-2.png)
Germany Aug 27, 2025 Country Members Virtual german
Die neuen geo-politischen Veränderungen und unvorhergesehene wirtschaftliche Anforderungen stellen Digital Leader vor neue Herausforderungen. Immer öfter wird in den Vorstandsetagen die Frage gestellt, wie der (IT) Betrieb sicher und ungestört weiter funktionieren kann, wenn regionale Rechenzentren und Infrastrukturen plötzlich nicht mehr verfügbar oder nur teilweise noch einsatzbereit sind. Der CIO muss für diese neue Welt resiliente Strategien parat haben, die für Business Continuity in bisher nicht vorstellbaren politischen und wirtschaftlichen Szenarien ermöglichen.
Read More
Belgium Aug 28, 2025 Country Members Physical english
With the theme “The Power of Connection,” we’re embracing the essence of meaningful connections within IT and beyond. To honour our tradition, expect an unforgettable evening featuring keynote presentations, open bars, a summer BBQ, and a special experience designed to bring our vibrant community together.
Read More
Belgium Aug 28, 2025 Country Members Physical english
A special celebration marking 20 years of CIONET—two decades of empowering digital leaders and driving innovation in the technology landscape. This exclusive event will bring together our members to reflect on the incredible journey we've shared and look ahead to the future of digital leadership.Featuring keynote presentations from visionary CIOs, industry pioneers, and founding members, we’ll explore how far we’ve come and what lies ahead in the ever-evolving world of technology. Together, we will honour the contributions of our members who have shaped CIONET’s legacy while offering insights into how the community will continue to lead in the years to come.This is more than a celebration—it’s an opportunity to reconnect, reflect, and recharge with your fellow digital leaders. Don't miss this exclusive experience packed with inspiring talks, networking opportunities, and special recognitions that highlight the best of CIONET’s history and future.Let’s celebrate the past, present, and future of the digital community you helped build.
Read More.png)
Belgium Sep 13, 2025 All Members Physical english
Join us for a wonderful ride. The ride is accessible to all levels of riders and doesn't require extensive technical skills. More information will follow soon. Looking forward to ride together!
Read More.png)
Germany Sep 17, 2025 Country Members Physical german
Cybersecurity ist längst kein reines IT-Thema mehr – sie betrifft das gesamte Unternehmen. Doch während die Bedrohungslage zunimmt, geraten viele Security-Verantwortliche an ihre Belastungsgrenzen: zwischen 24/7-Verantwortung, wachsenden Anforderungen und dem ständigen Innovationsdruck.
Read More
BT Keeps Engineers Safe with a Mobile App Built on OutSystems
BT Group plc is the UK’s largest provider of fixed-line, broadband, and mobile services. In just two months, three developers and a tech lead delivered a mobile app and web app. By their estimates, delivering the app with OutSystems was three times faster than their previous mobile app development approach.
"With OutSystems, we're replacing an enormous number of legacy systems while reducing the cost of development across the board. We're also making business operations more efficient by providing mobile support for a wide range of applications." - Seiichi ShinagawaTechnical Leader IT Department, Mazda Motor Corporation
Mazda Motor Corporation recently celebrated its 100-years anniversary, selling nearly 1.5 million vehicles in the year ended March 2020. Mazda is justly proud of its engineering strength and design-focused products, but back in 2016, its IT department needed to escape from a burning platform.
"We called this as our "2025 Digital Cliff," says Seiichi Shinagawa, Technical Leader IT Department at Mazda Motor Corporation. "For the previous decade, we'd relied heavily on the Java Platform SE version 8, for most in-house application development. Support for that runs out in 2025. We had around 500 legacy systems to migrate to a new technology stack, and that looked impossible."
“We selected OutSystems because of its complete feature set, including visual design and assembly, high productivity for developers, high [integration] compatibility with existing systems, support for mobile apps, and the ability to deliver refined user experiences.” - Seiichi ShinagawaTechnical Leader IT Department, Mazda Motor Corporation
Mazda knew that it would take an army of developers and cost many (millions of dollars) to migrate all the applications in time unless they could dramatically improve their app dev efficiency.
Moreover, their software engineers found it difficult to keep up with the demand for new features with their current development tools. Plus, it was hard to provide users with modern, mobile-friendly experiences that would raise productivity.
Mazda started looking for a new IT framework. After considering various options, including general development frameworks, code generators, and low-code tools, Mazda settled on OutSystems as its modern application platform.
Full-stack visual development with no limits
Speed-up development and improve agility
Deliver web and mobile applicationsGiven the mammoth development backlog and Mazda's engineering excellence culture, the IT team decided to plan carefully, rather than rushing headlong into development. They wanted to ensure they had strong foundations to ensure consistent, efficient, and high-quality software engineering in the future.
