CIONET is the largest international community of corporate digital leaders, active in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the UK, Italy, Portugal, Spain and LATAM.
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About CIONETPublished on: October 29, 2025 @ 11:31 AM
Digital sovereignty is more than just a buzzword; it's about taking control in a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape. In this CIONET Trailblazer episode, Stef Schampaert, Country Managing Director Red Hat Belgium & Luxembourg, a leading voice in the field, dives into the practicalities of digital sovereignty. He challenges us to look beyond regulatory compliance and consider how organisations can truly own their data, technology, and digital choices. Stef explores strategies for mitigating risks, navigating trade-offs between sovereignty, agility, and cost, and building genuine vendor independence. Join us as Stef guides organisations toward a future where digital sovereignty is not just an aspiration, but a tangible reality, fostering resilience and driving innovation.
Published on: September 24, 2025 @ 9:29 AM
As part of CIONET’s Trailblazers series - our deep dive conversations with pioneering leaders shaping the future of IT - we sat down with Laurence Mathieu, CEO of NRB, one of Belgium’s most influential and sovereign-driven IT service providers. Under her leadership since January 2024, NRB has sharpened its focus on digital sovereignty, AI innovation and mission-critical infrastructure.
Published on: July 30, 2025 @ 9:19 AM
For many, AI still feels like just another tool in the digital transformation arsenal. But Yuma sees it differently, and so does its Managing Partner, Michel Herquet.
Published on: June 25, 2025 @ 9:14 AM
How can CIOs ensure that their critical systems never go dark, even amid failures, updates, or entire cloud region outages? For Haytham Elkhoja, Principal Architect and Principal SRE at Kyndryl, the answer lies well beyond lift-and-shift strategies or generic cloud SLAs. In this CIONET Trailblazer interview, Haytham shares insights from his report “Cloud Adoption for Mission-Critical Workloads – Principles for Always On Applications,” offering a new blueprint for CIOs navigating the high-stakes transition of core systems to the cloud.
Published on: May 28, 2025 @ 9:38 AM
As AI moves from novelty to necessity, consumers expect hyper-personalised, pre-emptive experiences. In this CIONET Trailblazer interview, we sit down with Sean Heshmat, EMEA and APJ Head of Data & AI at Cognizant, to unpack findings from the New Minds, New Markets report on AI-powered consumers, the Agentic Internet, and strategies for embedding AI at the heart of the customer journey.
Published on: May 06, 2025 @ 10:25 AM
Transform individual gains into enterprise wins with generative AI.
Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 10:30 AM - 1:30 PM (Central European Time)
Microsoft Belux, Passport Building Luchthaven,
Brussel Nationaal 1K, 1930 Zaventem
Published on: April 30, 2025 @ 9:04 AM
How can enterprises transform scattered knowledge into strategic intelligence? As data volumes explode and information silos multiply, digital leaders face a growing challenge: making enterprise knowledge accessible, reliable, and actionable. Deloitte’s answer? RAG as a Service is a cutting-edge approach to AI-powered knowledge management built on Retrieval Augmented Generation.
Published on: April 03, 2025 @ 10:17 AM
Retour sur Les Rencontres CIONET du 1er avril – Quand les attentes envers le CIO redessinent les contours du leadership digital
Le 1er avril à Liège, dans l’élégance feutrée de l’Hôtel Selys, CIONET Belgium a lancé en beauté la saison 2025 de son programme Les Rencontres – un cycle d’échanges intimistes, 100 % francophones, qui réunit les leaders du numérique pour discuter, débattre et déconstruire les évidences.
Published on: March 26, 2025 @ 9:59 AM
AI and data have become essential tools for businesses, but how do you ensure they create real, lasting impact? At Telenet Group, data isn’t just about analysis: it’s actively shaping decisions, optimising customer journeys, and enhancing connectivity. Their approach recently earned them a Data Maturity Award, recognising their ability to turn data into tangible business value.
