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CIONET - What's next

Connecting ambitious digital leaders and businesses around the globe.

Catch up on the upcoming CIONET Events

             
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Belgium Sep 24, 2025 Invitation Only Physical english

Bridging the Unbridgeable: IT Meets M(i)OT ; Converged infrastructures demand converged security

As smart devices proliferate across operational environments — from sensors on factory lines and GPS trackers in logistics fleets to wearables in healthcare and connected systems in smart cities — the integration of Managed IoT (MiOT) is accelerating. But with it comes a surge in cybersecurity risks. No longer isolated or air-gapped, OT systems are becoming fully networked, remotely accessible, and deeply entwined with IT. This creates a vulnerable, highly complex digital mesh, one where a single compromised device can trigger physical, financial, and reputational consequences.

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UK Sep 24, 2025 Country Members Physical english

CIONET UK Business Community Program: Creating agile partnerships – making the right choice between in and out-sourcing

Join us for our community event on 24th September in London. Join us for our community event on 21st May in London. Sponsored by Business Partners Cognizant, Orange Business, Entelect, Strategy, Stefanini & Thoughtworks.

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Belgium Sep 25, 2025 Invitation Only Physical english

The power of Hybrid - Cloud-Native Application Modernisation as a No-Regret Move

On 25th September, during the Red Hat Summit: Connect 2025 in Brussels, CIONET is hosting an exclusive, invitation-only round table for leading CIOs, CTOs, and digital leaders. While the Summit offers a broad programme, this CIONET session is a separate, distinct event, conducted in its own dedicated room with private catering, ensuring a focused and confidential peer-to-peer discussion. This round table will delve into why certain cloud-native techniques offer undeniable benefits, irrespective of where your applications are deployed, be it on-premise, in a hyperscale cloud, or a hybrid environment. Even outside public clouds, these modern, modular architectures consistently deliver increased agility, enhanced scalability, and quicker time-to-market. The real power behind these advantages lies in automation. When done properly, automation significantly boosts team efficiency, improves system quality, and drastically cuts risks from slow systems or downtime. However, achieving truly effective automation comes with its own set of challenges, which we'll address head-on. Key Discussion Points Include: "No-Regret" Cloud-Native Pillars: We'll try to pinpoint essential techniques every organisation should adopt, such as microservices architecture, containerisation (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes), API-first design, stateless application design, and immutable infrastructure. Why are these crucial for modern applications, no matter the deployment location? Strategic Vendor Lock-in: How to judiciously manage vendor lock-in. For new innovations and applications with a relatively short life expectancy, leveraging the latest unique features of a hyperscale cloud might be beneficial. For long-lived applications (expected to be live for decades), the focus might shift to limiting exposure by utilising generally available technologies. Automation Anywhere: How can organisations effectively implement automation strategies to unlock the full potential of cloud-native initiatives across diverse infrastructures? What are the biggest hurdles, and how are leaders overcoming them? This CIONET round table offers a unique and intimate setting for digital leaders to gain critical insights, exchange perspectives, and shape the strategic path towards application modernisation that truly offers no regrets.

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Belgium Sep 25, 2025 Invitation Only Physical english

Women of CIONET - Female Leadership Circle 2

As AI shapes our future, the time is now to address and correct its inherent biases. Join leading female voices in tech as we explore how to undo past mistakes, champion neutrality, and feed AI systems with inclusive, unbiased data. This conference is a call to action for female leaders in AI and tech to ensure the next generation of intelligent systems reflects fairness, diversity, and equity. Together, let’s set things right and redefine the future of AI.

