Dubai – More than 1,500 of the region's most influential IT and business decision makers gathered online last week (February 24-25) for the 14th annual installment of the IDC Middle East CIO Summit. Hosted on IDC's industry-leading virtual platform, the event brought together senior business leaders, influential IT heads, and respected industry analysts to share their collective expertise around the theme 'Innovative Digital Strategies: Evolving to the Demands of a New Reality'.

With over 45 pioneering IT vendors and service providers partnering with IDC for the event, the IDC Middle East CIO Summit 2021 featured keynote presentations, real-life case studies, and dedicated technology tracks that explored the very latest developments in the areas of cloud, artificial intelligence, digital trust, business continuity, and the Future of Work, to name just a few. The event also hosted a series of fireside chats, best-practice sessions, and panel discussions, showcasing insights from more than 50 regional and international industry pioneers, including:

  • Tim Youngblood, Corporate VP & Global CISO, Global Technology Risk Management, McDonald's Corporation (USA)
  • Mike Towers, CISO, Takeda Pharmaceuticals International (USA)
  • Chris Clark, Senior VP & CIO, Levi Strauss & Co. (USA)
  • Bharathi Viswanathan, Chief Information & Digital Officer, Coca-Cola APAC (Singapore)
  • Nick Burton, Chief Information & Digital Officer, AVON International (UK)
  • William Braun, CIO, Chevron Corporation (USA)
  • Vipin Gupta, CIO, Toyota Financial Services (USA)
  • Sreeram Iyer, COO, ANZ Bank Global (Singapore)

The winners of the inaugural edition of 'The CIO 50 Middle East Awards', hosted in conjunction with CIO.com publishers IDG, were announced during the event. Designed to recognize the efforts of the region's top 50 senior technology executives in driving innovation, strengthening resiliency, and influencing rapid change, individual awards were handed out in the following categories:

  • CIO of the Year (Innovation): Osama AlSwailem, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KSA), and Hammad Sharif, Procter & Gamble (UAE)
  • CIO of the Year (Resiliency): Ali Alajme, Ministry of Health & Prevention [MoHAP] (UAE)
  • CIO of the Year (Leadership): Dr. Saleh Ahmad Almugrin, Ministry of Defense (KSA)
  • CISO of the Year: Muath Alhomud, Tasnee (KSA)

To view the full list of the Middle East's 50 most innovative CIOs, please visit: www.cio.com/middle-east/awards. 

IDC would like to extend its deep gratitude to all the partners that helped make the IDC Middle East CIO Summit 2021 such a success – Host Partner: Injazat; Smart ICT Partner: du; Government ICT Partner: Central Agency for Information Technology (Kuwait); Summit Partners: Nutanix, Accenture, VMware / CloudHealth, Oracle, and Honeywell; Platinum Partners: Alibaba Cloud, Google Cloud, Fortinet, Red Hat, Blue Prism, Trend Micro, Dell Technologies / Intel, Software AG, Thales, AWS, Palo Alto Networks, Equinix, Tenable, and f5 Networks; Technology Focus Group Partners:  Veeam, FireEye, Commvault, Darktrace, Lloyd’s Register, SentinelOne, OutSystems, OpenText, Riverbed, CloudFlare, Wrike, Incorta, Sophos, Oracle, Rackspace / Dell Technologies, Quest / One Identity, Appian, New Relic, Pure Storage, AMD, MDSap, Juniper Networks, and ManageEngine; Exhibit Partners: Spectrum Networks, GBI, Mendix, Poly, Liferay, China Mobile, and Zoom; Roundtable Partner: Microsoft; Awards Partners: NetApp, Crayon, and Cato Networks; Strategic Partner: Dubai Internet City; Media Partners: Images RetailME, International Business Magazine, and Oxford Business Group.

To learn more about the IDC Middle East CIO Summit 2021 , please contact Sheila Manek at smanek@idc.com  or on +971 4 446 3154. You can also join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #IDCMECIO.
© 2021? IDC  

About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a subsidiary of  IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com . Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC. 

IDC in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa
For the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa region, IDC retains a coordinated network of offices in Riyadh, Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg, Cairo, and Istanbul, with a regional center in Dubai. Our coverage couples local insight with an international perspective to provide a comprehensive understanding of markets in these dynamic regions. Our market intelligence services are unparalleled in depth, consistency, scope, and accuracy. IDC MEA currently fields over 130 analysts, consultants, and conference associates across the region. To learn more about IDC MEA, please visit  www.idc.com/mea . You can follow IDC MEA on Twitter at @IDCMEA.

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