Rudolf Liefers, Senior Advisor, Sourcing Management

The sixth annual Dutch CIO Day, held November 15th and 16th,  attracted over 800 attendees including CIOs from leading Dutch companies in the financial, industrial, media, high tech and healthcare sectors. Mrs Neelie Kroes, European High-Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, opened the conference with a call to action – she stressed that tomorrow’s society requires the right use, implementation and governance of IT. She also highlighted that CIOs have a crucial role to play, since they should be the leading change agents for innovation through IT.

Keynote speakers addressed the changing role of the CIO, who, it was highlighted, must extend their remit beyond managing IT operations to become more entrepreneurial, with a sound understanding of wider business needs. The first female Dutch ‘CIO of the Year’ was also elected: Mrs Lineke Sneller, CIO of Tele2, who was awarded the title by chairman of the committee, Prince Bernhard van Oranje.

Ton van Dijk, CIO of Royal Vopak and client of Equaterra Sourcing Management, introduced his vision on how Vopak delivers continuous improvement and how information and communication technology is embedded in this improvement culture. Notable attendee organisations  from the Benelux region included Enexis, FrieslandCampina, ProRail, TNT Post, USG People, Oce, Vopak, ABB Benelux, KPN, PON Automotive and Eneco.

For more on CIO leadership, read my colleague Brian Walker’s blog, Five High Impact 2011 Agenda Items for CIOs.

Filed under: Information Technology (IT), Market Trends and News by EquaTerra