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Welcome to CIONET Belgium

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Upcoming Events

 
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Belgium 23-9-25 Squad Only Virtual english

Cybersecurity Without the Burnout ; Refocusing effort when alerts, threats, and pressure won’t stop

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.

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Belgium 23-9-25 Invitation Only Physical english

Reclaim the cloud : Powering Belgian Finance with Sovereignty

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.

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Belgium 24-9-25 Invitation Only Physical english

Bridging the Unbridgeable: IT Meets M(i)OT ; Converged infrastructures demand converged security

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.

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Upcoming TRIBE Events

 
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September 23, 2025 Squad Session Squad Only Virtual english

Cybersecurity Without the Burnout ; Refocusing effort when alerts, threats, and pressure won’t stop

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.

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September 30, 2025 Squad Session Squad Only Virtual english

Technical Debt: When to Pay It and When to Walk Away ; Making smart trade-offs between progress, maintenance, and risk

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.

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October 2, 2025 Squad Session Squad Only Virtual english

The Career Path of the Architect ;Great architecture begins with great architects

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.

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CIONET Partner Updates

CIONET Partner Updates

Recent Cases

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Weatherford Independent School District protects student data and relieves IT staff stress with Trend Micro

Protects student data and relieves IT staff stress with Trend Micro

 

OVERVIEW

Imagine receiving a notification that your eight-year-old child has been declined on a car loan, or that your ten-year-old was turned down on a credit card application. Those nightmare scenarios were experienced by the parents of many elementary-age children after a massive data breach of the Toledo, Ohio public school system. With K-12 school systems now a target by cybercriminals, it’s become a common scenario, one that Cody Lee has been working feverishly to avoid.

As the executive director of technology for Weatherford Independent School District (ISD) in the city of Weatherford, Texas, Lee and his staff of 10 are tasked with protecting 8,000 students, 1,200 staff members, and a large, enterprise-class network.

 
 

CHALLENGES

“The challenges we face at Weatherford ISD are similar to other school districts everywhere. For example, kids will be kids, and 8,000 students represent 8,000 potential questionable actors,” says Lee.

“Our staff has kept busy by issues stemming from students taking down the network during testing season and internal users unintentionally yielding sensitive data to spearfishing attacks,” he adds.

“Credential harvesting is the single largest threat his system faced. It’s so much easier for cybercriminals to trick an end user into trusting them than it is to get through all the tried-and-true security measures in place,” says Lee.

 
 

WHY TREND

With Trend Micro as a security partner, Lee and his staff are not working quite as feverishly as they once were. “When it comes to cybersecurity, everyone needs some help,” says Lee.

“I wanted a single-pane-of-glass view that we could use to tie together different applications, providing a single platform for recognizing and responding to threats,” he says. Trend Micro recommended the Trend Micro Vision One solution for security operations teams. “After doing some research, I realized that no other platform offered the equivalent capability of Trend Micro Vision One in pulling so many different applications into a single unified view, which was crucial in helping our organization defend against my worst threats,” says Lee.

 

"Trend Micro Vision One covers us on all aspects, from endpoint to cloud app security, to perimeter, as well as east-west traffic inside our network."

Photo of Cody Lee  Cody Lee - Executive Director of Technology, Weatherford ISD
 
 

SOLUTION

Weatherford ISD worked with technology solutions provider CDW, who first recommended Trend Micro to Lee and facilitated the purchase of Trend Micro products. Trend Micro responded to Weatherford ISD’s needs by providing a proof of concept (POC) that involved a full Trend Micro Vision One deployment, including endpoint protection, server protection, Cloud App Security, Deep Discovery Inspector, and Tipping Point. “It was the end-to-end coverage of Trend Micro Vision One that was the differentiator,” says Lee.

“Trend Micro Vision One covers us on all aspects, from endpoint to cloud app security, to perimeter, as well as east-west traffic inside our network. The ability to see all that and pull it all together in a single pane of glass has reduced both time demands and headaches for me and my staff. Nobody else is doing what Trend Micro is in pulling those different applications together,” he says.

 
 

RESULTS

“One of the big benefits we’ve seen is knowing exactly what end users are doing. By giving us a single place to monitor to see if any issues are occurring—or to just confirm that everything is fine—Trend Micro’s solutions have worked out extremely well. They’ve allowed me to relax and get better sleep because I feel we’re better protected than we’ve ever been,” says Lee.

“We’ve used a third-party security operations center for some time. They’ve been great, but we’ve already seen Trend Micro products catch a few problems that the security operations center missed. That’s just an added layer of relief for me. It gives me a little room to breathe, knowing we’re doing the right thing for the kids in this district,” says Lee.

 
 

WHAT'S NEXT

Lee looks forward to leveraging the help of Trend Micro in achieving zero trust security. “If something were to get by the solutions we have in place, the zero-trust framework will target, encapsulate, and isolate the issue, giving us time to respond. That’s going to be the next big thing, and I’m very excited about it,” he says.

Zero trust wasn’t even in his plans until Trend Micro provided a roadmap for integration. Lee is also planning to further bolster security by strengthening the use of multi-factor authentication. “I know it will layer well with our Trend Micro solutions,” he says.

With a secure network, the personal data of teachers and students is protected. Teachers are far less likely to be negatively impacted by technology issues and Lee and his staff are enjoying reduced stress levels.

 
 

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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