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Poland Sep 25, 2025 All Members Physical Polish

COMMUNITY EVENT #7: HUMAN MACHINE

Agenci AI to przyszłość, która wyniesie organizacje na inny poziom dostarczania wartości biznesowej. Już teraz wiadomo, że nowa generacja inteligentnych agentów zmienia sposób, w jaki firmy działają, podejmują decyzje i się rozwijają. Podczas siódmego Community Eventu wraz z ekspertami AI sprawdzimy: możliwości, które dają agenci; jak wprowadzić governance i umiejscowić w organizacji tysiące sztucznych pracowników; jak zapewnić bezpieczeństwo, gdy każdy z agentów może wykonywać inne operacje; jaki jest wpływ wykorzystania agentów na koszty i środowisko; jak zmienia się pozycja firmy na rynku. Omówimy, jak liderzy IT i cyfrowi mogą i muszą strategicznie dostosować się do tej nowej rzeczywistości. Zarejestruj się już teraz i zapewnij sobie miejsce!

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Italy Sep 25, 2025 Invitation Only Physical italian

Innovation in Balance: governing the power of data and automation

Nel percorso verso l’AI e la trasformazione digitale, dati e automazione sono gli elementi centrali di ogni strategia tecnologica. Ma senza una governance chiara, rischiano di diventare non solo fonte di inefficienza, ma anche di rischi e incoerenza.   Come garantire che i dati siano completi, accessibili e affidabili? Come automatizzare le operation IT e i processi aziendali mantenendo controllo, compliance e sicurezza?   Durante questa roundtable esclusiva, organizzata da CIONET Italia e IBM, affronteremo:   La governance come abilitatore di dati affidabili e automazione sicura. Come prepararsi a un’adozione dell’AI realmente scalabile. Il ruolo di controllo, resilienza e gestione del rischio nell’innovazione.

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Recent Cases

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E.ON turns to Windows 365 to deliver a scalable, reliable, and modern cloud solution for flexible work

As part of its drive to reduce on-premises infrastructure, E.ON chose Windows 365 to replace an existing on-premises virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). The business simplified management with Microsoft Intune and supports Windows 11 on all Cloud PCs for a harmonized environment.

Now that we have Windows 365 introduced, we see how easy it can be to operate Cloud PCs. - Thomas Schäfer: Service Owner, E.ON Digital Technology

E.ON, one of Europe’s largest energy companies, operates a vast network of energy infrastructure and boasts some 48 million international customers. As the business continues to evolve, adopting leading-edge technology is an important aspect of the company’s drive to become more agile and scalable, a goal that is aimed at offering both customers and employees exceptional experiences. For Tobias Radzio, Head of Workplace Services End-User Computing at E.ON Digital Technology, adopting a cloud-first and native approach to new technology is one way the business is bringing its future vision to life. “In the past, E.ON invested quite heavily in on-premises data centers,” he recalls. “It’s no secret that doesn’t scale well.”

The company’s approach to Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) offers a test case in its new methodology. In the past, E.ON used an on-premises VDI solution that added complexity for the IT team, did not scale well, and was costly to maintain. Today, the business has moved predominantly to Windows 365. “We see the benefit of simplicity,” says Thomas Schäfer, Service Owner at E.ON Digital Technology. “Now that we have Windows 365 introduced, we see how easy it can be to operate Cloud PCs.” 

An on-premises service creates challenges 

In the past, not every E.ON employee who wanted to experience virtualized workloads could, because the business occasionally had to turn away requests for fear of overwhelming on-premises hardware. And, when making updates to physical devices, the virtual counterparts often lagged behind. “There was a mismatch between the virtual world and the physical world,” says Radzio. When employees chose to work remotely, the demand over-extended the company’s existing infrastructure, and employees often had to use physical devices as an alternative.

Similarly, external contractors waited to receive test devices from E.ON in order to carry out their work. The result was a working experience that was less harmonious and less agile than the company’s IT team would have liked. The need to quickly onboard contractors was a big motivation for exploring new options, and finally, for selecting Windows 365 Cloud PCs. “Windows 365 was the scalable solution we were looking for, and we rolled it out incredibly quickly,” says Radzio. “With nearly 50 million customers, we need to be able to scale our support functions and promote seamless hybrid work,” adds Radzio.

