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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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University of Warwick bolsters cyber defences with Trend Micro Cloud App Security

Bolsters cyber defences with Trend Micro Cloud App Security

OVERVIEW

The UK education sector is an increasingly popular target for cybercriminals. Separate pieces of research have revealed that many universities have faced phishing and ransomware attacks. Given the highly sensitive research-based IP and personal data on students and staff stored by these institutions, it’s no surprise that they’ve become a favourite of hackers.

The University of Warwick has recognized the rise in attacks and proactively decided to further strengthen its defenses. Its Head of Cloud Services, Des Butcher, in conjunction with colleagues, sought out third-party expertise to help secure its Office 365 environment.

RISING THREAT LEVELS

The University’s existing anti-spam and malware capabilities were based on existing Unix relays; an unsustainable situation given the rapidly increasing volume, complexity and variety of threats. Des and his colleagues in ITS therefore set out to find a more effective solution to the problem; and one which addressed not only the primary threat vector of email but also provided protection across the entire Office 365 range. A priority was placed on third-party providers who could offer tight integration with Microsoft’s online productivity suite with an easy-to-implement product set.

ENTER CLOUD APP SECURITY

Des started a review of security solutions in January 2017, and asked a select group of vendors to present to the email team and IT security staff. Trend Micro™ Cloud App Security was chosen based on this presentation, and some outstanding commercials.

Trend Micro Cloud App Security is the perfect choice for businesses looking to extend the built-in security protections of Office 365 with advanced malware detection and data loss prevention. Here are just some of the benefits:

Document exploit detection helps find malware including ransomware in Office formats like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

Trend Micro™ Deep Discovery™ sandbox technology detects unknown malware and shares intelligence with other security layers.

Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™-derived intelligence finds malicious URLs in both the message body and email attachments.

Detects attacks in progress as hackers try to migrate via email from compromised accounts within the organization.

Data Loss Prevention for OneDrive, SharePoint Online, Dropbox®, Box®, and Google Drive™ uses over 200 pre-built and customizable compliance templates to control sharing of controlled data.

Scans files shared from remote workers and partners.

Tight API-based integration means automatic, hassle-free set-up.

Trend Micro has been a Microsoft Gold Partner for 20 years.

"Trend Micro sits within your tenancy. That proximity to the data being protected had a significant advantage versus other gateway products. Typical gateway products focused on just email, rather than email, SharePoint and OneDrive, which are the other significant aspects of Office 365."

Des Butcher - Head of Cloud Services, University of Warwick

MAXIMUM SECURITY, MINIMUM OUTLAY

Des and his team first conducted some pen testing exercises on Cloud App Security before running the product in monitoring mode for a couple of weeks to check for false positives. The results were very good and the product was switched on.

It’s been plain sailing ever since: although the attacks keep on increasing, the impact on the university is significantly lower than that prior to Cloud App Security installation, says Des.

“We haven’t been affected by the majority of the attacks on higher education institutions that get reported” he adds.

The product has also helped Des save valuable resources, at a time when budgets are tight.

“By moving our defense into Office 365, we’re in a position to reduce the amount of resource we devote to this area and focus it elsewhere,” he concludes.

“From a commercial point-of-view, I’m confident its cost is neutral and has delivered significant benefits.”

"We can see a measurable benefit: a reduction in the volume of malware arriving in our users’ inboxes. We can look at the dashboard and get a view of potentially thousands of pieces of malicious content getting blocked."

Des Butcher - Head of Cloud Services, University of Warwick

Technologies

Trend Micro Cloud App Security™

Partners

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Cyber Circle

CIONET’s Cyber Circle: a new three-event programme exclusively focusing on the most urgent, complex, and high-impact challenges in cybersecurity today. Launched in 2026, this initiative brings together CISOs, CIOs, and senior IT executives with a strong interest in cybersecurity for three curated gatherings each year. As part of CIONET’s trusted executive community, the Cyber Circle provides a confidential, peer-driven environment to exchange insights, share real-world experiences, and address evolving cyber threats. Each session is designed to foster strategic dialogue, strengthen resilience, and elevate cybersecurity as a core driver of business value.

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Les Rencontres

Découvrez la dynamique du leadership numérique aux Rencontres de CIONET, le programme francophone exclusif de CIONET pour les leaders numériques en Belgique, rendu possible grâce au soutien et à l'engagement de nos partenaires de programme : Deloitte, Denodo et Red Hat. Rejoignez trois événements inspirants par an à Liège, Namur et en Brabant Wallon, où des CIOs et des experts numériques francophones de premier plan partagent leurs perspectives et expériences sur des thèmes d'affaires et de IT actuels. Laissez-vous inspirer et apprenez des meilleurs du secteur lors de sessions captivantes conçues spécialement pour soutenir et enrichir votre rôle en tant que CIO pair. Ne manquez pas cette opportunité de faire partie d'un réseau exceptionnel d'innovateurs numériques !

Female Leadership Circle

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. Our mission is to shine the spotlight a little brighter on female role models in IT, Tech & Digital, and to empower each other through this inner network community.