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Welcome to CIONET Belgium

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Upcoming Events

 
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Belgium 6-11-25 Invitation Only Physical english

CIONET Round Table: Securing Your Digital Crown Jewels

The modern cyber threat landscape has evolved from simple data breaches to sophisticated, systemic attacks designed to cripple an entire organisation. Ransomware, in particular, has made traditional backup and recovery strategies insufficient, as attackers often compromise backups before launching their main assault. In this new reality, the question is no longer "if" an attack will happen, but "when” and how quickly you can recover. Furthermore, regulations like DORA and NIS2 are making robust recovery a legal imperative, compelling businesses to adopt solutions that can guarantee data integrity and business continuity even after a catastrophic cyber event, making a Cybervault a critical component of regulatory compliance.

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Belgium 13-11-25 Country Members Physical english

The New CISO - CIONET Belgium: Community Event

The Role of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) The role of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is no longer confined to securing the network perimeter. As organisations become more digitally connected and data-driven, the CISO’s responsibilities have expanded far beyond traditional security measures. Today’s CISO must not only defend against cyber threats but also enable the business to innovate securely, manage complex regulatory environments, and instill a culture of trust across the organisation. This event will explore the evolving role of the CISO as a strategic leader who balances security with business enablement. As digital transformation accelerates, how can CISOs align their security strategies with organisational goals, ensure compliance, and lead their teams in the fight against increasingly sophisticated threats? Key Discussion Points: From Gatekeeper to Strategic Partner: How CISOs can shift from being seen as barriers to innovation to becoming key enablers of business agility and transformation through security. Balancing Risk and Innovation: Learn how top CISOs navigate the delicate balance between mitigating risk and supporting the organisation’s need to innovate and scale in a secure environment. Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC): Explore how CISOs are managing an increasingly complex regulatory landscape, ensuring compliance while still driving business objectives forward. Building a Security-First Culture: Practical strategies for CISOs to foster a culture where security is embedded into every part of the business, from boardroom discussions to frontline operations. CISO as Crisis Manager: How to prepare for and lead your organisation through major cybersecurity incidents. From ransomware attacks to data breaches, we’ll discuss how today’s CISO is as much a crisis manager as they are a strategist. Why You Should Attend: As a CISO, your role is evolving faster than ever before. This event is designed to provide you with actionable insights into how to embrace your expanded responsibilities while keeping your organisation safe and secure. Whether you’re focused on aligning security with business goals, navigating regulatory challenges, or leading in times of crisis, this event will equip you with the strategies to lead the next era of cybersecurity.

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Belgium 18-11-25 Squad Only Physical english

Business Process Driven Architecture ; Designing systems that follow how your organisation actually works

Too often, architecture is drawn top-down, neat boxes, elegant flows, and little connection to the way teams really work. But what if we flipped it? What if our systems evolved from the actual processes, pains, and needs that drive the business? If you’re tired of systems that look good on slides but frustrate in practice, this session will ground the conversation where value is created, at the process level.

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Upcoming TRIBE Events

 
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November 4, 2025 Squad Session Squad Only Virtual english

From Backlog to Value ; Prioritising what matters when everything feels urgent

You’ve got a roadmap, a backlog, and a lot of pressure. Every team wants their feature. Every stakeholder claims urgency. And your developers? They just want to deliver something meaningful. But how do you prioritise in a way that serves the business, and keeps the team sane? If your backlog keeps growing and your outcomes stay flat, this session helps you turn intent into value, without losing control.

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November 18, 2025 Squad Session Squad Only Physical english

Business Process Driven Architecture ; Designing systems that follow how your organisation actually works

Too often, architecture is drawn top-down, neat boxes, elegant flows, and little connection to the way teams really work. But what if we flipped it? What if our systems evolved from the actual processes, pains, and needs that drive the business? If you’re tired of systems that look good on slides but frustrate in practice, this session will ground the conversation where value is created, at the process level.

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November 20, 2025 Squad Session Squad Only Virtual english

Data Spaces and Digital Trust ; What it takes to collaborate safely across ecosystems

You can’t build a smart service without smart data. And you can’t access smart data without trust. Across Europe, industries are trying to make this work, through data spaces, standardisation, and new governance frameworks. But progress is slow. If you’re part of a sector with potential for shared intelligence, but stuck in silos, this session will challenge assumptions and explore practical pathways.