The evolution of E.ON’s geographic information system, a system that E.ON employees use to track the location of powerlines and underground cables, exemplifies the company’s renewed focus on a cloud-first approach that embraces Cloud PCs from Microsoft. “We have one of the largest geographic information systems in Europe,” notes Radzio. “In the past, we built our own data centers along with our own VDI solution to run it,” he explains. While the set-up ensured low latency, the cost of maintaining the solution ballooned, scaling was difficult, and issues were time-consuming to resolve. “It got more complicated and expensive to maintain every day,” says Radzio. “When we were discussing how to rebuild this in the cloud, we had to guarantee a low latency to match what the business was used to,” he adds.

7,000 users adopt Windows 365 in six months for a consistent, modern experience

To deliver the seamless, consistent user experience that employees expected, E.ON chose Windows 365 Cloud PCs. Today, E.ON has onboarded 7,000 users in six months, with more to follow. “It required very little effort,” says Schäfer. “We do not have to worry about a lot of backend details and configurations like we did in the past.”

The move to Windows 365 also provided an opportunity to standardize operating systems across the organization by adopting Windows 11 Enterprise across the board. Due to a recent merger, and the disparity between virtual and physical environments, E.ON employees across the company worked on disparate operating systems. “It created a disconnect culturally to have people working in different environments,” says Radzio. “They had data in different systems, processes were different, and patch management happened on different days. We used the move to Windows 11 as a vehicle for change.”

The idea was to deliver the latest operating system to employees, regardless of if they worked on a Cloud PC or on a local operating system. “Windows 365 was the first thing that came into our mind to be able to deliver Windows 11 virtually to employees and create a more cohesive experience,” says Schäfer. By introducing a standardized environment across physical and Cloud PCs, E.ON has created a more consistent, easier to manage environment. “By transforming our existing VDI to Windows 365 Cloud PCs running Windows 11 Enterprise, we have ensured less complexity,” says Schäfer. 

That simplicity is also reinforced by the use of Microsoft Intune for management. “The Windows 365 Cloud PCs give almost the same user experience and features as physical devices, because they are based on the same Intune management environment and have nearly the same policies and software,” says Schäfer. “The use of Intune had a big impact on reducing the complexity of our Cloud PC introduction.” And maintaining that environment is now easier for IT teams. “Intune simplified basic device management efforts drastically,” says Schäfer. E.ON found that Windows 365 provided the same highly secure experience as other Microsoft services already in use at the company, a scenario that offered peace of mind. “It was quite easy to get the service approved by Security, Data Privacy and Works Council,” notes Schäfer. 

Improved performance for employees using Windows 365 

Today, more E.ON employees are empowered to work from anywhere using Windows 365 Cloud PCs. Employees can even work from their personal devices with no need for a company-owned device. “Anyone who wants to work from home can, without having to carry a company-owned device back and forth,” says Schäfer. So far, word of the new Cloud PCs has spread organically at E.ON. "We do not limit the service,” says Radzio. “Colleagues are talking, and more and more people are requesting Cloud PCs. Employee feedback about Windows 365 has been positive. Availability, stability, and performance are all reported as being better than the previous environment.” 

Windows 365 is helping to improve user experiences out in the field as well. “For all those employees who use Windows 365 Cloud PCs on their devices in the field to access the geographic information system, they are reporting better performance compared to the previous, on-premises solution,” says Schäfer.

After the initial success of Windows 365 at E.ON, the business is evaluating other ways to utilize the benefits of Cloud PCs. Particularly for frontline workers and call center employees, E.ON will soon begin piloting Windows 365 Frontline as a potential next step on its Cloud PC journey. “The Windows 365 Frontline model could be very beneficial from a cost and flexibility perspective,” says Schäfer. And, like many businesses, E.ON is currently evaluating the benefits of AI using Microsoft Copilot. “I was one of the lucky few who got to access Microsoft Copilot early and I can see there is a lot of potential to use the tool to streamline meetings and summarize action items,” says Radzio. With the combination of Windows 365, Windows 11, Intune, and now Copilot, E.ON is energized to embrace a new way of working. 

