What Makes NOGs Tick

While it's easy to think of the RIPE community as one big happy family, it's actually made up of many local communities spread across 76 countries, each with its own priorities and challenges. Network Operator Groups (NOGs) help these communities to band together, creating opportunities to share knowledge, build connections, and collaborate on common issues.

Having worked with NOGs across our service region and beyond for several years, I've seen first-hand the many different ways these communities come together and support one another.

Here, to understand this better still, I'll be taking a look at the results of two 2026 NOG surveys to see what brings people to NOGs, what they value most, the challenges they face, and what it takes to keep NOGs ticking.

NOGs in our region

We currently have around 40 active NOGs in our service region, all working in their own unique ways. After all, there's no single, strict definition of what counts as a NOG. Some are focused on straightforward technical meetings, while others are highly involved, supporting a wide range of year-round activities, discussion forums, and community initiatives.

Our oldest NOG is SwiNOG in Switzerland, which started back in 1999 and hosted its 41st event this April. And then there are the much younger groups, such as Baltic NOG, which just hosted its first event last September. This year I’ve been in contact with groups in Iceland and Moldova where we will hopefully see new NOGs taking shape.

The legal and structural formats of NOGs across the RIPE region also vary: some are officially registered legal entities, while many others are informal, grassroots efforts driven purely by a handful of dedicated volunteers.

With all these differences, trying to understand what each unique community needs is an ongoing challenge. So, earlier this year, we ran two surveys: one aimed at organisers and one at participants. We received over 500 responses from participants and 27 from organisers across the region. We run surveys like this to better understand not just the broader NOG landscape, but the people behind it.

Community first, event second

If there’s one thing the responses from the surveys make abundantly clear, it’s that people don’t come to NOGs just for the talks, but for each other.

When asked why they attend (a multiple-choice question where respondents could select several reasons), networking came out clearly on top, ahead of learning about new technologies or keeping up with industry trends.

That probably doesn't come as a surprise for many. NOGs have always been more than technical events. They are spaces where relationships are built, ideas are exchanged, and conversations continue long after the talks are over.

As one respondent put it:

"NOG means community. We can't build networks without it."

And another:

"A gathering of the network community… and networking over a beer."

Learning still matters - a lot - but it sits alongside, and often depends on, human connections. This isn’t a new phenomenon. We saw the exact same trend in a similar survey we put out in 2022. Formats may evolve and tools may change, but the core value of NOGs as community spaces hasn’t shifted an inch.

What people value

Looking more closely at what participants value about NOGs, some interesting themes emerged from the survey results. One respondent highlighted the following point, which seems especially central to the NOG ethos:

"Sharing ideas and content without company borders."

That openness - the ability to exchange ideas across competing organisations in a neutral space - remains one of the biggest strengths of these groups. This makes sense for an industry built around thousands of independently operated networks, where coordination depends on people being able to share knowledge across organisational boundaries.

Another interesting nuance touched on what NOG people want to talk about. There are hints that attendees are experiencing fatigue with certain trending topics - like the "AI bubble" - and are eager for more technical deep-dives, more operational content on routing, security, and physical infrastructure.

Similarly, when asked what content they would like to see less of, vendor pitches were a common answer. NOGs are not free to run, and sponsored presentations are often a necessary reality to keep ticket prices accessible for everyone. It is a delicate balancing act for organisers to fund the event without diluting the independent, technical sharing that attendees value most.

The continued importance of meeting in person

Because human connection is the primary draw, it is no surprise that the way people prefer to meet reflects this.

Looking back at 2022, we had just come out of those strange pandemic years where hybrid and remote formats were gaining massive momentum out of necessity. In 2026, those options are still there, but rather than replacing in-person events, these options for attendance have settled into a supporting role.

Given how much has changed in the way we work - and how much time we all spend bouncing between Zoom rooms and Teams calls - you might expect remote participation to play a bigger role by now. The data suggests otherwise. Most respondents still prefer to attend NOGs in person.

This echoes the point that the value of a NOG isn’t just in the scheduled content, but in the hallway track, the chats over coffee, and the chances to reconnect with people you don’t often see.

Real barriers: time, travel and cost

Despite the fact that NOGs are, by their nature, events that bring together 'local' network operators, getting people into the room is not without its hurdles. While the overall picture is positive, we see certain challenges to participation echoed in survey results - i.e., time, travel, and cost.

Interestingly, very few people pointed to issues like a lack of relevant content or language barriers. This suggests that while NOGs are largely delivering what their participants want, getting people into the room can still be a hurdle. It's worth noting that this is very much the same picture we saw from the 2022 survey results.

And it’s not just the participants who feel this pinch. While attendees struggle to find the time or budget to join, organisers face similar, if not heavier, constraints when running the events.

The backbone of local networks: how big is a typical NOG organising team?

When we think of NOGs hosting hundreds of attendees, it is easy to imagine a big behind-the-scenes crew running the show. However, our survey data from 26 NOG organisers reveals a surprisingly lean reality: most NOGs are powered by highly compact, agile teams balancing this work alongside their day jobs.

Here is the breakdown of how many people typically make up a core organising committee:

• 27% of NOGs are organised by just one or two people
• 31% by teams of three to five
• 27% by teams of six to ten
• Only 15% have organising committees larger than ten people

An overwhelming majority - nearly 85% of NOGs surveyed - operate with core teams of ten people or fewer. Even more strikingly, the most common team size is just three to five people. This highlights the incredible dedication and efficiency of NOG organisers. So while the barriers to entry may look different for attendees and organisers, both sides are dealing with the exact same underlying challenges: time and capacity.

What the results tell us

Taken together, the survey results paint a fairly consistent picture of what NOGs are and why they continue to matter. The strongest themes running through the responses were networking, knowledge sharing, and the opportunity to discuss common challenges with peers across organisational boundaries.

At the same time, the survey highlights something that's easy to overlook. Behind every NOG is a group of organisers and volunteers putting in the time and effort to make things work. And as the organiser survey showed, these teams are often surprisingly small.

This matters because the value people associate with NOGs - the exchange of operational experience, the professional relationships, and the opportunity to learn from peers - doesn't happen automatically. It depends on communities that require ongoing effort to sustain.

This is one reason the RIPE NCC continues to support NOGs across our service region. The Internet is built from thousands of independently operated networks, and operating it effectively depends on people being able to share knowledge, coordinate across organisational boundaries. NOGs provide one of the places where the underlying trust architecture all this relies on gets developed through practice.

If there is an opportunity highlighted by these results, it is not only to make participation easier for attendees, but also to broaden the pool of people involved in supporting these communities. Whether through speaking, organising, mentoring, or volunteering, NOGs work because people contribute to them.

Last word

NOGs remain important links in the broader RIPE community. Bringing local, regional groups together, they help maintain the bonds that underpin coordination across the Internet. As our industry continues to evolve, that community contribution - whether through attending, speaking, or helping organise - will remain just as important as it has ever been.