The 4th Middle East CIO Summit opened here today at the Fairmont Hotel. The IDC MECIO Research Findings were released to the conference participants and an interactive discussion ensued on the key findings of the research report that outlines the CEO/CIO interphase focussing on the key drivers of IT leadership, innovation & business value.
Dr. Philip van Heerden, Senior Analyst – Middle East & Africa, IDC said, "Organizations that want to capitalize on the evolving connections between IT and business should support and promote a closer working relationship between the CIO and the board. Business and IT leaders should strive to close the IT-business gap by promoting a common view of IT operational performance".
IDC conducted the research programme earlier this year in which 50 key regional CIOs participated.
The keynote speakers Ghazi Atallah, Director of Operations, Cisco Systems International and Steven Frantzen, Managing Director and Group Vice President-CEMA, IDC spoke about the new opportunities and challenges facing the CIO. Ghazi Atallah talked about Service Oriented Architecture while Steven Frantzen highlighted the importance of building a framework of strategic value in the business for the senior IT executive. “Cisco Systems’ intelligent networking vision is about building a secure and coherent network infrastructure that can interact with applications. Intelligence built right into every part of the infrastructure is key at enabling business policies and turning the infrastructure into a strategic asset that can be leveraged for direct business benefit." said Ghazi Atallah.
The CIO of the Year Award was won by Dr. Mohamed Baka who was voted for by his IT peers. He received this award during the Middle East CIO Summit today from Dr. Philip van Heerden for his role in playing an integral part to transform ADWEA into a 'Digital Utility' company that provides information in a transparent, effective way to assist management in making decisions and allowing customers to see all relevant information and also for managing rapid changes in ADWEA as the company moved from a public to a private entity, bringing a totally different operating structure and culture to the fore.
Dr. Baka said, “I accept this award on behalf of the Abu-Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority. I would like to acknowledge the vision of H.H Sheikh Diab Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, ADWEA's Chairman, and the leadership and support he provided to transform ADWEA into a 'Digital Utility', where information is a significant asset in managing rapid changes, a challenging task, as the company moved from a public to a private entity, bringing a totally different operating structure and culture to the fore. The fundamental principles of our business success are rooted in: leadership, motivation, expertise and discipline”.
As a part of the MECIO Summit Thought Leadership programme, after the primary research programme conducted by IDC, five nominees were selected from the region for the outstanding results they had achieved in their IT endeavours in the past year and voting forms were sent to top CIOs in the region with the nominations. The other nominees were Jameel Al-Sairafi, Vice President and Head of Information Security, Gulf International Bank, Mohammed Fouz, Head of IT, Mashreqbank, Ahmed Qadri, Head of IT Operations, ADCO and Srood Sherif, Head of IT, National Bank of Abu Dhabi. Last year Dr. Ibrahim Al-Mishari, Corporate VP-IT & CIO, Saudi Aramco had won this award.
The CIO summit will conclude tomorrow with the PowerTable session titled “The Future CIO: Managing Change & Delivering Value” The PowerTable, a panel of experts, will answer questions posed by the MECIO delegates on new developments, challenges, opportunities and risks faced by today’s IT Executive. The panel includes Dr. Mohamed Baka, Director of Information Technology and IT Forum Chairman, ADWEA, Evan Powell, Group General Manager-IT, Al–Tayer Group, Ghazi Atallah, Director of Operations, Cisco Systems International and Srood Sherif, Head of IT, National Bank of Abu Dhabi.
Cisco Systems are the Platinum Strategic Partners of MECIO 2005 while Blue Coat, Dubai eGovernment and APC are Silver Strategic Partners. Sybase are the Networking partners and Media Partners include Computer News Middle East, Linux World Middle East & Africa, Security Advisor Middle East, Network World and Khaleej Times.
