Gunter Van Craen - CDIO at Bekaert - Embracing Digital Transformation

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Poland 5-12-25 Invitation Only Physical Polish
Liderzy biznesowi pokładają ogromne nadzieje w agentach AI, widząc w nich szansę na zbudowanie przewagi konkurencyjnej. Rzadko jednak pada zasadnicze pytanie: czy cyfrowy fundament organizacji – dane, integracje, systemy – jest na to gotowy? Czy obecna strategia integracji wspiera ambicje biznesowe, czy je spowalnia? Podczas naszego biznesowego śniadania CIONET, organizowanego we współpracy z Digia (Finlandia) i Savangard, przyjrzymy się trendom, które dziś definiują architekturę i integracje w Europie i w Polsce. W gronie ok. 20 liderów IT porozmawiamy m.in. o tym: Czy strategia integracji danych i aplikacji powinna uwzględniać przyszłe zastosowania AI? Jak przekształcić kluczowe dane w powtarzalne „data products”, które przyspieszają dostarczanie wartości biznesowej? W jakim kierunku ewoluują platformy integracyjne – iPaaS i API Management? Cloudification - jakie lekcje wynoszą firmy, które przeszły takie transformacje z legacy do nowoczesnej integracji w chmurze? Jak zorganizować „integration core team”, który wzmacnia rozproszone i coraz bardziej niezależne zespoły technologiczne? Spotkanie odbędzie się w kameralnej atmosferze Centrum Praskiego Koneser (CHPTR) i będzie prowadzone w formule dyskusyjnej – z myślą o praktykach zajmujących się modernizacją architektury, integracją systemów i przygotowaniem IT na kolejne lata.
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Poland 8-12-25 Invitation Only Physical Polish
W wielu firmach monitoring wydaje się działać poprawnie, dopóki nie spojrzymy na to, czego nie widać: luki między narzędziami, brak wspólnego obrazu usług, opóźnienia między zdarzeniem a decyzją. W takiej sytuacji trudno wcześnie wykryć degradację, oszacować wpływ incydentów na klientów czy przewidzieć ryzyka, które uderzają w biznes, zanim IT zdąży zareagować. Podczas CIONET Executive Roundtable, którego partnerem jest Spluk, porozmawiamy o tym, ile organizacje tracą na rozproszonym monitoringu i jak wiele można zyskać, gdy staje się on spójnym systemem, a nie zbiorem narzędzi. Zastanowimy się, jak połączyć dane z aplikacji, infrastruktury i biznesu w jeden obraz, który realnie wspiera szybkość reakcji, stabilność usług i jakość decyzji.
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International 9-12-25 Public Virtual english
The CIONET Awards 2026: Part 1, the premier celebration of excellence in digital mission and leadership. During this event the spotlight falls on two of the most critical arenas in modern enterprise: Applications & Architecture and Data & AI. Prepare for a dynamic session where each nominee will present their groundbreaking achievements.
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Brazil 9-12-25 Country Members Physical portuguese
Cerimônia de Premiação CIONET BRASIL 2025.Reconheceremos as Empresas Líderes em Excelência Tecnológica em Projetos e os Líderes Digitais do Ano 2025.Quando?09 de Dezembro de 2025A partir das 18:30Onde?Sheraton São Paulo WTC HotelInscrições online: https://www.cionet.com/pt-br/events/pr%C3%AAmios-cionet-brasil-2025
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Netherlands 9-12-25 Invitation Only english
At this exclusive CIONET Executive Roundtable, hosted in partnership with It’s Value, we will explore how Technology Business Management (TBM) principles can help CIOs and IT leaders make data-driven financial decisions that drive measurable business value.
