Survey to gather input on ISE selection criteria

As described at the Independent Submissions page, the Independent Submissions Stream, defined in RFC 4846, publishes RFCs that are outside the official processes of the IETF, the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), and the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) but are relevant to the Internet community and achieve reasonable levels of technical and editorial quality.

The Independent Submissions Editor (ISE) is the individual who oversees the Independent Submission stream. The IAB is responsible for appointing the ISE under RFC 8730.

This survey seeks community input on the capabilities, attributes, and expectations the IAB should consider when selecting a future ISE. This is not an evaluation of the current or past ISE, nor a vote on the Independent Stream model itself. The appointment of the ISE remains an IAB decision.

We are launching the ISE selection criteria survey and would be very grateful if you could spare about 10 minutes to share your views on what the community values in an ISE.

Take the survey to share your views.

Please note that we run this survey in anonymous mode and do not collect data such as IP addresses but it does require Javascript.

An invitation to participate is being sent to the IETF announcement list (ietf-announce@ietf.org), the Internet Research Task Force announcement list (irtf-announce@irtf.org), the IETF Working Group Chairs list, the RFC Interest list (rfc-interest@rfc-editor.org), and the RFC Series Working Group list, as well as directly to those who have and active I-D or have published an RFC via the Independent Stream in the past 15 years. The invitation will come from IAB Chair, Dhruv Dhody. Apologies in advance if you get the invitation more than once. This will also be posted on the IAB website.

Feel free to forward this survey to others you think are part of the broader RFC/Independent Stream audience.

This survey will close on 11 October 2026. Thanks in advance for your time!