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Belgium 13-11-2026 Squad Only Physical English

Building the Business Case for New IT Capabilities; How to justify investment when value is strategic, shared, or only visible over time.

Many IT capabilities are essential and difficult to fund through a simple project ROI. The challenge is showing why architecture, governance, resilience, cybersecurity maturity, data foundations, and AI readiness deserve investment before the gap becomes expensive. Three pressure points make the case harder. - Shared value means the benefit often sits across several teams, while the budget sits in one place. - Timing creates friction because the cost is immediate while the value appears over time. - Risk translation is needed so business and finance leaders understand the consequence of delaying the investment. The working question is simple: how do we turn foundational IT capabilities into credible investment cases that link cost, risk, business value, and future flexibility? If you are building these cases internally, let’s compare how others are positioning value, risk, and timing.

Belgium 19-11-2026 All Members Physical English

Europe’s Digital Foundations

Public organisations are re-evaluating the digital foundations on which critical services depend. Cloud strategy is increasingly shaped by questions of operational control, legal exposure, supplier dependency, interoperability and long-term resilience. For public-sector leaders, the issue is not only where workloads are hosted, but how much strategic control remains over the technologies that support essential public services. This is where European cloud initiatives, sovereign infrastructure and open-source technologies become strategically important. Together, they can increase transparency, preserve portability and reduce dependency on individual providers. But they also raise practical questions around maturity, procurement, integration, support models and long-term sustainability. Open source brings a specific dimension to this discussion. It claims to better support transparency, interoperability and strategic autonomy, but it is also requiring clear governance, security controls and operational support. The opportunity is to understand where open technologies can strengthen the public-sector technology stack, where commercial platforms remain essential and how both can coexist within a coherent European digital strategy. Three questions shape the discussion: Which parts of the public-sector technology stack require stronger European control? What role should open-source technologies play in reducing dependency and strengthening transparency? Which governance and procurement decisions will determine whether a sovereign cloud strategy succeeds? Bringing these perspectives together can define where sovereign cloud and open technologies create strategic value, identify the decisions that deserve executive attention, and establish practical principles for strengthening Europe’s digital foundations while preserving flexibility and innovation. See you at the table?

Belgium 24-11-2026 Country Members Physical French

Les Rencontres: Innovation de l'Ombre

Créativité vs. Chaos : Quelle est la gouvernance minimale ? Le défi principal est d'équilibrer le risque et le rythme du changement. Les équipes métier adoptent de nouveaux outils d'IA et low-code de leur propre chef, créant une véritable créativité mais aussi un risque massif et non géré. Cette discussion se concentre sur l'établissement de voies simples et sûres pour l'innovation, en débattant de la gouvernance minimale qui protège la réputation de l'entreprise tout en évitant l'erreur d'écraser les initiatives utiles dans l'ombre. Questions clés d'Échange entre pairs : Où l'innovation de l'ombre aide-t-elle plutôt que de nuire, et comment éviter de l'écraser ? Quelle est la gouvernance minimale qui protège la réputation tout en maintenant la vitesse, et à qui appartient-elle réellement ? Comment les pairs ont-ils réussi à transformer les efforts initiaux de l'ombre en services officiels soutenus sans perdre la confiance de l'entreprise ? Comment pouvons-nous rendre plus facile d'innover de manière responsable que de simplement agir en franc-tireur ?

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Dutch Railways Keeping ISO 9001 certification on track with ARIS

Dutch Railways uses ARIS to collect all process information and ensure compliance with ISO 9001 certification standards.

Few organizations know as much about the importance of process excellence as Dutch Railways. Processes are what keep their trains running. But to make sure its passengers can rely a rail system that is well maintained and always on time, Dutch Railways needs to maintain its ISO 9001 certification - the quality management stamp of approval. It’s not only good business. It’s required by the Dutch government. Without that certification, Dutch Railways would lose its license to operate.

This is one of the things that Maarten Geijsberts, process business consultant at Dutch Railways, is responsible for. He and his team use ARIS to bring together all of its process information and to ensure compliance with ISO 9001 certification standards.

What problem did Software AG and ARIS help solve?
All the information we have is different. So different kind of level of information – it’s everywhere, it’s outdated or it’s new and every department or process has its own opinion or view of how the information has to be modeled or stored. And now it’s time to bring it all together in one system and one view.

How does Dutch Railways use ARIS?
The Dutch Railways is using ARIS as a system to store its processes first and second to use them for process optimization and digitalization. We also have an ARCM, so risk and compliance is connected to the processes. So we have to know our processes. We have to know the way we’re working and we have to be in control of it. We have to show them – these are our processes, this is the way of working, and this is we comply with not only ISO but also to all the regulations of the government or any other type or form of regulation.

Why is ARIS key to Dutch Railways’ success?
ARIS is key to success for Dutch Railways in one big issue at the moment. We are depending on an ISO 9001 certificate. If we lose that, we lose the license to operate. And if we lose our license to operate, we have no way or even the means to exist.

Technologies

Software AG - Aris

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