Top 10 International Events for CIOs

Although organizations are still recovering from the economic downturn freezing or cutting budgets, they’re regaining strength and global IT spending is expected to increase in the coming years. The economy has started swinging in the right direction, however, there is still a ways to go. A CIO’s role is more important than ever as digital continues to drive and even replace manual processes. Business goals have changed and CIO’s are tasked with finding emerging opportunities paving the way for the digital transformation.

Topics like ROI, cybersecurity, AI, and collaboration are top of mind for any CIO. To remain at the forefront of innovation and find the latest technology solutions, it’s crucial to attend events with other industry leaders. Finding the right event for your company can be a time-consuming process. That’s why we’ve done the work for you!

Here are the top 10 international events for CIOs:

1. Gartner Symposium/ITxpo

Gartner is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. Every year they host the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, specifically designed for CIOs and Senior IT executives. Held on November 5-9 in Barcelona, Spain, 6,000+ Gartner analysts, industry experts, solution providers, CIOs and senior IT executives will discuss the digital transformation and key topics surrounding technology, leadership, and business strategy. Featured speakers include Gartner analysts and business leaders from top companies like Amazon and SAP.

Here you’ll find a wealth of networking opportunities and be able to share best practices across all industries. With 130+ solution providers filling the ITxpo showcase, you’re bound to find solutions that will work perfectly for your team. Perhaps the most valuable and unique benefits are the CIO story sessions and one-on-ones with 140+ Gartner analysts. The CIO story sessions feature CIOs who share practical examples putting their own digital leadership into practice. The one-on-one meetings allow you to get personal, tailored advice and help you explore new ways to approach critical challenges.

2. CIO Summit

The CIO Summit, hosted by CDM Media, is their flagship event where IT leaders and strategists meet to tackle industry challenges and explore developing trends. Happening November 12-14, 2017 at Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in Scottsdale, Arizona, the CIO Summit agenda offers a balanced schedule of focused educational sessions, keynote speeches, open forums, panel discussions, think tanks, and one-on-one meetings designed to inspire and put theory into action. This is the perfect chance to meet IT executives from industries including, but not limited to, healthcare, telecom, education, finance, and government.

Speakers include CIOs from big names like Volvo, CBS, Mastercard, McKesson and many more. If networking is your game, there’s no lack of networking opportunities, even after the day’s events are over. You can even watch the event’s golf tournament to get better acquainted with attendees. You’ll leave the event with new contacts and ideas to spearhead new IT initiatives.

3. Oracle OpenWorld

Considered the industry’s most important business and technology conference, Oracle OpenWorld has it all, including live performances by Ellie Goulding and Usher. Coming up October 1-5 in the world’s tech capital, San Francisco, CA, at OpenWorld you’ll see tens of thousands of attendees all there to gain valuable insights into trends and leverage the cloud for innovation and growth.

If you’re looking for a huge event rather than an intimate environment, this is the place to be. With more than 2,500 educational sessions led by Oracle customers and partners, you’ll get to hear their first-hand experiences and be inspired to bring learnings back to your own company. Focus areas include app development, AI, customer experience, big data and analytics, IoT, security, IT operations and so much more. After seeing hundreds of demos, interactive labs, and exhibitions, you’ll walk away with new knowledge about cloud technologies and maybe even bring home a new solution for your teams.

4. Intra.NET Reloaded

Intra.NET Reloaded is the perfect place to see how intranets, the digital workplace, and internal communications work together to optimize business processes. The demand for mobile, cloud, and collaboration is growing as businesses scale, and this event aims to prepare for that transition. Everyone who is in the internal communication and digital workplace scene will be there, either in Boston (April 26-27, 2018)or London (November 27-28, 2017).

You’ll walk away with more practical knowledge than you thought possible. Gain insights on how to develop and integrate a customized employee intranet that is both informative and engaging and organize cross-unit collaboration projects. Experts will teach you how to create purposeful and engaging content, find solutions to your intranet challenges, and exchange best practices on how to set up an integrated social collaboration and communication infrastructure. All the skills and contacts you’ll gain will help you transform from a traditional intranet to a successful global digital workplace.

5. Enterprise Mobility Transformation Exchange

If your specific interest is in mobile IT, the Enterprise Mobility Transformation Exchange is for you. This is an invitation-only forum held in both the U.S. and Europe where C-Suite, VPs and Directors of Mobile, IT, Architecture, Field Service, Fleet Management, and Operations will meet to transform IT strategy. (Both event locations have passed this year, so be sure to look out for the 2018 dates.) Here you’ll learn what strategies and solutions other companies are implementing, partake in intimate workshops, and develop business partnerships through interactive networking. All with the aim of managing security risks, productivity, adoption, and innovation in your own company.

