The Government Board of the Cloud Industry Forum is calling on industry figures interested in bringing greater transparency and trust to doing business in the Cloud to join them.

The self-regulatory body, recently established to promote trust and to work in the sector to develop a public facing Code of Practice, hopes to standardise and certify enterprises that offer Cloud Computing services.

“In order for CIF and the Code of Practice process to be credible and trusted it needs to have an appropriate government and enforcement model in place to oversee the development of the Code, undertake random audits of participants’ Self-Certification claims, investigate complaints and where appropriate, withdraw a Self-Certification in the event that participants’ claims are proven to be untrue,” explained Andy Burton, chairman of the Cloud Industry Forum, and chief executive of Fasthosts.

Burton said the Forum is looking for 12 people to sit on the Governance Board – volunteers from a broad spectrum, including members from industry vendors, end user organisations, independent advisors, and IT law practitioners.

Those applying for the Board must allocate four hours every two months to join meetings, as well as preparation time in reading and reviewing materials, opinions and complaints.

Mark Cresswell, representing CIF member Scalable, added: “The consensus from our recent Code of Practice consultation exercise is that a major hurdle for increased adoption of the cloud by businesses is that organisations need clarity around what the service providers do and don’t offer. They also need to know what financial and operational substance there is behind these providers and what assurances are in place in regard to security, confidentiality and service levels? Put simply – organisations seeking to use these services need a straightforward form of certification or ‘Code of Practice for potential suppliers that will accurately define the services offered and standards of operation and security.”

Click here for more information, or contact the Cloud Industry Forum.

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