Published on: March 04, 2025 @ 5:07 PM
Renewed collaboration will see Cognizant provide support across IT services with the aim of reducing overall costs and significantly improving the user experience
Published on: February 26, 2025 @ 10:51 AM
Over the past decade, the role of the CIO has evolved from a back-office supporting function to a central position that enables business strategy through technology. Today’s technology leaders must balance modernising legacy systems, scaling AI, and aligning IT investments with ESG goals—all while ensuring operational efficiency and security.
Published on: February 25, 2025 @ 4:14 PM
Disclaimer: This personal view on the position of Red Hat within the AI-landscape is based on the personal experience of a specialist solutions architect in application development and AI.
Published on: February 25, 2025 @ 10:33 AM
In today's digital age, The AI revolution is fundamentally changing how businesses operate while simultaneously the threat landscape is changing. Security strategies, practices, and tactics need to evolve to be more proactive, requiring a risk-informed security model to stay ahead of threats, making it imperative for organisations to adopt robust cybersecurity measures. One such measure is the implementation of an Enterprise Cybersecurity Platform, which plays a pivotal role in the fight against cybersecurity threats. This blog will explore the significance of such platforms and offer insights into the cyber risks companies face, explaining why a platform approach is essential in addressing these challenges.
Published on: January 29, 2025 @ 9:58 AM
As organisations increasingly embrace cloud technologies to drive innovation and agility, misconceptions about cloud security persist. To demystify these challenges, we spoke with Stefaan Van Hoornick, Cloud and DevOps Security Presales Engineer at Trend Micro, to explore the nuances of cloud security and share actionable insights with the Belgian CIO community.
Published on: December 18, 2024 @ 9:07 AM
In this edition of CIONET Trailblazer, we are excited to present an exclusive interview with Bart Windal, Country General Manager of IBM Belgium/Luxembourg. We dive into IBM's approach to ethical and responsible AI, showcasing how the company is leveraging its legacy as a trusted technology partner to set new standards in AI governance.
Published on: November 27, 2024 @ 10:45 AM
Welcome to another edition of CIONET’s Trailblazer, our feature series where we interview digital thought leaders. In this edition, we speak with Tom Olislagers, Chief Technology Officer Western Europe at Dell Technologies. We discuss how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is shaping the way we work, learn, and connect—and what it means for organisations, teams, and individuals.
Published on: November 21, 2024 @ 10:58 AM
In early October, Cognizant and Google Cloud hosted a workshop to lay the groundwork for Data Strategy 2025. The event brought together CIOs, CDOs, and their direct reports from various industries to start drafting their data strategies for 2025.
Published on: October 30, 2024 @ 9:34 AM
In this CIONET Trailblazer article, Stef Schampaert, Country Managing Director of Red Hat Belgium & Luxembourg shares insights into Red Hat's journey, their strategic focus areas, and how they empower organisations to innovate confidently in an ever-changing tech landscape. Key topics include Red Hat’s approach to hybrid cloud, the evolution of OpenShift, and its role in AI-driven development.
Published on: October 29, 2024 @ 11:37 AM
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Security Xperience : découvrez les nouveautés liées à la sécurité et des témoignages exclusifs
Published on: October 22, 2024 @ 10:04 AM
Until October 31, you were able to compete for the title of The Smartest Cyber Expert 2024. You needed to fill in 20 questions divided into 5 different categories: News & current affairs; Buzzwords and abbreviations; Legislation and policy (including NIS2); Technological developments; (ethical) Hacking and Fraud.
Published on: September 27, 2024 @ 10:41 AM
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Mainframe Day 2024 : découvrez comment le Mainframe s’offre une nouvelle jeunesse
Published on: September 25, 2024 @ 8:59 AM
In this edition of CIONET Trailblazer, we dive into MindWave’s unique strategy of operating between Belgium and Greece in an exclusive interview with Johan Nagels, CEO & Founder of MindWave. With a mission to solve one of the key challenges facing CIOs—finding IT resources at a reasonable cost—MindWave’s dual presence drives innovation and offers competitive solutions through nearshoring. We explore how this cross-cultural collaboration enhances their growth and how they are capitalising on Greece's emerging tech scene while staying competitive in the evolving global talent landscape.
