RSSAC057 (Requirements for Measurements of the Local Perspective on the Root Server System) was published in September 2021.  This document describes measurements and tools that can assess the performance of the RSS from an arbitrary location on the Internet.  In the RSSAC057 document, recommendation #2 is: 

The RSSAC recommends that the ICANN Board identify a person or group to collaborate with the RSSAC Caucus on further development of a data repository as described in Section 5 of this document.   The purpose of such collaboration is to make a specific

proposals for a data repository, including:

A.  Implementation of the data publication mechanism

B.  Whether or not access to measurement results should be public or limited due to privacy concerns

C.  How to ensure data quality and prevent abuse

D.  A proposed database schema and model

E.  A proposed data exchange format (e.g., JSON)

F.  Cost estimates for the initial development and ongoing operation

G.  Identification of groups or parties that could operate the data repository

The reasoning behind making such a data repository is so that analysis of the data could be done and yield insights that could be used to improve the RSS.  The RSSAC caucus is now being asked if they still want to pursue this recommendation.

At the 21 July RSSAC Caucus meeting, this topic was discussed, and the following points were made:

1. Using a tool and publishing data to the repository is voluntary and ad-hoc.  The data collected in the repository would not be a good representation of global Internet usage.  Therefore, any outcomes from the analysis of such data would be of little use for drawing conclusions on how to improve the RSS.
2. Engineering a system that remains open for anyone to easily contribute valid data, while protecting against misuse or “polluting” the data sets would be difficult to design and implement effectively.
3. Privacy issues with collected data (such as source IP address) would be difficult to manage.

The consensus in the room was that Recommendation #2 was not something that the caucus want to pursue at this time.  We want to solicit further input from the caucus on whether we should still pursue this recommendation or consider it closed for now.

RSSAC 057 document:

https://itp.cdn.icann.org/en/files/root-server-system-advisory-committee-rssac-publications/rssac-057-09sep21-en.pdf

We welcome feedback on this matter.

-Ken Renard