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Belgium 27-8-26 AB Members Physical english

Summer Festival: Advisory Board

CIO agendas are crowded: cost pressure, cyber, regulation, talent, data, AI, vendor dependency, business expectations. Most organisations are trying to do too much at once, and the “must-do” work often blocks the strategic work. CIONET only creates value if its agenda matches what CIOs truly need, in the right format, at the right time. The challenge Pick the few priorities that matter most for 2027, then translate them into a clear CIONET agenda. Outcome we leave with A ranked CIO agenda for 2027, and a directly aligned CIONET programme outline (themes, formats, cadence), with a shortlist of speaker and case targets.

Belgium 27-8-26 Country Members Physical english

Summerfest: From Story to Habit

How to align people, shift routines, and prove value Technology transformations often fail not because the tools don’t work, but because people don’t change their work habits. Boards want proof of value, executives want business outcomes, IT wants clarity, and employees want ease. Between these expectations, the CIO’s role is no longer just to deliver platforms; it is to tell the story that motivates people and turn that story into daily habits. This session will explore: The narrative: how to craft a simple, repeatable story that explains the “why” behind change for every stakeholder. From story to routine: practical ways to embed new behaviours through manager rituals, team incentives, and visible leadership. Reskilling and new expectations: preparing teams for evolving roles, from cross-department collaboration to AI-enhanced workflows. Measuring what matters: showing progress in speed, quality, and resilience — not just in licences bought or trainings completed. The aim is to equip CIOs with a leadership toolkit: a story that unites, habits that endure, and proof that convinces even the toughest boardroom.

Belgium 8-9-26 Invitation Only Virtual english

What an AI Architect Actually Does in Practice; Skills, responsibilities, interfaces, and career moves behind one of the most misunderstood emerging roles.

The AI architect role is becoming more visible, and the scope varies across organisations. The challenge is defining what the role owns, where it sits, and how it works with existing architecture, data, security, risk, and business teams. Three pressure points need clarity. - Role definition matters because the position can span solution architecture, data architecture, governance, integration, security, vendor selection, and business process design. - Interfaces matter because the role must connect teams while respecting existing responsibilities. - Skills matter because technical depth needs to be combined with judgement around controls, delivery choices, and operational boundaries. The working question is simple: how do we define the AI architect role so it becomes useful, credible, and connected to delivery? If this role is emerging in your organisation, let’s compare how others are defining it and where they are placing it.

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PwC supports VECK in its crucial mission to protect children

Introducing a Salesforce system tailored to the sensitive needs of the centre helps improve efficiency and quality of reporting.

Easing the administrative burden

Working to help keep children safe and support families, practitioners with the Flemish confidential centres of child abuse and neglect (Vertrouwenscentra Kindermishandeling; VK) and the Flemish expertise centre on abuse and neglect (Vlaams Expertisecentrum Kindermishandeling; VECK) operate in a high-pressure environment and are often short staffed. To help ease the burden on their staff, VECK sought to introduce a tool that wouldn’t just alleviate the administrative burden, but would support their work processes too. “Our people deal with very delicate and complex situations. We needed to connect the logical world of monitoring and registration tools with their world as social carers. We needed to be able to translate a solution to their world to make sure that it would support their mission,” explains Tim Stroobants, Director, VECK.

director of veck

Providing a modern, flexible tool

That tool had to be adequately flexible to help VECK’s practitioners deal with complex and difficult situations. It had to allow for report writing and follow up, making sure that cases aren’t registered more than once and that everyone who needs has access to pertinent information to support and guide team meetings and discussions. “We considered several options before deciding that Salesforce would be the best tool for our needs. It provides a flexible and efficient environment for client registration and management and can be tailored to our reality,” Tim Stroobants says.

“PwC was able to connect the logical world of tools and processes with the sensitivities of our work.”
Tim Stroobants Director, VECK

Connecting technology and people

As to why VECK opted to work with PwC for its introduction, Tim Stroobants enthuses, “The PwC team was very sensitive to our needs and situation. They were able to connect the logical world of tools and processes with the sensitivities of our work and carers, who are very socially driven, and therefore support us in our mission.” He adds, “We work in a very high-pressure sector and have little time for meetings and discussion. PwC made sure that meetings were effective and efficient so that we could move forward. The team listened to our concerns and were very constructive in finding solutions. They were very pragmatic and showed real understanding of the sensitive nature of our organisation and work.”

childrens painting

director of veck

Protecting sensitive data

Protecting data within the system is crucial and the right balance had to be found between system performance and data protection. “This is clearly not our area of expertise. PwC was skilled in helping us find that balance and make informed decisions. The team brought the necessary technical skills to design the tool and the required process expertise to build it in the way we need, while securing the information and data contained within it,” Tim Stroobants recalls. The tool also had to be used by the professionals who answer the 1712 helpline for questions about violence, abuse and child abuse, while not sharing all data with them. “These professionals need their own environment, but we didn’t want to have two tools. We also needed to be able to link connected data to assure there were no duplicate inputs. With PwC’s help, that’s exactly what we’ve been able to achieve,” he notes.

On a mission to succeed

With its new Salesforce system now in place, VECK’s practitioners have access to a much more modern tool that’s enabling them to create richer reports more quickly, making a real contribution to helping the organisation realise its mission. “Our registration process is now more efficient and our reports are of higher quality. And everyone has access to the precise information they require,” Tim Stroobants enthuses. Indeed, the tool provides VECK with much greater flexibility and enables data to be used in a more intuitive way.

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CIONET Business Circles

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.

Telenet Business Leadership Circle

The Telenet Business Leadership Circle powered by CIONET, offers a platform where IT executives and thought leaders can meet to inspire each other and share best practices. We want to be a facilitator who helps you optimise the performance of your IT function and your business by embracing the endless opportunities that digital change brings.

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.