Published on: September 18, 2024 @ 3:44 PM
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AI & Data Xperience : l’événement pensé pour l’avenir de votre entreprise
Published on: September 11, 2024 @ 2:57 PM
Etex modernises its IT foundation for a new era of sustainable innovation.
Cognizant and SAP partnered to migrate a business-critical SAP ECC environment to S/4HANA to ready Etex for future transformation and innovation.
Published on: August 28, 2024 @ 10:10 AM
LCL has managed to position itself as a leader in sustainability within the data center industry. We spoke to Laurens van Reijen, Managing Director, and Steve De Craene, Finance Manager, about how they integrated sustainable practices into their operations, the strategic insights that drove their journey, and the key takeaways from their second sustainability report. This episode of CIONET Trailblazer explores how LCL’s approach to environmental responsibility is setting new standards in the industry and offers practical lessons for organisations striving to innovate sustainably.
Published on: July 31, 2024 @ 9:20 AM
In this CIONET Trailblazer episode, together with Laetitia Dierinck, VP Business Excellence Acceleration - SME/LE, we explore the transformative leadership style that has become a cornerstone of Telenet Business's success: Servant Leadership. See how this approach empowers teams, fosters innovation, and creates a resilient organisational culture. Discover what defines this leadership philosophy and how you can integrate these principles to drive growth and engagement within your organisation.
Published on: July 02, 2024 @ 10:51 AM
About the LCL Sustainability Report 2023
This sustainability report is the second of its kind for LCL. Since the first report, they have made significant progress in addressing environmental impact, social impact, and good governance. LCL's dedication to achieving climate neutrality by 2030 remains steadfast, as does their commitment to communicate the progress. With this report, LCL wants to show how they - in the world of data centres - are paying more attention to their impact on the environment and society. The central theme of our Sustainability Report, ‘Together We Thrive’, is a testimony to their belief that collective action and connection are essential. As trailblazers in their field, they want to inspire, invite and motivate all stakeholders - customers, partners, suppliers, employees, and governments - to join them on our journey to sustainability. This report also provides an opportunity for stakeholders to see how their business is evolving and to provide feedback on LCL's sustainability performance.
Published on: June 26, 2024 @ 2:25 PM
Those who want to continue growing, innovating, and competing in the digital age must digitise. Digital transformation processes are crucial for organisations, but executing them successfully proves to be a major challenge: 70% of digital transformations fail. Why? Because one factor is often overlooked: the relationship between people and technology.
This edition of the CIONET Trailblazer Series delves into this challenge with Pascal Laffineur, CEO at Yuma. Pascal shares his insights on a successful digital transformation that people want to work with. This process changes not only the way organisations work but also their identity and culture. Therefore, when digitising, it is crucial not to overlook the human element that underlies every facet of business operations. After all, organisations operate with people to deliver value for other people.
Published on: June 21, 2024 @ 11:23 AM
Lorenzo Bernardi, Head of Security Services de NRB, nous explique comment l’entreprise basée à Herstal s’investit dans la lutte cruciale de la cybersécurité des organisations belges et internationales.
Published on: June 21, 2024 @ 11:17 AM
Lorenzo Bernardi, Head of Security Services at NRB, explains how the Herstal-based Group is committed to the crucial fight for the cybersecurity of Belgian and international organisations.
Published on: June 19, 2024 @ 12:25 PM
Enhance Your Customer Engagement with SAP Emarsys and SAP Commerce Cloud
Published on: May 31, 2024 @ 4:37 PM
Did you know that, on average, companies waste 30% of their cloud spend due to inefficiencies? As more businesses adopt artificial intelligence (AI) and migrate to the cloud, managing cloud spend has become a critical challenge. In this era of optimising operations and minimising costs, organisations are constantly seeking innovative ways to leverage AI advancements like Open AI GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 to revolutionise their business processes. However, it's important to recognise that choosing the right AI model not only impacts performance but also has significant cost implications. This is where the concept of FinOps comes into play.
