The NETCONF Working Group, previously named after the NETCONF protocol, now renamed as the NETwork CONFiguration Working Group, is responsible for the development and maintenance of protocols for YANG data model-driven management network management protocols (configuration, monitoring, and advanced notification/subscription capabilities), their transports and encodings, defining data models necessary to support the protocols, and defining mechanisms supporting the operational deployment of systems using the protocols.

The NETCONF protocol is data modeling language independent, but YANG (RFC 7950) is the recommended NETCONF data modeling language, which introduces advanced language features for configuration management.

The NETCONF WG is currently responsible for:

   a) Maintaining the network management protocol NETCONF (RFC 6241).
      This effort entails periodically updating the NETCONF related
      specifications to address new requirements as they arise.

   b) Maintaining the network management protocol RESTCONF (RFC 8040).
      This effort entails periodically updating the RESTCONF related
      specifications to address new requirements as they arise.

   c) Maintaining transports and encodings used by data model-driven 
      protocols, such as NETCONF and RESTCONF.

   d) Specifying data models that are related to network management
      protocols.  Specifically, data models enabling the configuration
      and/or monitoring of the protocols themselves.  Other examples
      include data models for configuring access controls or 
      discovering server metadata.

   e) Specifying and maintaining (i) data models for subscriptions to
      data and (ii) protocol bindings for pushing subscribed data
      to clients.

   f) Defining mechanisms enabling devices to discover and establish
      secure connections to other systems in a networks, such as a
      NETCONF or RESTCONF based NMS.

   The NETCONF working group consults with the NETMOD working group to
   ensure that new requirements are understood and can be met by the
   YANG data modeling language (RFC 7950) developed within that working
   group.