Funding & Governance
A network is only as good as what people are willing to say in it. This page explains where the money comes from, who watches how the Club is run, and what we have committed to so that you can speak freely here.
It is a short page and it is worth two minutes before your first candid post.
1. Who runs the Club
The CIO Club is operated by Caresoft Foundation, a not-for-profit registered in India. The Foundation was set up by the founders of Caresoft Systems, a healthcare technology company.
We say that plainly because you would find it anyway, and because it is where the understanding of this problem comes from. Twenty years around hospital CIOs is why we knew this network was missing.
It is also why the next three sections exist. A club worth joining has to be a place where no commercial interest is listening — so we have written that down as commitments rather than intentions, and put a member group in charge of checking.
2. Where the money comes from
| Source | Detail |
|---|---|
| The Foundation | Funds the platform build and running costs. Membership is free in the Club's first year |
| Sponsorship | Healthcare technology companies sponsor sessions, research and placements. See the Sponsorship Policy below |
| Member fees | None yet. If introduced, 90 days' notice by email before any charge |
| Selling member data | Never. Not now, not later, not as a business model |
3. What we have committed to
No commercial business — including any connected to the Foundation — receives:
• the member list, or any extract of it
• your profile, employer or contact details
• anything you post in a members-only space
• direct messages between members
• which sessions or content you viewed
• your survey responses, except as published aggregate research (§6)
| Commitment | How it is enforced |
|---|---|
| Your details are never a sales lead | Club data sits in its own environment, is not in anyone's CRM, and is not synchronised to one |
| Only club administrators have access | A small named Foundation team. Every access is logged with person, time and reason |
| No commercial staff in member spaces | People who sell into healthcare IT are not members — Terms §4 — and that includes anyone connected to the Foundation |
| No endorsement of any vendor | The Club does not rank, recommend or certify suppliers at all |
| Criticism is never moderated away | Moderators are specifically barred from removing a post because it criticises a sponsor or a company connected to the Foundation — Terms §15 |
| Staff are bound in writing | Foundation staff and chapter leads sign confidentiality covering member data and discussions |
Any change to these would be emailed to every member 30 days before it took effect (Privacy §25). They are not altered quietly.
4. How you can check
Ask us who has looked at your data. Any member can request a report of every administrative access to their own record — who, when, and the stated reason. Write to [email protected]; we respond within 15 days.
- The member advisory group reviews the access logs quarterly and publishes a summary.
- You can see, export or delete everything we hold — Privacy Policy §14.
- If you are ever approached commercially in a way you believe came from your membership, tell us. We will trace it and report back in writing, whatever we find.
5. The member advisory group
Oversight sits with a group of members — not with Foundation staff, and not with anyone on the commercial side.
- Drawn from members across regions who do not work for healthcare technology vendors.
- Reviews the access logs, any complaint about commercial conduct, sponsorship arrangements, moderation decisions and research methodology.
- It can require a change, and it can publish a disagreement with us. We have committed not to remove anyone from it for raising something uncomfortable.
- Members and terms of reference are published at /governance.
- Appeals involving a sponsor or a company connected to the Foundation go to this group, not to club staff.
[SET UP BEFORE LAUNCH.] This section describes a group that must actually exist, with named members and published terms. Do not publish this page until it is appointed — describing oversight that does not exist is worse than having none, and it is the first thing a sceptical CIO will check.
6. Research and benchmarking
Peer benchmarking is one of the most useful things a network like this can produce — and the one that needs the most care.
- Taking part in any survey is voluntary and separately consented, never automatic from membership.
- Results are published aggregated and de-identified, with a minimum sample per cell so no organisation can be inferred.
- We do not publish or circulate vendor pricing data in any form — that is a competition law line, not a preference (Guidelines §1).
- Where research is sponsored, the sponsor is named, does not see findings before publication, and does not influence them.
- Any company connected to the Foundation receives research in the same published form as everyone else, at the same time, with no early access and no underlying data.
7. If we get it wrong
Where we breach a commitment on this page, we tell affected members what happened, what we did, and what has changed — in writing, within 10 working days of confirming it.
- The advisory group is told about every breach, and its summary is published.
- A breach by a staff member is a disciplinary matter.
- You can leave at any time and take your data with you. We will not make that difficult or hide the button.
8. Contact
Governance, access logs and commercial conduct: [email protected]
Caresoft Foundation, 311, Mahesh Industrial Estate , Silver Park, Mira Road East , Thane -401107, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India ·
Sponsorship Policy
Sponsorship keeps The CIO Club free for members. This page sets out exactly what it buys, what it does not, and why the limits are the point rather than an obstacle.
