With more than 100 of the Kingdom’s most influential ICT leaders in attendance, the IDC Saudi Arabia CIO Summit 2019 closed last week with a ceremony to mark the second edition of the IDC CIO Excellence Awards. At a time when innovation is becoming the hallmark of competitive success, IDC sought to recognize the efforts of those individuals and organizations that have excelled in conceptualizing and delivering game-changing digital transformation initiatives across the Kingdom.
“CIOs are coming under mounting pressure to disrupt their organizations in a meaningful and constructive way, reinventing the experiences of customers, partners, and employees alike with the help of innovation-accelerating technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, and the Internet of Things,” says Hamza Naqshbandi, IDC’s country manager for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. “This pressure will see spending on digital transformation initiatives across the Middle East and Africa top $25 billion this year, so it’s only right that the pioneering efforts of the kingdom’s most successful and innovative digital leaders are highlighted and publicly acknowledged in this way.”
IDC had been accepting nominations across 3 categories since August and received a total of 50 submissions from 31 different organizations. IDC’s CIO Advisory Council for Saudi Arabia then reviewed the nominations, with the winners and finalists in each category revealed below:
CIO of the Year
Winner: Dr. Saleh AlMugrin – Ministry of Defense
Finalists: Mohammed AlEnazi – Fawaz Alhokair Fashion Retail; Yazeed A. Alotaibi – Ministry of Health; Eng. Motref AlSahli – Ministry of Communications & Information Technology; Eng. Faisal Ahmed Bakhashwain – Ministry of Civil Service
CISO of the Year
Winner: Alaa Al Asali – Arab National Bank
Finalists: Darweesh Nasser Al-Buainain – SATORP; Jad H. Abdulsalam – Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden)
Excellence in Digital Innovation
Winner: BinDawood Group
Finalists: National Water Company; Umm Al-Qura University; National Housing Company;
IDC would like to thank the esteemed members of the CIO Advisory Council for being part of the judging process:
- Eng. Ali Al-Asiri, Chief Executive Officer, e-Government Program, Yesser
- Ibrahim Almoqbil, Chief Support Services Officer, General Entertainment Authority
- Jason Roos, Chief Information Officer, King Abdullah University of Science & Technology
- Hisham S. Hammami, Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Hajj & Umrah
Alongside e-Government Program, Yesser (Strategic Partner), the Ministry of Civil Service (Government Partner), and Oracle (Summit Partner), IDC’s valued partners for the Saudi Arabia Summit 2019 include: Microsoft, Genesys, UiPath, Blue Prism, SAS (in partnership with Intel), Automation Anywhere, Google Cloud, Aruba, and NXN as Platinum Partners; Carbon Black, Attivo Networks, MIS, AEC, Sage, Tenable, Cyberia, Mimecast, Veeam, Gigamon, HP Inc. (in partnership with Intel), Cloud4C, Rimini Street, and ACS as Focus Group Partners; IBM as Breakfast Partner; Lenovo (in partnership with Intel) and Qlik (in partnership with Digination) as Award Partners; OutSystems, DETASAD, T2, Msegate, Hawsabah, Sysprove Consulting, Equinix, ManageEngine, Indorse, and Freshworks as Exhibit Partners.