Read MoreNetherlands 9-12-25 Invitation Only Physical english
Digital transformation and ongoing economic uncertainty are intensifying the pressure on IT leaders to do more with less. In this environment, gaining precise control over IT costs—while continuing to deliver effective, efficient, and innovative technology operations—is more critical than ever. At this exclusive CIONET Executive Roundtable, hosted in partnership with It’s Value, we will explore how Technology Business Management (TBM) principles can help CIOs and IT leaders make data-driven financial decisions that drive measurable business value. Key Discussion Themes Turning data insights into smarter IT investment decisions Setting priorities for cost optimisation and maximising ROI Quantifying and communicating the business value of IT initiatives Evaluating the principles of FinOps and the implications of public, private, and hybrid cloud environments for cost management Embedding effective change management to drive adoption and alignment Achieving tangible business outcomes from AI initiatives while maintaining fiscal discipline The evening will also feature a fireside chat with Sunil Anand, Global Head of Technology Business Management at National Grid. Sunil will share practical lessons and key milestones, retracing the National Grid cost management journey. This dinner offers a unique opportunity to: Exchange experiences with peers facing similar challenges Gain insights from TBM experts and industry practitioners Reassess your own IT financial strategy in a relaxed, collegial setting Join us for an evening of insight, discussion, and connection—designed to help you strengthen IT’s role as a true business value driver.
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Belgium Dec 4, 2025 Invitation Only Physical english
CIONET is committed to highlighting and celebrating female role models in IT, Tech & Digital, creating a leadership programme that empowers and elevates women within the tech industry. This initiative is dedicated to showcasing the achievements and successes of leading women, fostering an environment where female role models are recognised, and their contributions can ignite progress and inspire the next generation of women in IT.
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International Dec 9, 2025 Public Virtual english
The CIONET Awards 2026: Part 1, the premier celebration of excellence in digital mission and leadership. During this event the spotlight falls on two of the most critical arenas in modern enterprise: Applications & Architecture and Data & AI. Prepare for a dynamic session where each nominee will present their groundbreaking achievements.
Read More
Netherlands Dec 9, 2025 Invitation Only Physical english
Digital transformation and ongoing economic uncertainty are intensifying the pressure on IT leaders to do more with less. In this environment, gaining precise control over IT costs—while continuing to deliver effective, efficient, and innovative technology operations—is more critical than ever. At this exclusive CIONET Executive Roundtable, hosted in partnership with It’s Value, we will explore how Technology Business Management (TBM) principles can help CIOs and IT leaders make data-driven financial decisions that drive measurable business value. Key Discussion Themes Turning data insights into smarter IT investment decisions Setting priorities for cost optimisation and maximising ROI Quantifying and communicating the business value of IT initiatives Evaluating the principles of FinOps and the implications of public, private, and hybrid cloud environments for cost management Embedding effective change management to drive adoption and alignment Achieving tangible business outcomes from AI initiatives while maintaining fiscal discipline The evening will also feature a fireside chat with Sunil Anand, Global Head of Technology Business Management at National Grid. Sunil will share practical lessons and key milestones, retracing the National Grid cost management journey. This dinner offers a unique opportunity to: Exchange experiences with peers facing similar challenges Gain insights from TBM experts and industry practitioners Reassess your own IT financial strategy in a relaxed, collegial setting Join us for an evening of insight, discussion, and connection—designed to help you strengthen IT’s role as a true business value driver.
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Italy Dec 10, 2025 Invitation Only Physical italian
Questa roundtable esclusiva offrirà a CIO, CISO e Leader di ITOps/Engineering un confronto diretto per individuare le migliori strategie di Innovazione che, attraverso l'observability, ottimizzino il Return of Investment.