The single rule this page rests on: sponsors get attention, never data.
No sponsor receives a member's name, employer or contact details unless that member separately and specifically chooses to share them.
S1. Who can sponsor
- Healthcare technology companies, service providers, consultancies and institutions relevant to healthcare CIOs.
- Any company connected to the Foundation may sponsor on exactly the same terms as anyone else — same rates, same labelling, no preferential placement — and where it does, the placement says so.
- We decline sponsors whose products or conduct we think members would object to seeing here.
S2. What sponsorship buys
| Format | Labelled as |
|---|---|
| Display placements on public and member pages | Sponsor |
| A sponsored session or webinar | Presented by [name], announced in advance |
| Event sponsorship, online or in person | Sponsored, named on the event page |
| Research sponsorship | Sponsored by [name] on the report and every page of it |
| Newsletter placement | Sponsor, in a visually distinct block |
| Directory presence, where we run one | Promoted |
S3. What sponsorship does not buy
| Not for sale | |
|---|---|
| Member contact details | Never — see S4 |
| Access to members-only spaces | Never |
| Membership of the Club | Never — Terms §4 |
| An endorsement, ranking or recommendation | The Club does not rank vendors at all |
| A speaking slot in the main programme | Programme slots are not for sale |
| Influence over research findings | Never — S6 |
| Removal or softening of a member's criticism | Never, under any circumstances — S7 |
| A message sent to members on the sponsor's behalf | Never |
| Knowing who saw a placement | Aggregate counts only |
S4. Member data
Attending a sponsored session does not give the sponsor your details. Neither does viewing a placement, clicking it, or being in the room at an event.
- A sponsor receives details only where a member completes a form that states plainly, before submission, who receives what.
- That is a separate choice every time. No standing opt-in, no bundled consent, no pre-ticked box.
- Where a sponsor does receive details, they are independently responsible for their copy. We require them not to resell and to honour opt-outs, but we cannot delete from their systems — so think before you submit.
- Badge scanning at physical events is opt-in, stated at registration.
- No sponsor pixel, tag or tracker runs anywhere on the Platform (Cookie Policy §3).
S5. How placements are labelled
- Clear words. "Sponsor", "Sponsored", "Presented by", "Promoted". Never "Partner", "Spotlight" or "Featured Insights" standing alone.
- Before the content, not at the bottom, and visually distinct from anything a member wrote.
- The sponsor is always named. We do not run anything for an undisclosed party.
- Sponsored sessions are announced as sponsored when registration opens, not on the day.
- Sponsored material never appears under a member's byline (Content Policy C8).
S6. Sponsored research
A sponsor funds research. A sponsor does not shape it.
- Design, questions, sample, analysis and conclusions are entirely ours.
- A sponsor may suggest a topic area, be named, and include a clearly marked message of their own.
- A sponsor may not see findings before publication, change a number, remove an unflattering result, or veto publication.
- If a sponsor withdraws because they dislike the findings, we publish anyway and note the withdrawal.
- Participation by members is voluntary and consented separately (§6 above).
S7. Sponsors and member criticism
Members may criticise a sponsor's products or service, honestly and from first-hand experience, and we will not remove it.
Moderators are specifically barred from removing a post because it criticises a sponsor (Terms §15). A sponsor who asks us to is told no, in writing.
- Where a sponsor says a post is factually wrong, we ask the author, and correct it if it is.
- Where a sponsor simply disagrees, they may have a right of reply published alongside (Content Policy C5). The post stays.
- If a sponsor withdraws over honest member criticism, we let them. That is the cost of running this properly, and it is cheaper than the alternative.
- Sponsors are told this before they sign. It is in the sponsorship agreement, not a surprise.
S8. What we will not run
- Misleading claims, or any claim the sponsor cannot substantiate on request.
- Regulatory, certification or compliance status the sponsor does not hold, or overstated in scope.
- Creative designed to look like member content or editorial.
- Anything disparaging a named competitor without substantiation.
- Anything implying the Club endorses, recommends or has evaluated the sponsor.
- Use of a member's name, employer or words in sponsor material without that member's written consent.
We may remove a placement at any time if it turns out to breach this section, and the fee is not refundable where the breach was the sponsor's.
S9. Oversight
The member advisory group (§5 above) reviews sponsorship arrangements and can require a change. Members may raise a concern about any sponsor or placement at [email protected] and we answer within 15 days.
S10. Talk to us
If you want member contact details, this is not the right platform — and we would rather say so in the first email than take your money and disappoint you.
What sponsorship here does buy is sustained visibility with a senior audience that is hard to reach and deeply sceptical of being sold to. The restraint is why they are here, and it is what makes your placement worth something.