IAB Taps Polycom Principal Engineer as Executive Director
The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) has tapped Polycom’s principal UC engineer Mary Barnes to serve as executive director. What is the IAB and how does Polycom play into the future of the Internet? VARs working the UC space may be especially interested in knowing …
Polycom’s press release describes the IAB, and Barnes’ job within it, succinctly:
The IAB is a vital element of the global community devoted to making the Internet work reliably, securely, and efficiently.
In this role, Barnes will oversee the day-to-day workflow of the IAB, which assesses how fundamental changes in protocols and policies may affect privacy, the Domain Name System, network management, and other core aspects of the Internet.
Why is this a big deal? Because Barnes’s position in the IAB means that Polycom can continue its “video everywhere” ethos it so deeply embodies. One of the major stepping stones has been the development of the Open Visual Communications Consortium, and now with Barnes in place at the IAB, she’ll be “monitoring the status of IAB projects, organizing conferences and meetings, managing and editing requests for comments and IAB documents,” and a whole lot more. Since Barnes will continue to hold her position at Polycom, there will almost certainly be a focus in the IAB to ensure continued standardization of “visual and mobile” aspects that make the Internet more collaborative.
Want more proof? “At a time when IP-based communications technology is becoming mainstream in voice, video, and text, her perspective will be enormously valuable. We’re delighted to welcome Mary as the IAB’s new executive director,” said Bernard Aboba of the IAB chair. Barnes will “spearhead efforts to streamline and broaden communication with groups such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and its technical management arm, the Internet Engineering Steering Group” — all familiar territory for Barnes, since she’s been entrenched in system architecture development for over 25 years. Plus, this isn’t Barnes’ first rodeo when it comes to building out UC and Internet protocols, serving as vice chair of the Unified Communication Interoperability Forum.
Don’t forget Polycom’s other “video everywhere” moves, including vendor-agnostic RealPresence Updates, Microsoft Lync integration and its acquisition of ViVu, all of which suggest Polycom’s technology could quickly become integral in communication needs beyond the corporate and enterprise workplace.
