<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=2528533714139722&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
New call-to-action
be-page-banner (1)

Welcome to CIONET Belgium

Realise your ambition! Connect with your local community of digital leaders.

See what's next

Upcoming Events

 
Banner

Belgium 28-8-25 Country Members Physical english

20 Years CIONET - CIONET Belgium: Summer Festival

A special celebration marking 20 years of CIONET—two decades of empowering digital leaders and driving innovation in the technology landscape. This exclusive event will bring together our members to reflect on the incredible journey we've shared and look ahead to the future of digital leadership.Featuring keynote presentations from visionary CIOs, industry pioneers, and founding members, we’ll explore how far we’ve come and what lies ahead in the ever-evolving world of technology. Together, we will honour the contributions of our members who have shaped CIONET’s legacy while offering insights into how the community will continue to lead in the years to come.This is more than a celebration—it’s an opportunity to reconnect, reflect, and recharge with your fellow digital leaders. Don't miss this exclusive experience packed with inspiring talks, networking opportunities, and special recognitions that highlight the best of CIONET’s history and future.Let’s celebrate the past, present, and future of the digital community you helped build.

Read More
Banner

Belgium 28-8-25 Country Members Physical english

Summer Festival - Advisory Board

A special celebration marking 20 years of CIONET—two decades of empowering digital leaders and driving innovation in the technology landscape. This exclusive event will bring together our members to reflect on the incredible journey we've shared and look ahead to the future of digital leadership. Featuring keynote presentations from visionary CIOs, industry pioneers, and founding members, we’ll explore how far we’ve come and what lies ahead in the ever-evolving world of technology. Together, we will honour the contributions of our members who have shaped CIONET’s legacy while offering insights into how the community will continue to lead in the years to come.

Read More
Banner

Belgium 2-9-25 All TRIBERS Virtual english

What Does It Cost to Host an App? ; A practical guide to calculating hosting costs across infra, licenses, and operations

You’ve been asked a simple question: “What does it cost to host this application?” But the answer is anything but simple. The platform sits across multiple data centres. The app spans a few VMs, shares a backup system, uses licensed monitoring, and touches five different teams. Your CMDB should help, but it’s rigid, outdated, or incomplete. And yet, you still need to provide a number, clear, explainable, and grounded in reality.

Read More

Upcoming TRIBE Events

 
Banner

August 5, 2025 Squad Session Invitation Only Virtual polish

AI Act – praktyka stosowania na rynku polskim

AI Act – dyrektywa unijna regulująca wiele zasad wykorzystania AI w modelach biznesowych- już obowiązuje na polskim rynki. Ciekawe są prawdziwe i realne przypadki jej stosowania. Spójrzmy na temat od strony regulacyjnej, czyli prawnej. Ale zobaczmy praktykę aktywnej w temacie kancelarii prawnej. Zaprosiliśmy mecenaskę Aleksandrę Maciejewicz z kancelarii Lawmore, która od dłuższego czasu jest niezwykle aktywna i praktykuje w tym temacie. Poznamy podstawę prawną, praktyczne case’y i opis sytuacji oczami prawdziwego praktyka.

Read More
Banner

August 6, 2025 Squad Session Invitation Only Virtual polish

DORA: wszystko, co chcielibyście wiedzieć, a baliście się zapytać

Michał Kulesza, adwokat, partner w departamencie technologicznym kancelarii Rymarz Zdort Maruta i szef zespołu regulacji ICT, przeprowadzi nas przez kluczowe wątki rozporządzenia i zmierzy się z pytaniami zgłoszonymi przez uczestników. Omówimy zarówno krytyczne aspekty na początku wdrożeń, jak i dostrajanie zmian na poziomie organizacyjnym i strategicznym. Masz konkretny temat, który warto poruszyć? Zgłoś go w trakcie rejestracji. Zamiast czytać między wierszami DORA – porozmawiajmy o tym wprost.