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CIONET Partner Updates

CIONET Partner Updates

Recent Cases

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Ellos Group achieves digital transformation with confidence

Achieves digital transformation with confidence

OVERVIEW

Swedish retail giant Ellos Group started as a mail-order pioneer in 1947. Generations grew up with the Ellos catalogs, thumbing through the pages, wishing, and dreaming. Catalog sales have now been replaced by more modern solutions, but Ellos remains an important component of daily life for millions in the Nordic region and Europe. Today, the purchasing process is fully digital—with Ellos providing its customers a secure online experience that is smooth, transparent, and easy to use.

 
 

CHALLENGES

Keeping both the company and its customers secure has been the biggest challenge. As Ellos transitions to encompass more markets and brands, the risk exposure only increases.

Ransomware is the primary threat Ellos faces today, which makes endpoint security critical to the company. Keeping the user experience well-protected and easily accessible also remains an ongoing concern. “One of the greatest challenges is to make the experience as transparent as possible. We want both customers and internal users to know that they are secure, but we don’t want that security to be intrusive,” says Markus Andersson, chief information officer.

 
 

WHY TREND

Ellos has been a happy Trend Micro customer since 2005. “When it comes to security, we want stability, and we’ve been very satisfied with Trend Micro,” says Andersson.

“A strong partner is necessary because security is such a niche expertise. You cannot stay ahead of everything because it’s happening so fast. We need access to full-time security experts, and if you don’t have that expertise in-house, that’s where a partner like Trend Micro comes in,” says Andersson.

Håkan Carlsson, operations support manager, also says Trend Micro’s customer service is a differentiator. “When you deal with big companies, it’s not often that you develop personal relationships like we have with Trend Micro. That is something that has really stood out,” says Carlsson.

Ellos benefitted from the ability to purchase through the AWS Marketplace. “Trend Micro worked very closely with Ellos to ensure that the company was able to maintain the aggressive discount it enjoyed from AWS Marketplace. It was a very smooth process,” says Carlsson.

 

"I think it’s super important to have a strong partner when it comes to cybersecurity."

Photo of Markus Andersson

Markus Andersson - Chief Information Officer, Ellos Group

 
 

SOLUTION

Trend Micro has consistently provided the solutions that Ellos has needed as it grows and evolves. “We’ve been following Trend Micro’s recommended upgrade path. The last thing we did was move to Trend Micro Apex One™ as a service to protect our endpoints,” says Andersson.

In fact, Trend Micro offers a broad range of solutions capable of meeting any security need, including an end-to-end security platform. As a result, Trend Micro has become a strong security partner for Ellos. “I think it’s super important to have a strong partner when it comes to cybersecurity,” says Andersson.

 
 

RESULTS

“Apex One has been one of the greatest endpoint security tools for us in avoiding my nightmare— ransomware—because it filters out everything. Some people might think that an email filter is not an advanced form of protection, but it’s actually the most important form of protection you can have. It’s been working great for us. Our security operations center (SOC) tells me that Apex One is the reason we have so few incidents,” says Andersson.

Andersson also noted that Trend Micro Apex One perfectly accommodates his goal of having nonintrusive security. “It doesn’t slow down the computer, which is my experience with other endpoint protection products. The user doesn’t even know that it’s there; it just works,” says Andersson.

 
 

WHAT'S NEXT

Andersson’s mission is to maintain the Ellos Group’s position as a digital leader in the ecommerce space in the Nordic region and in Europe. And there’s more work to be done in continuing and refining the digital transformation process, including more data analysis, increased personalization of content, and further incorporating machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI).

Maintaining security is a necessity in supporting the ever-continuing process of transformation—particularly in the face of escalating threats. “Ellos has evolved with Trend Micro—and the partnership between these two industry leaders will likely continue to evolve for many years to come,” says Carlsson.

 
 

Partners

CIONET Circles

CIONET Business Circles

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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?

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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.

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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 !

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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.

