Home
Feature

The 2014 CIO Summit – A social round-up

equaltrough
By Edward Qualtrough
Editor, CIO

The annual CIO Summit never fails to provoke debate, praise, scepticism and occasional ambivalence across social media channels. Of course this year was no different as over 140 CIOs and IT executives congregated at the Langham Hotel on Regent Street and scrambled to connect to what turned out to be an appropriately robust WiFi network, perhaps nudged by the inaugural CIO Summit App supplied by Jadu.

Editor-in-Chief Mark Chillingworth kicked off the event with a video interview conducted with John Lewis IT director Paul Coby – one of few CIOs at the 2010 summit using an iPad – who made his own predictions about the direction of the industry.

NBC Universal SVP of International Technology and Operations, Andrew Jordan, had a positive response for his discussion on innovation in the technology industry.

Graham Benson, CIO of MandM Direct, focused on inspiring your team the changing nature of the CIO role.

Halfords CIO Anna Barsby, who recently appeared on the cover of the magazine, was lavished with praise during her slot on leadership, and building the team to succeed which wrapped up the morning session.

Top of this year’s CIO 100, Nissan Europe CIO Stephen Kneebone gave the audience a lesson in marketing for CIOs, covering brand and digital touchpoints.

Brigadier Alan Hill of the British Armynot only looked the part, but discussed strategy and the unique information and security challenges faced by the armed forces

Chief technology officer at GLH, Chris Hewertson said tht the hotel group’s strategy was to focus on the customer experience, something which resonated with 2012 CIO Summit speaker Ibukun Adebayo.

Following the CIO 2 CIO with Gideon Kay and Shaun Mundy, who had a frank yet informal discussion about how to approach the first 100 days in a new role, Richard Corbridge of the Clinical Research Network outlined the different types of technology ‘user’ exists in the NHS, and explained the traits shared by IT and drug dealers.

CIO of Staffordshire County Council, Sander Kristel, expressed the need for a digital revolution in the public sector to deliver services cheaply and digitally in the face of austere budget cuts.

After a round-up by Mark Chillingworth and Ian Cox, another CIO Summit was over – but it’s never to early to note the next CIO Summit will take place on Wednesday 23 September 2015.

Next read this

    Related:
  • IT Strategy
  • IT Leadership
  • Careers
Edward Qualtrough is the Editor of CIO UK and has a particular interest covering digital strategy, leadership, enterprise culture, and diversity. Edward meets regularly with chief information officers and other business technology executives to discuss C-level issues and keep on top industry trends and disruptive threats.