The CIAO Standard Panel advisory services are delivered exclusively through our certified partner network. This page sets out the requirements, structure, and commercial framework for individuals seeking to become CIAO Standard Panel Advisor. A CIAO Standard Panel Advisor membership programme opens up further credibility in the combined information assurance discipline and skills marketability. Interested in being a CIAO Standard Panel Advisor member, please watch this space for developments in our Practitioner membership programme.
1. Purpose and Scope
This guideline document, provides the requirements for Panel Advisor members within the C-AO.com ecosystem. It also provides the Panel Advisor scoping and agreement expectations, and a listing of Panel Advisors below.
2. Approach to Use to be a Panel Advisor
Consider experience, scale, and scope of the CIAO Standard organisation membership tiers required to be advised on. The CIAO Panel Advisor Levels are at a minimum a 1:1 mapping to CIAO Membership tiers. Alternatively, a Panel Advisor Level could mean being able to advise in more than one Membership Tier. A minimum ratio of trained Panel Advisor to membership tier members of at least 1:1000 per continental scope. The Panel Advisor qualifications are described below per Panel Advisor Tier.
Being a Panel Advisor means that an individual has the necessary training, skill, and real-life advisory in organisations of scope up to the highest corresponding membership tier.
For Panel Advisor above Commons Panel Advisor level, proof on an annual basis must be submitted showing sufficient evidence of being employed by a corresponding CIAO member organisation and of have a job role with significant CIAO implementation advisory responsibilities or influence.
2.1. The CIAO Commons Panel Advisor Level
The CIAO Standard Commons Panel Advisor level is for Panel Advisors that are individuals who would primarily be employed by, or consult to, in very senior advisory capability to the CIAO Commons membership market.
The Panel Advisor’s Employer organisation or Contracted consulting engagement organisation must be at least subscribed to the CIAO Commons membership tier and;
- confirm that the Panel Advisor is also a member user, and
- confirm the Panel Advisor’s job role involves CIAO advisory related implementation, and
- confirm scope and time period of such expected work, and
- confirm that the Panel Advisor will complete updated CIAO respective training.
0% commission unless higher membership tiers are purchased within the first year of membership. Commissions on first year membership upgrades will be as per the Panel Advisor levels below, divided by 100 to the Panel Advisor that has introduced or upgraded their organisation through the CIAO Standard Partner and confirmed membership tier subscribed to.
2.2. The CIAO Core Panel Advisor Level
The CIAO Core Panel Advisor level is for senior advisory individuals supporting organisations in the CIAO Core membership market (1–10 employees). The Panel Advisor’s employer or contracted organisation must hold at least a Core membership and confirm the Panel Advisor’s role involves CIAO advisory-related responsibilities. Qualification criteria and commission structure for this level are currently being formalised. Registration of interest opens when this tier becomes active.
2.3. The CIAO Essential Panel Advisor Level
The CIAO Essential Panel Advisor level is suited to experienced advisors supporting small-to-medium organisations (10–100 employees) building structured governance foundations. The Panel Advisor’s employer or contracted organisation must hold at least an Essential membership. Qualification criteria and commission structure for this level are currently being formalised. Registration of interest opens when this tier becomes active.
2.4. The CIAO Professional Panel Advisor Level
The CIAO Professional Panel Advisor level is suited to governance advisors supporting mid-sized organisations (100–1,000 employees) managing multiple frameworks simultaneously. The Panel Advisor’s employer or contracted organisation must hold at least a Professional membership. Qualification criteria and commission structure for this level are currently being formalised. Registration of interest opens when this tier becomes active.
2.5. The CIAO Enterprise Panel Advisor Level
The CIAO Enterprise Panel Advisor level is suited to senior advisors and governance leads supporting large enterprises (1,000–10,000 employees) with complex, multi-framework programmes. The Panel Advisor’s employer or contracted organisation must hold at least an Enterprise membership. Qualification criteria and commission structure for this level are currently being formalised. Registration of interest opens when this tier becomes active.
2.6. The CIAO Conglomerate Panel Advisor Level
The CIAO Conglomerate Panel Advisor level is for the most senior advisory individuals supporting organisations exceeding 10,000 employees, or multi-entity conglomerates spanning multiple jurisdictions. The Panel Advisor’s employer or contracted organisation must hold a Conglomerate membership. Qualification criteria and commission structure for this level are currently being formalised. Registration of interest opens when this tier becomes active.
3. The C-AO.com Panel Advisors
The C-AO.com Panel Advisors are listed below (with their highest Panel Advisor level only, sub-levels per Panel Advisors are not listed).
The seated Panel comprises advisors across declared domains and regions of practice. Each Advisor is seated under the conflict-of-interest recusal protocol set out in Governance Charter Article 6 and operates under the Constitutional framework established in Constitution Section 2.
Names of seated Advisors are withheld below pending each Advisor’s express consent for public attribution. Each card represents a confirmed seating; the Advisor’s identity is published when consent is received.