The best thing about this forum is that you can build your own agenda by selecting case studies, panel debates, interactive roundtable discussions, and one-on-one meetings that reflect your current priorities. That way, your time is only spent on what will individually benefit you. Be sure to request your invitation well in advance to get a spot!

6. Enterprise Business Collaboration

Collaboration is the glue that holds every successful organization together. It’s impossible to reach your full potential if all the puzzle pieces don’t fit together. If effective collaboration is something your company needs to work on, you should give this event some serious thought. Held at the Hotel Oderberger in Berlin, Germany, the Enterprise Business Collaboration is where 200+ technology, business, and communication professionals come together to discuss challenges and opportunities for mobile, video, social, messaging, and virtualization tools that drive seamless collaboration.

The digital workplace requires just as much collaboration as the physical workplace, if not more. This international knowledge exchange covers content management, digital workplace initiatives, internal IT architecture—all the pieces that enable effective collaboration and dictate processes. Keynote speakers include IT leaders from MIT, NASA, and SIEMENS, and the workshops, briefings, panel discussions, and interactive world cafe sessions are chock-full of information you’ll be excited to bring back to the office. And with the icebreaker session and networking dinner, you’ll finally get to connect with those hard-to-meet executives in a relaxed setting.

7. The European CIO Conference

With only 100 CIOs from large European organizations, the European CIO Conference is the most intimate CIO event you can go to. This two-day meeting November 29-30 at the Dorint Hotel in Wiesbaden, Germany is the annual flagship event put on by the European CIO Association. The “EuroCIO” is the only independent European not-for-profit representative for the large IT users, both private and public.

Not only are CIOs tasked with staying ahead of the ever-evolving IT industry, they also have to think about changing regulations and cybersecurity threats. This event prepares you for the seen and unforeseen challenges facing IT executives that threaten a company’s security and profitability. Workshops include topics about cybersecurity, how business innovation can be supported by IT, artificial intelligence (AI), how to manage IT speed-up, autonomic platforms, GDPR and beyond, and industries 4.0. You’ll walk away armed with knowledge to think strategically and tackle these issues head on.

8. Gigaom AI

AI has been a futuristic subject, but for CIOs, the future has been here for a few years already. It’s their job to use both machine learning and AI to pull ahead of the pack in their industries. Gigaom AI will prepare you for the AI revolution and tell you how to implement AI in your organization so you don’t fall behind. Keep an eye out for the 2018 dates.

As a CIO, you’re probably in charge of spearheading the digital transformation and that definitely includes AI as it’s the quickest way to scale your business. This event is one of the few focused on how AI is used now, how to get started using it, and how to optimize it if you’re already utilizing it. It’s also a good introduction to how other departments will be using AI in the future. AI experts will teach you to be an intelligent machine master, prepare for AI-based shadow IT, and learn how to be competitive using AI and machine learning. Additionally, you can sign up for the hands-on “Using AI” workshop to gain a deeper understanding.

9. ForbesLIVE CIO Summit

ForbesLIVE CIO Summit gives you special access to the world’s most influential leaders, policy-makers, entrepreneurs, and artists. With this collective knowledge and power, you’ll learn how to address critical issues that have been blocking your IT goals and solve them with solutions you’ve never thought of before. Since the event is hosted by Forbes, it’s not surprising the speakers are off the charts: Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and Sir Richard Branson, just to name a few.

This conference focuses on helping CIOs build their own network of CIOs, CEOs, and VCs to accelerate their path to innovation. It’s an invitation-only event with a limited guest list to maintain an intimate, personalized setting. Request to attend in advance to score a seat!

10. CIO 100

Watch out for the 2018 date because you won’t want to miss this powerful gathering of CIOs and senior IT executives. CIO 100 is an annual conference that offers educational sessions around enterprise mobility, cloud, big data/analytics, social/collaboration tools, risk management, and disruptive technologies. Here you’ll achieve a fresh perspective and start evaluating new solutions to drive your company’s IT initiatives forward.

Included in the conference is the CIO 100 Award Ceremony and CIO Hall of Fame Induction, which honor CIOs who have implemented innovative strategies that greatly impacted their organizations. CIO 100 offers great networking opportunities with industry leaders who have profoundly shaped the IT/business landscape, demonstrating both creative vision and practical leadership in information technology. You’re guaranteed to leave inspired and with business cards from the most prominent men and women in the field.

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