The Australian Computer Society is seeking submissions for a draft quality control code for Australia’s cloud computing market.

A draft version of what may be called the Consumer Cloud Protocol is expected in October, the protocol could be in place as early as next year. Australian Computer Society president Nick Tate says a cloud services code already active in New Zealand would form the basis for the new protocols, but will likely be less prescriptive.

Mr Tate says; “We took the New Zealand code and talked to a number of providers. It was a mixed message coming back to us – but it was that some of the bits were too prescriptive such as having to say who you were employing and that's not really relevant to the use of the cloud."

Reports say the local version will have registered providers declaring the basic specifications on their services, such as which country or countries data would be stored in. There will also likely be a registration process for the voluntary protocols. A full paper detailing progress so far is available from the Australian Computer Society website.

Submissions will be accepted until August 5.