EMEA
NORAM
LATAM
Open. Status will be updated as seatings are confirmed.
APAC
Open. Status will be updated as seatings are confirmed.
Enterprise and Conglomerate implementation content will be added here.
4. Consensus, Voting, and Decisions
4.1 Consensus Principle. The Panel operates by consensus on all advisory matters. Members deliberate until a shared position is reached; formal voting is a fallback procedure used only when consensus cannot be achieved within the time available to the matter at hand.
4.2 Formal Vote Procedure. Where consensus cannot be reached, the Chairperson may call a formal vote. Each Panel member present holds one vote. A resolution is adopted by simple majority of members present and voting. Abstentions are recorded but do not count toward the majority calculation.
4.3 Quorum. No Panel decision — whether by consensus or formal vote — is valid unless at least two-thirds of the sitting Panel members are present. Members participating by secure video or equivalent synchronous means count toward the quorum.
4.4 Chairing. The Panel elects a Chairperson and a Deputy Chair from among its members for two-year terms, renewable once. The Chairperson presides over Panel sessions, certifies the minutes, and represents the Panel to the Oversight Board and the Secretariat. In the event of a tied vote, the Chairperson holds a casting vote. The Deputy Chair assumes the Chair’s functions in the Chair’s absence.
4.5 Rapid-Response Procedure. Where a regulatory development, incident, or emergent governance question requires a Panel opinion inside the normal meeting cycle, a rapid-response session may be convened by the Chairperson, or by the Secretariat on request of the Oversight Board. Rapid-response sessions observe the quorum requirement of clause 4.3 and may be held by secure video or equivalent synchronous means. A written rapid-response opinion is issued within the timeframe set at convening, signed by the Chairperson, and reported to the Oversight Board.
4.6 Records. Minutes of Panel sessions are kept by the Secretariat and certified by the Chairperson. Minutes record the matters considered, the opinions reached, any dissenting positions expressed, and the composition of members present. Non-confidential advisory opinions of the Panel are published on the CIAO Standard’s public channels in the interest of transparency. Confidential deliberations — including those concerning individuals, live regulatory matters, or editorial matters — are recorded internally only.
5. Editorial Capacity
5.1 Dual Role. In addition to its advisory role, the Panel serves as the peer-review community for the CIAO Journal. Each Panel member may be called upon in either or both capacities — advisory to the Oversight Board, and editorial review of submissions to the Journal.
5.2 Editorial Assignment. The Editor-in-Chief of the CIAO Journal draws reviewers from the Panel on a submission-by-submission basis, matching subject-matter expertise to manuscript content. Where a required expertise is not represented on the Panel, the Editor-in-Chief may appoint qualified external reviewers for the specific submission, as set out in the Journal’s editorial policy.
5.3 Editorial Confidentiality. Panel members acting as reviewers handle all manuscript material, author identities where disclosed, and review correspondence under strict confidentiality. Manuscripts are reviewed under the Journal’s double-blind process; reviewers shall not seek to identify authors and shall not disclose the existence or content of any submission to persons outside the review process.
5.4 Editorial Recusal. A Panel member with a conflict of interest relating to a submission — including authorship, co-authorship, supervisory relationship, institutional affiliation, or significant collaboration with an author — shall decline the editorial assignment. Recusal is reported to the Editor-in-Chief without disclosure of the manuscript or the conflict to other members.
5.5 Separation of Roles. Editorial decisions of the Panel (in its review capacity) are independent of advisory opinions of the Panel (in its consultation capacity), and vice versa. A position adopted in advisory consultation does not bind editorial review, and a manuscript accepted for publication does not constitute Panel endorsement of its argument. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for safeguarding this separation in editorial practice; the Chairperson is responsible for safeguarding it in advisory practice.
6. Nomination and Seating
6.1 Nomination. Panel Advisors are nominated by the Secretariat, by a sitting Panel Advisor, or through expressions of interest received via the CIAO Standard’s public channels. Nominations consider the candidate’s professional standing in the CIAO governance domains, their regional remit, and the balance of perspectives already represented on the Panel.
6.2 Review. Each nomination is reviewed by the Secretariat and circulated to sitting Panel Advisors for comment. A candidate may be declined by the Secretariat without statement of reason.
6.3 Seating. A nominee becomes a Panel Advisor upon the candidate’s written acceptance, the Secretariat’s confirmation, and the publication of the candidate’s profile on this page. The Advisor’s seating date is the date of publication.
6.4 Tenure. Panel Advisors serve for an initial term of three years. Terms may be renewed by mutual agreement. An Advisor may step down at any time with written notice to the Secretariat.
6.5 Emeritus Status. An Advisor who has served at least one full term may be designated Emeritus Advisor by the Panel. Emeritus Advisors retain their published profile and may be consulted on matters of institutional memory but do not vote.