How do we get more feedback from the operators of networks back into the standards process of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)? How do we help know whether the open standards being developed within the IETF reflect the operational realities of the networks into which those standards will be deployed? If we could get more network operators participating in the IETF standards process, would that result in better standards that are deployed faster?

These are the kind of questions that we’ve been asking ourselves within the Internet Society during the course of our work aiming to accelerate the deployment of key Internet technologies such as IPv6 and DNSSEC. Obviously the ideal case is to get more network operators actively participating in the IETF, but in many cases that doesn’t seem to be happening today—and we’d like to know why.

Now a few of my colleagues have launched a new project to try to gather information from network operators to help identify what might potentially be done to gain more operational feedback into the standards process. As noted in the project launch announcement:

The objective of this new project is ultimately to facilitate communications between the operator community and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to help ensure that operational realities inform the development of key standards. We want to foster a larger and more engaged operator community around the IETF and protocol development work. In order to ensure that we take the most effective action, we will focus initially on talking to operators around the world, gathering information and defining the problem statement(s).

The main request right now is for network operators to please take the survey to help provide input, even if those network operators have NEVER been involved with the IETF. In fact, feedback from those operators with no knowledge of the IETF would be particularly welcome! That data will then be collected and ideas developed about how to include more input from network operators.

Your help is critical—if you are a network operator, please take the survey. If you know people at network operators, please pass this information along to them. Together we can help ensure that the Internet works even better than it does already!