IDC's CIO Summit Returns to the Kingdom Next Month

International Data Corporation (IDC) is delighted to announce that its annual Saudi Arabia CIO Summit will this year take place at Jeddah’s InterContinental Hotel on September 26-27. More than 100 of the Kingdom's most influential information and communication technology leaders will be in attendance as a roster of respected industry experts and visionaries share their unique insights and showcase innovative strategies for thriving in the digital economy.

"As the digital revolution continues to heat up, digital champions and disruptors are emerging in all different kinds of industries," says Steven Frantzen, IDC's senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. "These organizations are increasingly setting the Kingdom's investment agenda as they embrace a new generation of innovation-accelerating technologies to completely transform the way they execute processes, engage with customers, create business value, and deliver their products and services."

Combining an eclectic mix of presentations, panel discussions, focus groups, and workshops, the CIO Summit's agenda for 2018 has been designed to help the region's CIOs rethink the way they leverage information, harness emerging ICT solutions, and facilitate organization-wide innovation, with the ultimate aim of making their enterprises more agile, efficient, and productive than ever before. The rise of disruptive automation will feature prominently, with discussions centering on the transformative powers of innovation accelerators such as robotics, artificial intelligence, next-gen security, blockchain, and the Internet of Things.

The event will include a series of focus groups exploring the major challenges, opportunities, and priorities set to shape the Saudi ICT investment landscape over the coming 12 months. And in a new twist for 2018, there will be a session dedicated to the empowerment of women in the IT industry, a key objective of Vision 2030. Titled 'Women Leaders in IT – Breaking the Glass Ceiling to Drive Innovation', this session will feature a panel of pioneering female executives who will share their own thoughts, experiences, and success stories, while shining a light on crucial issues such as digital literacy, entrepreneurship, remote working, and workplace integration.

IDC's highly anticipated CIO Excellence Awards for Saudi Arabia will take center stage on Day 2 of the Summit, providing a perfect platform for recognizing the outstanding contributions being made to the Kingdom's ongoing digital transformation journey. This will be preceded by the inauguration of IDC's dedicated CIO Advisory Council for Saudi Arabia, a panel of renowned industry experts that will serve as judges for the awards. Nominations are now open — please visit www.idcksaciosummit2018.com/awards for more details.

IDC's valued partners for the Saudi Arabia CIO Summit 2018 include HP Inc. and Mobily as Summit Partners; Kodak Alaris and Symantec as Platinum Partners; Carbon Black, AEC, Veeam Software, MIS, Commvault, OpenText, Cyberia, Microland, Manage Engine, and MicroStrategy as Focus Group Partners; Equinix, Freshworks, Automic, ITC, and T2 as Exhibit Partners; and Sysprove Consulting as Lunch Partner.