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Belgium 20-1-26 All Members Physical english

The CIO as Investor - CIONET Belgium Annual Event

CIOs today are being judged less as technology leaders and more as portfolio managers. Every euro is under scrutiny. Boards and CFOs demand lower run costs, higher efficiency, and clear ROI from every digital initiative. Yet, they also expect CIOs to place bets on disruptive technologies that will keep the enterprise competitive in five years. This constant tension is redefining the role.

Belgium 22-1-26 Invitation Only Virtual english

AI-Driven Development: Redesigning workflows, responsibilities, and trust in the age of automation

AI coding assistants entered development teams quietly, but their impact grows by the day. What started as autocomplete now shapes architecture decisions, documentation, and testing. And when productivity gains are visible, so are new risks: security blind spots, uneven quality, and the slow erosion of shared standards. Teams move faster, but not always in the same direction. The challenge has become integration rather than adoption. And new questions have risen: how do you blend automation into established practices without losing oversight? When is human review still essential, and what should the rules of collaboration between developer and machine look like? As AI tools learn from proprietary code, where do responsibility and accountability sit? Let’s talk about how to redefine those workflows, balancing creativity with control, and protecting code quality in a hybrid human-AI environment. A closed conversation on where AI accelerates progress, where it introduces new debt, and how development culture must evolve to stay credible.

Belgium 27-1-26 Physical english

Zero Trust in Reality : Making segmentation, identity, and access work in complex environments

Zero Trust sounds simple on paper: trust no one, verify everything. But once you start implementing it, the fun begins. Legacy systems, hybrid networks, and human habits don’t read the manual. The idea is solid; the execution, not so much. In the end, Zero Trust is less about technology and more about design, culture, and patience. And when identity becomes the new perimeter, segmentation turns political, and exceptions multiply until the model looks more like “some trust, most of the time.” It’s progress, but not quite the revolution everyone expected. So how do you make Zero Trust work in real environments full of dependencies, vendors, and legacy constraints? Is it even possible? How do you balance usability with control, and what metrics actually prove progress? Let’s unpack what it takes to move beyond PowerPoint strategy and get Zero Trust working across systems and people that weren’t built for it. A closed conversation for those who’ve learned that Zero Trust is less about zero and more about trust that’s earned, not assumed.

January 22, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Virtual english

AI-Driven Development: Redesigning workflows, responsibilities, and trust in the age of automation

January 27, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Physical english

Zero Trust in Reality : Making segmentation, identity, and access work in complex environments

January 29, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Virtual english

The Career Path of the Data Leader : From data projects to enterprise value: redefining what leadership means

The role of the data leader used to be clear: build platforms, deliver dashboards, report insights. But now data sits everywhere, in AI, in decisions, in strategy, and suddenly every conversation ends with “What does the data say?”. The responsibility has outgrown the job description.

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Trend Micro and Vodafone Business secure the cloud journey for infrastructure firm

Story Contracting, a leading infrastructure and civil engineering company, has partnered with Trend Micro to enhance its cybersecurity posture. Trend Micro's advanced security solutions have provided Story Contracting with the necessary tools to safeguard its operations and ensure business continuity.

Story Contracting is an award-winning Infrastructure and civil engineering company with offices across the U.K. As a provider of rail, plant, and construction solutions, the firm has built a solid reputation over the past three decades. Alex Fletcher, the IT manager at Story Contracting, is responsible for network infrastructure, desktop environments, IT security, service providers, mobile voice connectivity, and much more. The more than 500 corporate users are geographically dispersed across the country.

"We have so much flexibility now, and with Trend Micro, there’s the peace-of-mind that anything malicious coming in is being dealt with."

Alex Fletcher - IT Manager Story Contracting

Moving to the Cloud

"Like many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), Story Contracting was looking to embrace a software as a service (SaaS) platform to drive user productivity, enhance IT flexibility, and boost business continuity. Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, around 20% of its employees worked remotely - this has now increased to 95%, making the company’s decision to migrate to Microsoft 365 even more crucial to streamline operations.

However, Alex Fletcher and the team were well aware of the potential cybersecurity risk associated with migrating to the cloud. Although less than half (46%) of U.K. businesses suffered security breaches and/or attacks last year, the figure rose to 68% for medium-sized firms, according to a recent U.K. Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) survey. The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2020 found that phishing, malware, and ransomware were the top three threats.

A One-stop shop

Keen to find a seamless, hassle-free way to manage Story Contracting’s cloud migration and security, Alex Fletcher spoke to Vodafone Business. He was particularly impressed by Vodafone Business Marketplace, a web-based portal that offers customers a single point of entry to purchase licenses and manage their applications - simplifying and minimizing the supply chain. It features multiple security offerings, productivity software, back-up tools, and more.

“On the cybersecurity side we were particularly looking for web reputation and URL filtering elements, especially with some of our staff working remotely across construction sites and at home,” Fletcher explains. “This was always something we wanted to enhance, so that we could apply URL filtering directly on the machines as a client, rather than via network solutions like the firewall.”

Why Worry-Free Services

After shortlisting and trialling several security offerings, Story Contracting chose Trend Micro™ Worry-Free™ Services on Vodafone Business Marketplace for 100% SaaS-based endpoint security. The platform offers:

A cross-generational blend of advanced threat detection capabilities, including high-fidelity machine learning, behavioural analysis, file and web reputation, URL filtering, app control, DLP, and much more
Simple deployment and ongoing management via a single console
Maximum protection for remote workers thanks to a cloud model
Endpoint detection and response (EDR) for improved threat visibility
Backed by real-time threat intelligence that protects over 250 million global endpoints
Email security to block targeted attacks, phishing, business email compromise (BEC) and more
Support for Microsoft Windows (desktops and servers), Mac, iOS, and Android™ devices

Moving to the Cloud with confidence

Thanks to the unique partnership with Trend Micro and Vodafone Business, Story Contracting is able to manage both Worry-Free Services and other SaaS investments from within the Vodafone Business Marketplace portal. That adds value in reducing the number of resellers and suppliers Story Contracting must manage, freeing up IT’s time to focus on higher-value tasks. Vodafone Business offers a single point of support, while its monthly billing option is helpful for cash flow.

From a cybersecurity perspective, Story Contracting’s investment in Trend Micro has already paid dividends, offering more advanced functionality missing from previous endpoint providers. This includes machine learning and behavioural monitoring to stop sophisticated threats, and the granularity to block USB devices, network shares, and more. There’s also the web reputation and URL filtering model Fletcher was looking for - delivered via the cloud rather than as a network-based solution.

Most importantly, the addition of Trend Micro has enabled Story Contracting to move to the cloud with confidence and ditch its on-premises endpoint security server.

“From a business continuity and planning perspective and the events of the past 12 months, the businesses that have embraced SaaS and mobile working are in a much better place than the others,” says Fletcher. “We have so much flexibility now, and with Trend Micro there’s the peace-of-mind that anything malicious coming in is being dealt with.”

As for the future, there are plans to extend Worry-Free Services to Story Contracting’s mobile device fleet, and to upgrade to the product’s advanced version, which includes comprehensive email protection and Trend Micro™ Cloud App Security that integrates directly into the Microsoft 365 environment to give advanced protection for additional Microsoft products such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, and Teams. That will set up the the firm well as it looks to emerge from the pandemic in an even stronger position.

Technologies

Worry Free Services

CIONET Business Circles

Healthcare Circle

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?

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.