By transforming our existing VDI to Windows 365 Cloud PCs running Windows 11 Enterprise, we have ensured less complexity. - Thomas Schäfer: Service Owner, E.ON Digital Technology

 

Technologies

Microsoft Intune

Partners

Checkout our CIONET COOKBOOK

cookbook

Embark on a culinary journey through the ever-evolving world of digital leadership with our third edition of the CIONET Cookbook: Recipes for Digital Success. Unveiling the intricate trilemma faced by today’s Master Chefs, our trailblazing European CIOs address a challenge at the nexus of customer interests, digital transformation strategies, and IT modernisation. Their secret? Synchronising the gearing between customer, business, and technology to create a frictionless movement through the digital landscape.

The CIONET Cookbook uses the analogy of a five-star restaurant to explain the importance of optimally integrated technology, with the CIO as Master Chef. In order to provide the best service to its customers, a top restaurant must have the right atmosphere, an inviting menu, a well-equipped kitchen, talented and committed front-of-house and kitchen staff and smooth-running processes that ensure an enjoyable experience for diners.

CIONET TV

 
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Kalman Tiboldi - CTO & Founder at GemOne-TVH - Simplify or Die: Why Complexity Is the Real IT Challenge

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Isabelle Droll - CIO for Airline, Corporate, Hotels & Resorts and Sustainability at TUI - Data, Diversity, and Destinations

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Sharon Prior - CIO in transition - How Great Tech Leadership Begins with Business Thinking

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José Antonio López, Group CIO at TOUS - Jewels, Data & AI: Inside the Digital Transformation of TOUS

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Tom Tanghe - General Manager ITC EMEA at Daikin Europe - Reinventing the CIO Role

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CIOFEST 2025 - From Order Taker to Proactive Disruptor

CIONET Reports

 
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A research proposal_AI and the Human Experience

As AI transitions from a specialised tool to an all-pervasive force, understanding its profound implications for our human lives is no longer merely academic but an urgent imperative for social well-being and strategic preparedness.

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Cybersecurity in critical infrastructure

Geopolitical tensions have dominated the headlines for over two years now. In this context, the cyber threat landscape is also evolving rapidly. The protection and security of critical infrastructure – both physical and digital – is becoming increasingly important.

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HDS - From Hype to Reality Navigating the Challenges of GenAI

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Anna Kopp

Head of IT Germany and Regional Office Lead Munich, Microsoft

“The CIONET App allows us to learn from eachother and and find the courage to be authentic by hearing stories from others! Thanks to Tobias and the whole team for bringing us together:-) ”
Mauricio Amaro

Mauricio Amaro

IT Director, IT Thinker

“The main things that I would like to get from our community of Digital Leaders are: networking, share experiences, share best practices and successful cases, and comments and recommendations about providers.”
Vijay Anand

Vijay Anand

Vice president IT & Compliance, VisionaryRCM (A Carlyle Grp Company)

“The CIONET app provides a really cool platform to network and share insights.”

About CIONET

CIONET’s mission is to help IT executives become more at ease and above all more successful in their jobs. So they can do more than just keep up with change but ultimately define it. CIONET opens up a whole new universe of opportunities in IT management.

With the largest membership of corporate digital leaders across Europe, Latin America, US and Australia, CIONET has the expertise and pioneering vision to solve or address any IT management challenge.

Why join CIONET?

From our local and global events, from our publications and research to our executive education programmes, everything we do is aimed at making sure digital leaders maximise their potential.

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with digital leaders who share your interests, who face the same challenges, who care about the same topics.

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inspiration, thought-provoking conversations, expert perspectives and exclusive first-hand content each and every day

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