CIONET was officially launched last Thursday at Hôtel Simoncini in the presence of a number of distinguished CIO’s and the local CIONET team.
“What’s next?”, the perpetual question that arises for CIO’s in a rapidly changing world. In order to share a vision and build a forum on issues that CIO’s must address, ITnation, the Luxembourg ICT Professional Community, joined forces with the first European network of IT decision makers, CIONET.
To support the development of CIONET in Luxembourg, five CIO’s from the major IT organisations formed an advisory board: Yves Baguet, Clearstream, Thierry Delroisse, BIL, Manuel Fischer, Cetrel, Jean Hilger, BCEE and Philippe Paquay, KBLepb.
“With the support of the advisory board, CIONET Luxembourg provides valuable tools to support CIO’s in their ‘changing role'”, said Hendrik Deckers, founder of the European community, CIONET. “The ITnation team composed of Emilie Mounier, Business Partner Manager, Alexandre Trân, Community Manager, and Raphael Henry, Country Leader, will be involved to lead the local network with CIO’s.”
“We want to put Luxembourg on the map of European countries that count in the field of ICT excellence. By joining CIONET, we affirm that Luxembourg CIO’s are leaders who deserve their place in this club of personalities and companies that create IT value for the challenges of tomorrow, said Raphael Henry CIONET Luxembourg.
“It’s our responsibility, as CIO’s, to contribute to the development of the Luxembourg ICT hub, and to provide the technical and thought leadership to raise the profile of ICT in Luxembourg even further”, Yves Baguet, Luxembourg CIO of the Year 2012, opened the ceremony. “The technological opportunities that we have at the moment are amazing, and at the same time somewhat daunting. One of the key objectives of CIONET is to promote communication and dialogue, to share experiences and discuss challenges, both within Luxembourg and at an international level as well.”
In the audience, a strong feeling accompanied on the opportunity that CIO’s have to increasingly help to shape the strategic direction of their organisations, rather than simply being asked to deliver.
“CIO’s are having to further broaden their skills and competencies. Leadership and technical skills are still required, but so too are many others, such as strategic business analysis and vision, a focus on service delivery and customer satisfaction and also dealing with the constantly changing times. Never before has the role of the CIO been required to be so ‘On the money’!”, Yves Baguet added.
“By actively participating in CIONET Luxembourg, we all have the perfect opportunity to network in the context of ICT, and to share and discuss the challenges and difficulties. Together, we will be able to find creative solutions. In addition, another key aspect in which CIONET can help us as CIO’s is in the sharing and development of business strategies. By meeting on a regular basis to exchange ideas and information, and also learn about new innovations, we will be better placed to formulate and contribute to our own organisational strategies, and we will be able to get a ‘different’ and ‘outside’ perspective on particular topics from our peers.”
Sharing, shaping
“I, for one, would be more than happy to share with you in the upcoming CIONET seminars details of Clearstream’s strategy and the supporting IT strategy, such as our migration to Linux and use of open-source software.” In 2011 for example, Clearstream was able to reduce its Operating Costs by 18% compared to the previous year, thanks to visionary and courageous decisions. Through the participation in CIONET, I would also be delighted to share with you some insights from our modest experience of adopting new ways of working in our company”, Yves Baguet said.
“On the other hand, as CIOs, we need to be prepared to take risks, and to try new things. We continuously challenge our staff, to get them out of their ‘comfort zone’, to give them new opportunities to develop their professional skills, so that they can grow and raise their game. It gives me great personal pleasure to see my staff develop professionally and learn new technologies, and I am sure that this contributes to our low staff turnover. And we must never forget that as CIO’s, we are only as successful as the teams we build…”
In the coming months, CIONET Luxembourg will organise CIO events on :
- December, 10th, on The Changing Role of the CIO
- February, on The Talent Challenge
- May, 23rd, on Luxembourg, the new hub, IT embedded
- September, on Financing and promoting a business case
More information: raphael@cionet.com