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Belgium Dec 11, 2025 Country Members Physical english
Imagine being able to monitor, simulate, and optimise an entire city, factory, or supply chain in real time. Next-generation digital twins are making this vision a reality, transforming how we manage and understand complex systems. By creating dynamic virtual replicas of physical assets and processes, digital twins allow organisations to predict issues, optimize performance, and make data-driven decisions with unprecedented accuracy.This event will explore how digital twins are being used across industries to revolutionize the way we operate and maintain large-scale, intricate systems—whether it’s the infrastructure of a smart city, the efficiency of a factory floor, or the resilience of global supply chains.Examples of Digital Twins in Action:Smart Cities: Urban planners can use digital twins to simulate traffic flow, monitor energy usage, or predict the impact of weather events on infrastructure. This enables cities to optimize resources and improve the quality of life for their citizens.Factories of the Future: Manufacturing plants are leveraging digital twins to monitor equipment in real time, prevent downtime, and optimize production lines. With predictive analytics, factories can avoid costly breakdowns and improve overall efficiency.Supply Chain Management: Complex supply chains, spanning continents and industries, can be modeled as digital twins to track shipments, simulate disruptions, and optimize logistics. Businesses can reduce inefficiencies and respond faster to market demands.Key Themes:Real-Time Monitoring and Simulation: How digital twins provide real-time insights into complex systems, allowing for dynamic response and optimization.Predictive Power: Leveraging AI and data analytics, digital twins help organisations predict and mitigate issues before they happen, from equipment failures to supply chain bottlenecks.Scalability Across Ecosystems: Digital twins aren’t limited to individual assets—learn how they can be scaled across entire ecosystems like smart cities or global supply chains for maximum impact.Building Trust and Security: With digital twins handling critical infrastructure and sensitive data, what are the security and governance frameworks needed to ensure trust in these virtual systems?Why You Should Attend:Next-generation digital twins are no longer just a concept—they are revolutionizing industries by offering a new way to manage complexity. Whether you’re looking to optimize a city, factory, or supply chain, this event will provide practical insights into how digital twins can transform your organisation’s operations and drive future innovation.
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Netherlands Dec 11, 2025 Invitation Only Physical dutch
Navigating tommorrow's threatscape: Cybersecurity insights for digital leaders. Op 28 november in de 3D Makers Zone in Haarlem.
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Belgium Dec 4, 2025 Invitation Only Physical english
CIONET is committed to highlighting and celebrating female role models in IT, Tech & Digital, creating a leadership programme that empowers and elevates women within the tech industry. This initiative is dedicated to showcasing the achievements and successes of leading women, fostering an environment where female role models are recognised, and their contributions can ignite progress and inspire the next generation of women in IT.
Read More
International Dec 9, 2025 Public Virtual english
The CIONET Awards 2026: Part 1, the premier celebration of excellence in digital mission and leadership. During this event the spotlight falls on two of the most critical arenas in modern enterprise: Applications & Architecture and Data & AI. Prepare for a dynamic session where each nominee will present their groundbreaking achievements.
Read More
Netherlands Dec 9, 2025 Invitation Only Physical english
Digital transformation and ongoing economic uncertainty are intensifying the pressure on IT leaders to do more with less. In this environment, gaining precise control over IT costs—while continuing to deliver effective, efficient, and innovative technology operations—is more critical than ever. At this exclusive CIONET Executive Roundtable, hosted in partnership with It’s Value, we will explore how Technology Business Management (TBM) principles can help CIOs and IT leaders make data-driven financial decisions that drive measurable business value. Key Discussion Themes Turning data insights into smarter IT investment decisions Setting priorities for cost optimisation and maximising ROI Quantifying and communicating the business value of IT initiatives Evaluating the principles of FinOps and the implications of public, private, and hybrid cloud environments for cost management Embedding effective change management to drive adoption and alignment Achieving tangible business outcomes from AI initiatives while maintaining fiscal discipline The evening will also feature a fireside chat with Sunil Anand, Global Head of Technology Business Management at National Grid. Sunil will share practical lessons and key milestones, retracing the National Grid cost management journey. This dinner offers a unique opportunity to: Exchange experiences with peers facing similar challenges Gain insights from TBM experts and industry practitioners Reassess your own IT financial strategy in a relaxed, collegial setting Join us for an evening of insight, discussion, and connection—designed to help you strengthen IT’s role as a true business value driver.
Read More
Italy Dec 10, 2025 Invitation Only Physical italian
Questa roundtable esclusiva offrirà a CIO, CISO e Leader di ITOps/Engineering un confronto diretto per individuare le migliori strategie di Innovazione che, attraverso l'observability, ottimizzino il Return of Investment.
