editorial council for the establishment of an internet subgroup.

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