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Belgium 01-10-2026 Squad Only Virtual english

Letting Teams Build Safely with Low-Code, No-Code, and AI Tools. ; How to enable business-led development while keeping security, architecture, and support under control.

Low-code, no-code, and AI tools are giving business teams more ability to build solutions themselves. The challenge is setting the right boundaries before fast local solutions become important operational assets. Three pressure points need attention. - Boundaries must be clear: teams need to know what they can build alone and what requires IT, security, or architecture review. - Supportability matters when a quick solution becomes business-critical. - Risk control remains necessary around data access, compliance, security, process dependency, and maintenance. The working question is simple: how do we enable business-led development while keeping security, ownership, and support under control? If you are trying to enable this safely, let’s compare approaches with others facing the same balance.

Belgium 06-10-2026 All Members Physical english

The Token Trap: Reclaiming Control of Enterprise AI

As enterprise AI transitions from experimental Proofs of Concept (POCs) into real implementations, digital leaders are encountering a shared challenge: consumption-based public cloud token billing models do not fit neatly into traditional IT budgeting. Daily token consumption can rise unexpectedly, pushing expenses through the roof while arbitrary caps quickly kill momentum for innovation. For many CIOs, this raises an open strategic question: How do we keep costs under control while further stimulating innovation? During this interactive CIONET roundtable, we will explore among peers how to navigate AI tokenomics. Rather than treating public cloud LLMs as the default path, we will investigate how different execution environments, ranging from hybrid cloud setups and targeted on-premise models to specialised edge hardware, can help balance cost with performance. This session is intentionally designed as an open peer-to-peer exchange; a space to compare notes, challenge current ways of working and architectural setups, and discuss practical approaches to building predictable, scalable AI models.

Belgium 08-10-2026 All Members Physical english

The Permanent (R)evolution

Every large organisation has been through a major transformation, and most through several. The word transformation is misleading because it suggests a beginning and an end. But organisations that do well are the ones that have given up on the idea of arriving and realise that constant change has become the new norm, and missing a single cycle leaves you permanently behind. This evening, two leaders will share how they think about this, coming from opposite directions. John Porter led Telenet through a sustained period of reinvention spanning the pandemic, a full reorganisation into tribes, M&A, and a shift to a performance driven culture. Along the way, the IT department was dissolved and technology was embedded inside autonomous tribes that run as small businesses. There is no CIO at Telenet. It is Telenet Group’s purpose to become a digital-first, customer-centric organisation. To deliver on this ambition, it has embarked on a transformation journey built on three pillars: (i) the implementation of a scaled-agile operating model (organisation), (ii) the acceleration of digitisation and automation underpinned by optimised IT systems, platforms, and strategic technology partnerships (digitisation), and (iii) a performance leadership culture focused on accountability, ownership, and a change mindset (culture). Kris Vervaet, on the other hand, has just become CIO at KBC, the bank whose mobile app has been ranked best in the world three times and whose AI assistant Kate now handles 70% of customer queries on its own. But Kris is no ordinary CIO: he ran DPG Media Belgium as CEO, and KBC went looking for someone who has led transformation rather than someone who manages technology. So while one organisation got rid of the CIO role, the other reinvented it, and both are thriving. The conversation will range across organisational and IT redesign, the rise of digital-first customer experience, the impact of AI on how every business is run, and the harder questions of culture, talent and leadership. The question for every leader in the room is what that tells you about your own role, your own operating model, and the pace at which you are prepared to keep evolving.

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KNMI National weather institute modernizes its IT environment in AWS with Trend Cloud One™

The Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI) is a critical source of weather information for the Netherlands. To protect its valuable data and ensure the reliability of its services, KNMI has partnered with Trend Micro. Trend Cloud One provides comprehensive cybersecurity protection for KNMI's sensitive data, safeguarding the organization's vital mission.

OVERVIEW

The KNMI (Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute) is widely known for its weather forecasts. The KNMI weather room is on standby 24/7 to warn citizens in the Netherlands of dangerous or extreme weather. It provides advice to the government, port companies, and Schiphol Airport. It also provides data and services to weather providers, such as Buienradar and news programs. eThe KNMI also holds vast amounts of (historical) climate data, dating back to the 17th century, that is run through analytic models.

Because the KNMI delivers open data and there are no personal data that need to be protected, they were one of the first government organizations to move to the public cloud. After the organization migrated to Amazon Web Services (AWS) four years ago, the security of the data needed to be highly protected. In addition, many stakeholders are dependent on the KNMI’s data - including its meteorologist at Schiphol. If the data needed for air traffic was hacked or corrupted, serious consequences could take place. To ensure the safety, availability, and reliability of this data, the KNMI chose Trend Cloud One™ for protection of their data in the AWS cloud.

“Trend Micro focuses broadly on all security aspects of the multi-cloud, not just on one small piece. That’s exactly what the KNMI was looking for. The hosting for our research and its security is very important. Trend presented itself with the Cloud One platform as the best,” said Ekko Huizenga, product owner at the KNMI

BETTER LEADERSHIP

The KNMI likes to keep the control in its own hands. “The company does this consciously to maintain high internal knowledge and expertise, to keep lines of communication between teams short and to make optimal use of the benefits offered by new technological solutions,” said Huizenga. “This also applies to security. By keeping control in its own hands and implementing Trend’s Cloud One solutions as independently as possible, DevOps teams can be better and more actively supported.”

In addition, the KNMI wants to be autonomous and work in a way that allows them to look over the shoulders of employees and guide them if necessary, in a non-invasive manner. “It is important that we can exercise good control over our data. Trend Cloud One fits perfectly with this. In addition, it can be set up tightly and relatively easily rolled out,” said René Joosten, enterprise architect at the KNMI.

"With Trend Micro Cloud One - we can take cloud-independent security measures, in addition to the features provided by our current AWS platform."

Ekko Huizenga - Product Owner at the KNMI

GREATER INSIGHT INTO THE CLOUD SECURITY POSTURE

Efficient and good insight into security alerts is important for the KNMI to ensure that their data is always secure and available. “Trend Cloud One – Conformity™ not only provides more insight into the cloud security posture, but also into the entire cloud architecture. This gives us a detailed insight into any misconfigurations, including advice on how to resolve them directly,” says Joosten.

"Trend Micro focuses broadly on all security aspects of multi-cloud, not just one small piece."

René Joosten - Enterprise Architect at KNMI

FASTER PROTECTION AGAINST THREATS

With Trend Cloud One - Workload Security, the KNMI can protect its environment against both known and unknown threats. The virtual patching technique automatically seals vulnerabilities in workloads.

SOLID SUPPORT

Despite the desire for the KNMI to keep as much control as possible over the implementation of new technology, Trend offered great support. KNMI developers communicated regularly with Trend and actively collaborated on application security and optimizing the use of software solutions. “Trend is always ready to help the customer and come by to assist with problems. The communication is good and runs smoothly. We get the impression of a flat organization and we never feel like we’re at the back of the line,” says Huizenga.

WHAT'S NEXT

KNMI’s next big project with Trend is securing the European Weather Cloud - a collaboration with other European weather services. It would be infrastructure-as-aservice connecting each partner to customize its owns setup. With the positive experience gained from the Trend Cloud One platform, KNMI also intends to expand with Trend Vision One™ in the future as a further investment into the platform and automating more security operations.

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.