Read More
Belgium Dec 11, 2025 Country Members Physical english
Imagine being able to monitor, simulate, and optimise an entire city, factory, or supply chain in real time. Next-generation digital twins are making this vision a reality, transforming how we manage and understand complex systems. By creating dynamic virtual replicas of physical assets and processes, digital twins allow organisations to predict issues, optimize performance, and make data-driven decisions with unprecedented accuracy.This event will explore how digital twins are being used across industries to revolutionize the way we operate and maintain large-scale, intricate systems—whether it’s the infrastructure of a smart city, the efficiency of a factory floor, or the resilience of global supply chains.Examples of Digital Twins in Action:Smart Cities: Urban planners can use digital twins to simulate traffic flow, monitor energy usage, or predict the impact of weather events on infrastructure. This enables cities to optimize resources and improve the quality of life for their citizens.Factories of the Future: Manufacturing plants are leveraging digital twins to monitor equipment in real time, prevent downtime, and optimize production lines. With predictive analytics, factories can avoid costly breakdowns and improve overall efficiency.Supply Chain Management: Complex supply chains, spanning continents and industries, can be modeled as digital twins to track shipments, simulate disruptions, and optimize logistics. Businesses can reduce inefficiencies and respond faster to market demands.Key Themes:Real-Time Monitoring and Simulation: How digital twins provide real-time insights into complex systems, allowing for dynamic response and optimization.Predictive Power: Leveraging AI and data analytics, digital twins help organisations predict and mitigate issues before they happen, from equipment failures to supply chain bottlenecks.Scalability Across Ecosystems: Digital twins aren’t limited to individual assets—learn how they can be scaled across entire ecosystems like smart cities or global supply chains for maximum impact.Building Trust and Security: With digital twins handling critical infrastructure and sensitive data, what are the security and governance frameworks needed to ensure trust in these virtual systems?Why You Should Attend:Next-generation digital twins are no longer just a concept—they are revolutionizing industries by offering a new way to manage complexity. Whether you’re looking to optimize a city, factory, or supply chain, this event will provide practical insights into how digital twins can transform your organisation’s operations and drive future innovation.
Read More
Netherlands Dec 11, 2025 Invitation Only Physical dutch
Navigating tommorrow's threatscape: Cybersecurity insights for digital leaders. Op 28 november in de 3D Makers Zone in Haarlem.
Read MoreTrend Micro’s ASRM capabilities helped a transportation company identify blind spots
Trend Micro’s ASRM capabilities helped a transportation company identify blind spots
WHAT IS OUR PRIMARY USE CASE?
The reason we invested in Trend Micro XDR was to consolidate security operations and monitoring. On top of that, we invested in their managed detection and response service, which they can provide on top of the ETA service, which makes our lives easier. You can say that with it, we need fewer hands.
We can spend more time in other places as it’s simpler to have that overview. We have much more time for other tasks.
HOW HAS IT HELPED MY ORGANIZATION?
We're able to gather a more simple view of what was going on in our infrastructure. Before this solution, we used a SIEM system. Trend Micro XDR made monitoring more simple, and we trusted them as a security partner.
It definitely has improved our visibility of all of our ongoing items in the infrastructure. We can get a good overview of what's going on across our network and what our security looks like.
WHAT IS MOST VALUABLE?
Having everything under one management console and having them monitored from one place is the most beneficial.
It saves time and we do not have to invest in a lot of products to meet all of our use case needs.
It's quite simple to monitor everything under one console. It makes life simpler for our operations team.
We have the solution everywhere, including email, network, endpoints, and cloud. This is important to have this coverage. As a former incident response analyst, having visibility everywhere is really important. Having everything correlated into one place increases visibility
We have centralized visibility and management across our production layers. They are also improving that from month to month. It's important for us. In security operations, the fewer places you need to go to have a look around, the easier it is. Back in the day, we had to open ten different consoles. Now we just open one.
The most important thing for us as a customer is that we can spend more time in other places as it's simpler to have that overview. We have much more time for other tasks.
We use the solution's executive dashboards. We like that we can drill down from the dashboards into XDR detections. It helps the C-suite understand. However, it also helps us drill down by allowing us to choose which views we want.
We have a trial version of the Risk Index. We have a daily look at it and it gives a nice overview of our vulnerability management and what the attack surface looks like. It helps us prioritize our daily tasks.
The Managed XDR service was great. It helped quite a lot. We had to get used to working with them and they with us, however, now it's quite an easy task and the advisory and alerts we get from them have been helpful. The availability to work on other tasks has helped us improve in other areas. It's positively affected our business. Having this product means that we are improving in a lot of different areas that we also need to focus on. They can do the monitoring better than we can do it ourselves. We don't have the manpower to do it on our own so it helps a lot to have them help with management.