Read More
Banner

August 7, 2025 Squad Session Invitation Only Virtual polish

Automated Systems Testing

Duże tempo developmentu i dokonywanych zmian wymaga nowej klasy testowania. Jakość systemów obserwowana na produkcji będzie pochodną skuteczności tego procesu. Duże nadzieje wiążemy z platformami wspierającymi testowanie i opartymi na AI. Sesja ta pokaże, gdzie jesteśmy w poszukiwaniu takich rozwiązań i gdzie ewaluuje myślenie szefów testów i ich rozwiązania organizacyjne.

Read More

CIONET Partner Updates

CIONET Partner Updates

Recent Cases

Please Log In with your CIONET account first

Thumbay Group reinforces Cybersecurity with Trend Micro

The Thumbay Group, a leading healthcare conglomerate in the UAE, faced escalating cybersecurity threats in an increasingly digitalized healthcare landscape. Trend Micro's comprehensive cybersecurity suite emerged as the ideal choice, enabling the Thumbay Group to fortify its security posture and safeguard its critical operations.

OVERVIEW

The Thumbay Group was established in 1998 by Dr. Thumbay Moideen, founder president, and is an international business conglomerate with a strong focus in the healthcare field, based in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Thumbay Group includes 46 pharmacies, eight hospitals, and one university hospital, along with medical research, diagnostics, health communication, wellness, laboratories, and nutrition.

The Thumbay Group’s Network of Academic Hospitals, the constituent teaching hospitals of Gulf Medical University, is one of the largest in the UAE, with patients from more than 175 countries. Gulf Medical University has students from 86 nationalities, as well as faculty and staff from 50 different countries.

 

With threats against the UAE’s healthcare industry increasing in volume and complexity, the Thumbay Group needed a centralized cybersecurity system that extended beyond the endpoints.

Akram Moideen Thumbay

Director of Thumbay Technologies

 
 

CHALLENGES

Despite progress in recent years, the healthcare industry is a prime target for cybercriminals seeking out protected health data and sensitive user information. The industry has been challenged by ransomware, malware, and phishing attacks, as well as vulnerabilities in the cloud.

Initially, the Thumbay Group only secured its endpoints, but as the organization advanced its digital transformation, security needed to keep up. The Thumbay Group needed a centralized system that expanded beyond the endpoint to prevent new and more complex threats and vulnerability exploits. With all of the entities under the umbrella of the Thumbay Group being interconnected, a compromise at a single point would threaten the entirety of the organization’s network.

“With threats against the UAE’s healthcare industry increasing in volume and complexity, the Thumbay Group needed a centralized cybersecurity system that extended beyond the endpoints,” says Akram Moideen Thumbay, director of Thumbay Technologies.

Due to its close relationship with the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and the UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention, the organization is under the strict provision to conform to the IT regulations adopted by the nation’s healthcare industry. As well, the Thumbay Group must adhere to the Global Health Security Initiative (GHSI) standard, an internationally-recognized set of guidelines governing data security in healthcare.

The combination of a rapid change in policies by the UAE government and the advent of COVID-19 has led many healthcare providers to adopt technologies at a much faster rate than in previous years. Teleconsultation and the sharing of digital medical records externally have done wonders for the industry, however, as with most great change, there are risks—an expanded threat landscape.

 

Our security transformation with Trend Micro provided us with a 360-degree security approach, with real-time visibility, instant reports for meetings and compliance purposes, and quick distribution of updates and patches.

Akram Moideen Thumbay

Director of Thumbay Technologies

 
 

WHY TREND

After experiencing several hands-on demos and an all-inclusive proof of concept, the Thumbay Group was confident in Trend Micro’s industry-leading solutions, robust protection, and full-time support. Trend Micro’s level of threat detection proved far superior to the Thumbay Group’s legacy IT antivirus platform and other vendors.

From the outset, Trend Micro worked closely with the Thumbay Group’s IT division to identify the right solutions that would aid the organization in reinforcing its security posture. Trend Micro also conducted a systems health check across the entire network to pinpoint areas of concern.

In addition to delivering a superior package, Trend Micro’s offering fulfilled one of the Thumbay Group’s key requirements: A one-stop-shop solution with a 360-degree security approach. Proving infinitely more manageable than the legacy platform, Trend Micro’s solution have enabled the IT team to manage the entire spectrum of the group’s security from a single interface.

