IETF Community Survey 2025

The IETF Community Survey provides a comprehensive assessment of community demographics, engagement patterns, and perceptions of organizational effectiveness. Read the full findings below.

In December 2025 the fifth annual IETF community survey was distributed to all ~50,000 addresses subscribed to IETF mailing lists. This survey aims to deliver three outcomes:

Read the full report on the 2025 IETF community survey.

(Note: In previous years we have published a draft report for consultation and then final report, but as the feedback has only ever been about questions to ask for the next survey, this year we are skipping the consultation step.)

A special thanks to the 1700+ participants who responded to this survey, providing a rich data set.

The key findings section of the report is reproduced below:

1. The IETF continues to deliver on its core mission, with perceived importance at an all-time high

As shown in Q25 and Q30, participants rate the IETF positively across quality, relevance, transparency, consensus, and openness of standard, all within the "Good" range. The proportion of respondents giving the highest importance scores (9–10 out of 10) in Q28 has slightly increased from 2024, with 57.07% now rating the IETF at that level up from 55.40% in 2024. The IETF continues to be rated better than other Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) across every measured attribute.