We use the Attack Surface Risk Management capabilities, which are also in the trial period. It's absolutely helped us to identify blind spots in our environment. It made us realize that, for example, users were using their work email for private services such as Netflix or other services that, if they had a data breach, would be an issue. With this, we can reach out to those users and explain to them how to act on the Internet, not to use your work email for private services, et cetera.It's helped decrease our time to detect and respond to threats. It's likely 80% faster now. It's also helped us reduce the time we spend investigating false positive alerts. They do a lot of the initial work for us and come back with the actions we need to do on our part (if any). It's helped us reduce false positive investigations by 50%.
We're using some of the automation capabilities of XDR. It's helped us save time. At the moment, it's likely helped us save 20% of the time we'd normally spend on manual processes.
It’s helped decrease our time to detect and respond to threats. It’s likely 80% faster now.
WHAT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT?
They should increase their potential for thirdparty integrations. We'd like to see integrations with other IT security vendors that are not currently there.
I'd like to see central management of all products.
FOR HOW LONG HAVE I USED THE SOLUTION?
I've been using the solution since it came out, essentially. I've been working with it for eight or nine years.
WHAT DO I THINK ABOUT THE STABILITY OF THE SOLUTION?
The solution is quite stable.
WHAT DO I THINK ABOUT THE SCALABILITY OF THE SOLUTION?
We don't have branch offices, however we have 2200 clients and 800 servers.
It is easy to scale if you are a bigger organization. We do plan to scale further in the future.
HOW ARE CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SUPPORT?
We have Service One, which includes three-year support. It is 24/7/365 support and they are quite good.
HOW WOULD YOU RATE CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SUPPORT?
Positive
WHICH SOLUTION DID I USE PREVIOUSLY AND WHY DID I SWITCH?
Before Trend Micro, we used Splunk. The use case and monitoring were easier with Trend Micro. We found it easier to fulfill our needs using Trend Micro.
HOW WAS THE INITIAL SETUP?
I was involved in the deployment process. Some of it was quite complex. Unfortunately, we had an on-prem environment that wasn't well taken care of. The migration was hard, however, that was more our fault. It could be easier to migrate, however.
It took us about nine months to fully deploy.
We already had some products in the cloud, however, we needed to migrate all of our endpoints. The on-premise agent needed to be placed in the cloud and we had some problems as some clients did not have an opening to the internet, et cera. There was some preparation we needed to do. We needed to do some upgrading before migrating. There were two to four people performing the implementation.
The solution requires maintenance and we have a person that manages that.
WHAT ABOUT THE IMPLEMENTATION TEAM?
We had help from Trend Micro professional services.
WHAT WAS OUR ROI?
We have noted an ROI. Having them monitor our IT solutions allowed us to have fewer people on the team. It's saved us in man hours.
WHAT'S MY EXPERIENCE WITH PRICING, SETUP COST, AND LICENSING?
The solution is affordable. You do need to pay additional fees for some of the functionalities.
WHICH OTHER SOLUTIONS DID I EVALUATE?
We also evaluated Microsoft's solutions.
WHAT OTHER ADVICE DO I HAVE?
I'm a customer and end-user.
We realized the benefits of the solution pretty fast - within a couple of weeks. We knew the benefits beforehand which is why we chose Trend Micro. The possibility of having the solution monitored by the vendor itself was quite helpful.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
I would advise others to prepare your needs beforehand. If you know those, you will know Trend Micros is the right fit for you. It's great. If there's a problem with central management or monitoring, Trend Micros is quite useful.
WHICH DEPLOYMENT MODEL ARE YOU USING FOR THIS SOLUTION?
Public Cloud
IF PUBLIC CLOUD, PRIVATE CLOUD, OR HYBRID CLOUD, WHICH CLOUD PROVIDER DO YOU USE?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
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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.
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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.
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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Head of IT Germany and Regional Office Lead Munich, Microsoft
IT Director, IT Thinker
Vice president IT & Compliance, VisionaryRCM (A Carlyle Grp Company)
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