 
 

SOLUTION

The Thumbay Group adopted several Trend Micro solutions across endpoints, network, and data centers, leading with Trend Micro Apex One™. It’s unique, advanced endpoint protection platform provides the Thumbay Group with exceptional protection against an ever-growing variety of threats without compromising performance and effectiveness.

In addition, the Thumbay Group has deployed Trend Micro™ Deep Security™ to secure its data center (physical and virtual workloads) and Trend Micro™ TippingPoint™ to defend its network and improve the protection of vulnerable applications and systems. Then, with Trend Micro™ Deep Discovery™ Analyzer, the Thumbay Group could enable a Connected Threat Defense strategy by sharing threat intelligence between the Trend Micro and third-party security solutions to provide an automated response and faster detection of complex threats.

Trend Micro’s solutions were able to fulfill a key requirement, which was securing network traffic within each clinic, the network traffic between the clinics and headquarters, and internet traffic. At its university hospital, the Thumbay Group also uses network security to curb attack vectors coming from what students are doing from their unprotected endpoints.

Following the implementation of Trend Micro’s solutions, the Thumbay Group has been able to reduce the number of daily attacks significantly and identify compromised endpoints quickly across the entire network. Because the console can be accessed from anywhere, a lot of the monitoring is now handled by a remote monitoring team, which frees up local staff to perform other IT tasks.

Additionally, the security teams have found themselves spending less time personally checking endpoint incident sources—everything is now handled from a centralized point—and they receive reports for compliance requirements in a timely fashion.

Trend Micro’s flexibility allowed the installation of both software as a service (SaaS) and on-premises solutions where needed, saving critical bandwidth for day-to-day healthcare operations. With the rise in teleconsultations amid COVID-19, Trend Micro solutions are also helping the Thumbay Group to secure connections within the hospital, as well as the connections to patients at home.

 
 

RESULTS

Hospitals cannot function if their systems are not running. With Trend Micro, the Thumbay Group greatly improved its security posture, detecting roughly 7,600 malicious communications as part of its initial system analysis across the healthcare group, which that was promptly neutralized within mere minutes. Further, over a threeweek period, TippingPoint stopped around 600k attempted attacks on the Thumbay Group’s environment, including more than 10k attacks that were critical and dangerous.

Over a one-month period, Deep Security was able to detect and protect 2,498 vulnerabilities from being exploited on nine critical servers, using virtual patching.

 
 

WHAT'S NEXT

As the next stage of its digital transformation, the Thumbay Group is considering centralizing its data in a data center and leading an organization-wide change of culture in prioritizing security. The Thumbay Group is also in discussion about using Trend Micro™ XDR for its remote security operations center (SOC), helping to reduce the time for detection, response, and investigation.

 
 

CIONET Circles

CIONET Business Circles

Banner
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?

Read More
Banner
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.

Read More
Banner
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 !

Read More
Banner
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.

Read More

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
Vice President & Head of IT
Bridgestone EMIA
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 Directo
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
Untitled design (4)-Jun-12-2023-01-23-11-7540-PM
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 Digital & Supply Chain Officer at Casa International
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
Head of Digital EMEA
Mitsubishi Chemical Group
christel-plessers
Christel Plessers
Head of IT European Markets
Mercedes-Benz Europe

Team

Luc Hendrikx
Luc Hendrikx
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
Founder - MD
Untitled design (1)-2
Jelte Scheys
Tribes Sales Director Belgium
foto Herman
Herman Roelandts
Tribe Master
Joseph Antoun
Joseph Antoun
Senior Program Director
1-Dec-16-2021-02-15-57-02-PM
Eman De Sutter
Program Manager
4-Feb-08-2022-10-22-09-03-AM
Shelly Deracourt
Program 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
Junior Event Manager
ML B-W-1
Martine Lefevre
Financial Controller
Vlera Berishaa (1)
Vlera Berisha
Junior Community Manager
Phaedra Vanhaeren
Phaedra Vanhaeren
Programme & Event Manager

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!