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Check out our latest news

Testimonials

Geert Goethals
Geert Goethals
CIO
Sibelga
Bahadir Samli
Bahadir Samli
CIO
ING Belgique
2-Feb-29-2024-11-35-00-9309-AM
Bart Kerkhofs
Untitled design (1)-Apr-01-2022-10-58-34-57-AM
Michał Paprocki
Group CIO
Euroclear
1-Feb-29-2024-11-34-59-8990-AM
Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer
Chief Information Officer
NATO
Untitled design-Nov-22-2023-08-42-05-3178-AM
Annick Faes
Vice President IT and CIO Medical Devices EMEA
Johnson & Johnson
Piet_De_Ceuleners
Piet De Ceuleners
Global IT Director
Melexis
1658251930890
Dirk De Bevere
Large Enterprise Sales Leader
Telenet Business
Untitled design-7
Stef Schampaert
Country Managing Director BeLux
Red Hat
CIONET Belgium - Advisory Board Member - Geert Lejon
Geert Lejon
Vice President Head of Belux / Head of Comms Benelux
Cognizant
Kevin_Ledegen
Kevin Ledegen
Group IT director
SDWorx
Gunter-Van-Craen_Small
Gunter Van Craen
Chief Digital & Information Officer
Bekaert
Thomas Kessler
Thomas Kessler
Partner | CIO Programme Leader
Deloitte
Emmanuel Gob
Emmanuel Gob
CIO
DPD
pascal pauwels
Pascal Pauwels
CIO
Colruyt
Untitled design (4)-Dec-13-2023-10-53-15-5032-AM
Koen Segers
Managing Director Belgium and Luxembourg
Dell Technologies
benoit dewaele
Benoît Dewaele
Group IT Director
Vandemoortele
Dirk Deridder-1
Dirk Deridder
CTO - Technology Services & Practices
SMALS
Thierry Driesens
Thierry Driesens
CIO
TVH
Untitled design-Sep-18-2023-11-59-29-7866-AM
Koen Vandaele
CIO
Delen Private Bank
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Liesbet D'hoker
Managing Director
Kyndryl BeLux
steven-vermeulen
Steven Vermeulen
CIO
Digitaal Vlaanderen
Jack Hamande
Jack Hamande
Director General Digital Transformation
Federale Overheidsdienst Beleid en Ondersteuning
Tom Tomczak
Tom Tomczak
Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)
NRB
1726588748718
Cassandre Laurent
Directeur général
Agence du Numérique
an swalens
An Swalens
Head Of IT (CIO)
National Bank of Belgium
Untitled design (2)-Apr-01-2022-10-58-34-68-AM
Elke Laeremans
Chief Technology & Transformation Officer
Krëfel
CIONET Belgium - Advisory Board Member - Koen Van Loo
Koen Van Loo
CIO
Group S.
Peter Sany
Peter Sany
Executive Advisor
Zoom
CIONET Belgium - Advisory Board Member - Steven De Haes
Steven De Haes
Dean
Antwerp Management School
Marleen Thorré
Marleen Thorré
christel-plessers
Christel Plessers
Head of IT European Markets
Mercedes-Benz Europe
bauduin cor
Baudouin Corlùy
Chief Market Development Officer
LCL Data Centers

Team

Luc Hendrikx
Luc Hendrikx
Partner - CEO
Inès De Bien
Inès De Bien
Partner - CCO
1-Feb-08-2022-10-22-08-68-AM
Daniel Eycken
Partner - COO
Hendrik Deckers
Hendrik Deckers
Partner - Founder
Untitled design (1)-2
Jelte Scheys
Tribes Sales Director Belgium
foto Herman
Herman Roelandts
Tribe Master
Joseph Antoun
Joseph Antoun
Senior Programme Director
1-Dec-16-2021-02-15-57-02-PM
Eman De Sutter
Programme Manager
4-Feb-08-2022-10-22-09-03-AM
Shelly Deracourt
Programme Manager
Untitled design (5)-Sep-01-2022-02-47-55-60-PM
Charlotte Coen
Partner Success Manager
Untitled design (1)-Nov-22-2023-08-56-42-6802-AM
Ivana Bradvica
Programme Manager
Vlera Berishaa (1)
Vlera Berisha
Community Manager
ML B-W-1
Martine Lefevre
Financial Controller

Contact us

Would you like to know more about CIONET Belgium, membership or partnership opportunities? Do you have feedback or any other question? Send us a message!