Published on: May 29, 2024 @ 9:13 AM
In this edition of the CIONET Trailblazer, we sit down with Pierre Marchand, Chief Data Strategist at Cognizant, to discuss the strategic considerations behind AI investments. Pierre provides valuable insights into how organisations can identify AI projects and use cases that offer the greatest value. We explore the importance of aligning business and IT strategies, leveraging data products, and fostering collaboration to enhance AI's impact. With practical advice and proven strategies, Pierre offers a comprehensive guide to achieving successful AI adoption and maximising value creation.
Published on: April 24, 2024 @ 9:31 AM
In an age where data is as valuable as currency, organisations must understand its worth and learn how to navigate its tides. As the Product Marketing & Solutions Marketing Director for EMEA & LATAM at Denodo, Errol Rodericks has seen firsthand the transformative power of data when properly harnessed. Herein lies a chart for navigating the complexities of data-driven transformation, democratisation, ethical considerations, and the significance of data products, from the perspective of a modern-day organisation.
Published on: March 27, 2024 @ 10:49 AM
How to face the challenge of adopting advanced ‘cloud’- technology while maintaining strict security measures? That is the key question this edition of the CIONET Trailblazer Series delves into with Pieter Molen, Technical Director Benelux at Trend Micro. Pieter shares valuable insights on enhancing cloud security architectures and fostering a culture of shared accountability. Aimed at digital and IT leaders navigating the complexities of cloud security, this conversation offers innovative strategies for reducing risks and maximising business opportunities. We also explore the future of cloud computing, where innovation and security intersect to redefine digital transformation.
Published on: March 15, 2024 @ 3:29 PM
As we move deeper into 2024, it is imperative for data management leaders to look in their rear-view mirrors to assess and, if needed, refine their data management strategies. One thing is clear; if data-centric organisations want to succeed in 2024, they will need to prepare for an environment in which data is increasingly distributed.
Published on: March 15, 2024 @ 3:11 PM
Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and deep learning (DL) have the potential to transform all aspects of business, from customers and employees to development and operations. Building AI/ML into your applications can help you achieve measurable business outcomes. Read this e-book to learn how Red Hat can help you build a production-ready AI/ML environment that accelerates the development and delivery of intelligent applications to support your business goals.
Published on: March 05, 2024 @ 10:49 AM
Ever wonder why everyone's talking about data? It's not just a buzzword — it's the secret sauce for making smarter decisions, understanding your customers, and saving money. When you follow the data instead of gut feelings, you're on the path to better pricing, effective marketing, and products people actually want.
Published on: February 28, 2024 @ 9:11 AM
Deloitte's Tech Trends 2024 offers an outlook on how emerging technologies are pivotal to strategic business transformation. In this CIONET Trailblazer episode, Deloitte unveils the profound impact of innovations like generative AI and digital twins on industry paradigms, highlighting their role in driving competitive advantage and operational excellence. Featuring insights from Tom Van Boxstael, AI & Data Partner at Deloitte, the discussion provides a comprehensive roadmap for businesses aiming to navigate and capitalise on the digital revolution, ensuring readiness for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Published on: February 27, 2024 @ 2:01 PM
The internet we know and love today was initially built in the 1960s as a communication system that would survive a nuclear war. That is why Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) was invented - to specify how computers transfer data from one device to another. However, it was also built with the vision that information should be free and that a network could and should be trusted.
"My most memorable moment at CIONET was, in fact, the CIO of the National Lottery. I never knew that the ICT there in the National Lottery could be that exciting, and I learnt so much just in one talk."
Caroline van Cromphaut, IT Director Strategy & Enterprise Architect
Proximus
“The added value from CIONET is really the connections I can make with some of the top executives in our community.”
Bart Kerkhofs, CIO
Bridgestone
“It’s always professionally organised, in nice locations, and with a little fun factor which allows the connection you make deeper.”
An Swalens, CIO
National Bank of Belgium
