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Belgium 16-6-26 All Members Physical english

Transforming Public Services Without Breaking the System

For CIOs and Digital Leaders across Public & Institutional Services, including federal and regional agencies, city administrations, defence, healthcare, social security, and higher education, the gap between ambition and reality is growing. Today, you are caught between two opposing forces: The Sovereignty Squeeze: Heavy pressure from authorities to move away from global public clouds towards "local" solutions, often without a clear plan on how to maintain performance. The Procurement Trap: Strict legal rules that make changing suppliers an administrative nightmare. This leads to "Vendor Lock-in" and "Frankenstein systems" where new tools are awkwardly bolted onto old infrastructure.

Belgium 18-6-26 Invitation Only Physical english

Building the Event-Driven Enterprise: Managing flow, context, and control in event-driven systems

Becoming event-driven sounds like the logical next step: real-time visibility, faster response, tighter integration. The promise is appealing, no? But turning that vision into reality is another story. Where do you start, with technology, operating model, or mindset? Many soon discover that event-driven design reshapes everything. Data ownership becomes decentralised, monitoring grows complex, and governance feels like chasing a moving target. Scaling up amplifies both the benefits and, if poorly governed, the costs as well. The question then becomes: what is the return on all that investment? Does the model actually reduce cost over time, or simply move it elsewhere? And when does ROI start showing, during scaling or only once operations stabilise? The goal remains clear: systems that react faster, stay reliable, and create measurable value at speed. But the path there is not. Let’s explore what it means to build event-driven architectures, what challenges surface at scale, and what financial outcomes they truly achieve. A closed conversation for those aiming to prove that responsiveness can also be sustainable.

Belgium 23-6-26 All Members Physical english

The Sovereignty Play : Sourcing for Autonomy, Resilience and Competitive Advantage

Sourcing for Autonomy, Resilience and Competitive Advantage. Global platforms offer incredible speed and innovation, but they also create deep dependencies that can expose your business to vendor lock-in, supply chain disruptions, and regulatory shifts. For today's CIO, the central challenge is no longer just about technology adoption; it's about building a digital foundation that is both agile and resilient. Strategic sourcing is the key. It has evolved from a procurement function into the primary tool for CIOs to navigate uncertainty, mitigate risk, and achieve digital autonomy. This session provides a practical playbook for using strategic sourcing to build a future-proof enterprise.

June 18, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Physical english

Building the Event-Driven Enterprise: Managing flow, context, and control in event-driven systems

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State of the art SAP Migration at Liège Airport

Contrary to what one would expect, the implementation of ERP does not necessarily have to be long and tedious. Hardly four months have passed since its implementation with Liege Airport showing that renewing software does not need to be a long-lasting operation. The airport opted for an All-in-One SAP solution and awarded the assignment to NRB.

“We wanted above all to improve our commercial and accounting procedures. The airport has, moreover, other projects where this new software can be used”, says Willy Delflys, Secretary General of Liege Airport.

Due to the growth of the airport and the expansion of its activities, Liege Airport has been confronted with a certain number of limitations with regard to its accounting software. It should also be noted that after ten years, this support had become practically non-existent. In addition, the management application for purchasing, developed internally ten years ago, was no longer suitable for today’s working world. The operation involving purchases and accounting was no longer adequate.

New ERP synonymous with time saving

“When a purchasing request is introduced in SAP All-in-One, the software automatically activates accounting charges in the accounting module”, explains Willy Delflys. “In the past, this operation had to be carried out manually with the risk of error linked to data capture. This integration reduces the problems linked to errors and enables considerable time saving. As a result, the productivity of our employees has increased considerably”.

It is precisely for these numerous integration possibilities that Liege Airport opted for a SAP solution. “The management of this procedure by SAP was in every respect considerably more important than its look and user-friendliness”, adds Willy Delflys. “Purchasing was also part of a long-term vision. We started with the two modules mentioned but were able to extend the scope of the solution without any problem. We are now planning in the short term to adopt a real estate management module as the application currently in use is also ten years old. We are also working with isolated applications for personnel and customer management and it is for this reason that we are also examining the possibilities offered by SAP HCM and SAP CRM. In this context, we are following the recommendations of NRB and SAP who have extensive experience in the airport sector”.

Rapid migration thanks to SAP’s excellence practices

Migration to the new system was carried out seamlessly because Liege Airport agreed to follow the excellence practices used by SAP. NRB then only needed 250 working days to implement the system, a real record! Willy Delflys adds: “Our procedures closely resembled the approach that SAP recommends. We therefore had no difficulty in following the recommended best practices. This enabled us to carry out migration in a sufficiently short time, even if SAP All-in-One was more or less already preconfigured. The extra work for our teams, which included a key user by the department concerned and a project manager, was on the whole kept to a minimum. We decided to limit this period as much as possible because we were afraid that the staff of the departments concerned would after a while loose all motivation”.

Willy Delflys did not hesitate a single second to assign this operation to NRB. “This company has an excellent reputation and is situated nearby. This nearness is a nonnegotiable asset for a migration of this type. Now that the system has been set up, I can confirm that the professionalism shown by NRB in managing this project impressed us greatly. Their consultants have exceptional know-how”.

Technologies

SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Partners

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.