International Data Corporation (IDC) formally announced the latest instalment of its Saudi Arabia CIO Summit, which will be held on May 4–5 at Bay La Sun Hotel & Marina in King Abdullah Economic City. The 2016 edition of the annual ICT conference will welcome more than 150 of the Kingdom’s most influential technology decisions makers and present them with cutting-edge insights into the global best practices and winning strategies being employed by empowered CIOs in today’s turbulent economic environment.
As Saudi CIOs grapple with the challenge of prioritising digital transformation initiatives amidst tightening budgetary constraints, they are simultaneously being presented with a unique opportunity to augment organisational change with a newfound sense of transparency, efficiency, and urgency. Indeed, CIOs today find themselves dealing with challenging issues including balancing the need to provide value to business, keeping up with the continuous change of technologies, and managing multiple service providers while constantly assessing their maturity, availability, and capability to fulfil their requirements.
“A slow economy presents the perfect opportunity for enterprises, both large and small, to re-evaluate their existing productivity and effectiveness and to align their business strategies accordingly,” says Abdulaziz Al-Helayyil, Regional Director for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain at IDC. “As such, the most pressing issue for CIOs at this juncture is to educate their organisation’s board members on the benefits of aligning IT and business objectives whilst trying to balance cost pressures. This issue will be central to the discussions that take place at the Saudi Arabia CIO Summit 2016 as we focus on the theme of enabling transformation in transitional times.”
The Summit will also feature two dedicated sessions focusing on the latest developments taking shape in Saudi Arabia’s government and education sectors, as well as an exclusive CFO roundtable that will offer expert advice to the Kingdom’s finance leaders on unlocking the true value of emerging ICT solutions. The main event itself will see a host of widely respected industry experts share their insights into the major challenges, opportunities, and priorities set to dictate the Saudi ICT investment landscape over the coming 12 months.
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