Belgium 23-9-25 Squad Only Virtual english
Security teams are overwhelmed. Too many tools. Too many alerts. Too few people. And now, increasing pressure from the board to protect everything, everywhere, all the time. Expect honest reflection, shared strategies, and a conversation that cuts through compliance noise and focuses on what to do when your team is stretched and your risk is rising.
Read MoreBelgium 23-9-25 Invitation Only Physical english
In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, the financial services industry in Belgium faces a critical juncture regarding its cloud adoption strategy. While the allure of cloud computing – with its promise of scalability, agility, and innovation – is undeniable, the unique regulatory demands and paramount need for data sovereignty present significant challenges. This CIONET roundtable, aims to bring together Digital Leaders from the Belgian financial sector to discuss how to navigate these complexities. We will explore how financial institutions can leverage cloud technologies while ensuring complete control over their data, maintaining compliance with stringent European regulations like GDPR and DORA, and mitigating geopolitical risks.
Read MoreBelgium 24-9-25 Invitation Only Physical english
As smart devices proliferate across operational environments — from sensors on factory lines and GPS trackers in logistics fleets to wearables in healthcare and connected systems in smart cities — the integration of Managed IoT (MiOT) is accelerating. But with it comes a surge in cybersecurity risks. No longer isolated or air-gapped, OT systems are becoming fully networked, remotely accessible, and deeply entwined with IT. This creates a vulnerable, highly complex digital mesh, one where a single compromised device can trigger physical, financial, and reputational consequences.
Read MoreSeptember 23, 2025 Squad Session Squad Only Virtual english
Security teams are overwhelmed. Too many tools. Too many alerts. Too few people. And now, increasing pressure from the board to protect everything, everywhere, all the time. Expect honest reflection, shared strategies, and a conversation that cuts through compliance noise and focuses on what to do when your team is stretched and your risk is rising.
Read MoreSeptember 30, 2025 Squad Session Squad Only Virtual english
Everyone has technical debt. The question is what to do with it. Refactor now? Wait for the next feature? Build on it and hope it holds? If you’re tired of debating whether to clean up or move on, this session helps you frame the debt conversation in a way that supports both speed and stability.
Read MoreOctober 2, 2025 Squad Session Squad Only Virtual english
Architecture doesn’t happen in diagrams. It happens in minds, seasoned, curious, sharp minds that understand how the pieces fit. But who’s shaping these minds? Who’s growing the next generation of digital architects? If you’re responsible for complex systems, and for the people designing them, this session is for you.
Read MoreShell launched a civic development initiative called DIY, short for “Do IT Yourself.” DIY, leaning heavily on the Microsoft Power Platform and the Power Platform Power Apps and Power Automate products, invites and empowers workers with no coding experience to build low-code applications and automate.
Over the course of nearly 200 years, Shell has evolved from a one-man business importing seashells from the Far East to an international energy company with 93,000 employees in more than 70 countries. Today the company explores, produces, refines, and markets oil and natural gas while leading the global transition to a low-carbon energy system.
Shell’s enduring spirit of innovation — anchored by its long-standing commitment to sustainable development — led the company to launch a citizen-development initiative called DIY, an acronym for “Do IT Yourself.” Relying heavily on Microsoft Power Platform, and Power Platform products Power Apps and Power Automate, DIY invites and empowers employees with no coding experience to develop low-code applications, and automation, providing innovative solutions to business problems. The result? Shell estimates that DIY has generated a significant return on investment, enabling efficiencies and cost savings.
In just a few short years, DIY has revolutionized application development at Shell and positioned the company as an early adopter of low-code technologies. “It’s really a movement within Shell nowadays,” says Anna Sosievici, a Transformational Change Consultant at Shell. “Creating these solutions is not part of most people's day jobs. It's driven by a passion for finding creative ways to solve their business problems.”
Fostering and supporting a culture of low-code self-reliance among non-technical employees at Shell called for a deliberate approach. “It requires employees to upskill, and evolve their capabilities and data sources,” says Paul Kobylanski, who leads citizen development at Shell. “To enable and drive widespread adoption, we first had to win the hearts and minds of our community.”
Once the company leadership bought into the vision, Shell identified champions and advocates throughout the organization — most notably within lines of business. Inspiring success stories were promoted and shared through a central portal that engages and educates the community. “We used bootcamps, persona-based learning paths, and hackathons for ideation,” says Kobylanski. “The process of development was gamified, while showing the art of the possible.”
"We have coaches embedded in every community within our ecosystem,” adds Sosievici. “They provide valuable support to our developers and help launch new capabilities. They are a key part of our DIY initiative."
The emphasis on inspiration and celebration helped to make the program succeed well beyond its initial aspirations. "The original goal was to train five hundred DIY developers," says Kobylanski, "but this has now grown beyond our expectations to over 4,000 active DIY Developers across the business." As awareness of DIY and some high-value applications grew, engagement spread, and communities of practice began to form. “We embraced the philosophy that everyone — wherever they sit in the organization — can improve our operations by developing software applications,” Kobylanski explains.
With 4,000 citizen developers (and growing) Shell’s DIY community is making material contributions in a variety of areas. A few examples:
“A few years ago, if you were in a business role you knew your process very well, including where they were failing or not as optimized as possible,” says Sosievici. “But you didn’t have the power to make a change unless you could make a strong business case for IT to solve the problem. Nowadays, you can solve it yourself, and that is extremely liberating for people.”
This sense of empowerment is extremely important to Shell, not only in terms of business results, but redefining the traditional roles of business and IT. “People are solving and improving things that are meaningful to them in their daily work,” Kobylanski explains, “and some of them are emerging as great developers on the platform.”.
“We now recognize DIY as a mode of delivery,” Kobylanski continues. “As we look to prioritize and focus our IT resources on the biggest strategic programs, DIY empowers our businesses to deliver value that IT cannot always get to… which is extremely powerful.”
Looking forward, Kobylanski aims to accelerate adoption even further. “I’d like to see DIY even more widely adopted, like enterprise desktop tools of the past. In addition, I think the future of developing solutions is about to change - from writing lines of code to something more creative where machines build through the power of voice alone. With innovations like Copilot for Power Platform, the possibilities for creative and efficient solution development seem boundless. These are the moments that change the way we look at technology, right?”
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Digital Transformation is redefining the future of health care and health delivery. All stakeholders are convinced that these innovations will create value for patients, healthcare practitioners, hospitals, and governments along the patient pathway. The benefits are starting from prevention and awareness to diagnosis, treatment, short- and long-term follow-up, and ultimately survival. But how do you make sure that your working towards an architecturally sound, secure and interoperable health IT ecosystem for your hospital and avoid implementing a hodgepodge of spot solutions? How does your IT department work together with the other stakeholders, such as the doctors and other healthcare practitioners, Life Sciences companies, Tech companies, regulators and your internal governance and administrative bodies?
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreDécouvrez 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 !
Read MoreCIONET 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.
Read MoreWould you like to know more about CIONET Belgium, membership or partnership opportunities? Do you have feedback or any other question? Send us a message!
You can either send us a registered handwritten letter explaining why you'd like to become a member or you can simply talk to us right here!