"We aimed to use OutSystems for core systems across Mazda, so before starting a wide-scale roll-out, we needed to prepare an environment for repeatable success," says Shinagawa. "This included making interfaces with existing systems, a framework for authorization and security, and modular software architecture standards."
Most of 2018 was spent setting up this environment, but the investment has paid back ever since. "Our standards enable a consistent level of productivity and quality across projects," says Shinagawa.
Simultaneously, Mazda set up an in-house OutSystems Center of Excellence (CoE), a central team of OutSystems experts that provides governed standards and best practices to developers.
"The CoE regularly provides one-week lean startup workshops, building UI screens, and processes directly with business representatives. The goal is to clearly understand requirements by prototyping on OutSystems. The users greatly appreciate this approach." - Seiichi ShinagawaTechnical Leader IT Department, Mazda Motor Corporation
While Mazda established its development standards and COE, they intentionally kept development projects to a minimum. But during 2019, adoption started to accelerate. Functions were now being implemented on the same level as they had been on the Java framework, and the development team started using OutSystems to replace its legacy Java applications.
Users liked the speed and agility of development and the much-improved user experiences of these new apps. In the second half of 2019, the number of OutSystems projects grew rapidly. The team delivered various applications, including core systems used for car manufacturing and distribution, back-office systems used by employees for internal processes, and systems for managers' daily work logs.
“We've seen a significant increase in development efficiency. We deliver simple applications up to five times faster and more complex apps around two-times faster. The quality of software delivery has improved as well. We've had no bugs attributable to problems with the platform itself.” - Seiichi ShinagawaTechnical Leader IT Department, Mazda Motor Corporation
"We are increasingly using OutSystems to replace legacy systems, including those built with the old .NET Framework and others built using COBOL," says Shinagawa. "The new apps have increased operational efficiency, thanks to the improved user experience and mobile device support, and we're getting high-praise from users on the front line."
OutSystems Development ramped up rapidly in late 2019. By 2020, Mazda had taken the strategic decision to drive broad adoption of OutSystems as the standard modern application platform for future development.
As part of its strategy to avoid the "2025 digital cliff," Mazda is increasing the proportion of software developed in-house by widening its developer pool. "The goal is to regain skills that we lost due to widespread IT outsourcing, and the OutSystems visual approach to development makes this easier as well," explains Shinagawa.
"OutSystems is now our standard application development approach," says Shinagawa. "And ultimately, we want every member of the IT department to learn at least some development techniques with OutSystems."
The team has been pleasantly surprised at the rapid learning curve for new OutSystems Developers. "We use the free two-week self-study learning paths provided by OutSystems, followed by several days of Mazda specific training to embed our in-house rules and methods. We've found that even IT staff that have never programmed before can easily learn to develop a basic application in a week. So, the cost of training is low," says Shinagawa.
Mazda has been impressed by the versatility of the OutSystems platform. "Compared to conventional programming, we've found we can build almost everything we need using OutSystems," says Shinagawa.
Mazda is now rapidly working to end its reliance on legacy systems, retiring those that are no longer needed and extending the lives of others with the help of OutSystems. The company is using OutSystems both to replace legacy systems and create new, innovative applications. The company expects to reduce its legacy migration cost by two-thirds to three-quarters—a multi-million dollar saving.
Shinagawa says that the company wants "to continue rolling-out OutSystems, using it to replace the enormous number of legacy systems and reduce development costs across the board. We also want to use it to improve the efficiency of business operations, especially by providing mobile support for a wide range of applications."
He continues, "At Mazda, we see visual development as an important pillar of system development, alongside conventional programming. We look forward to seeing OutSystems continue to evolve as a platform that dramatically improves the productivity and speed of software development."
Kalman Tiboldi - CTO & Founder at GemOne-TVH - Simplify or Die: Why Complexity Is the Real IT Challenge
.png)
Isabelle Droll - CIO for Airline, Corporate, Hotels & Resorts and Sustainability at TUI - Data, Diversity, and Destinations
.png)
Sharon Prior - CIO in transition - How Great Tech Leadership Begins with Business Thinking
-1.jpg)
José Antonio López, Group CIO at TOUS - Jewels, Data & AI: Inside the Digital Transformation of TOUS
.png)
Tom Tanghe - General Manager ITC EMEA at Daikin Europe - Reinventing the CIO Role
.jpg)
CIOFEST 2025 - From Order Taker to Proactive Disruptor
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.
-2.png)
.png?width=600&height=600&name=Anna%20Kopp%20(1).png)
