By : Basel Khaled

International Data Corporation (IDC) today hosted the 9th installment of its annual IDC West Africa CIO Summit, with more than 100 of the country's most influential ICT decision makers in attendance at The Four Points by Sheraton Lagos. The event addressed the theme 'Accelerating Your Journey to a Digital-First World'.

"As organizations strive to recover from the uncertainty wrought by the pandemic, they are increasingly taking a digital-first approach to build resilience into their operations," says Jyoti Lalchandani, IDC's group vice president and regional managing director for the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa. "The journey to the future digital enterprise has accelerated, driven by significant investments in new customer experiences, new digital ecosystem business models, digital supply chains, and Future of Work initiatives."

Lalchandani expanded on these thoughts as he presented the event's opening keynote, 'Reimagining Tech Strategies for a Digital-First World'. "All of this must be supported by resilient cloud-enabled digital infrastructure and applications, rapid app development, digital platforms, data-driven and AI-enabled intelligence, and security and trust," said Lalchandani. "Strong leadership, an appetite for innovation, and a sound strategy for addressing regulations will all be key to driving the digital agenda."

Expert speakers were on hand throughout the day to explore all these themes and more, presenting informative best-practice sessions that addressed topics such as:
 

·        Cloud Computing: The Springboard for Digital Transformation

·        From Secure to Trusted: A Journey to Digital Leadership

·        The Convergence of 5G, IOT, and Edge: Preparing for a Digital Quantum Leap

The agenda also incorporated a fascinating 'fireside chat' on the subject of 'Solving for West Africa Innovation and Growth', as well as informative panel discussions on implementing effective vendor selection and management strategies and enabling greater alignment, collaboration, and co-innovation with lines of business. These sessions showcased first-hand insights and experiences from some of the region’s most respected ICT leaders, including:

·       Tobe Nnadozie, Divisional Head, Business Technology & Digital Innovation, Central Securities Clearing Systems

·       Dr. Samuel Mbonu, CIO, Tangerine Africa

·       Yemisi Otasanya, Divisional Head of Digital Technology / Senior Business Development Manager, Africa Prudential

·       Prasanna Burri, Group CIO, Dangote Group

·       Zechariah Akinpelu, CISO, Unity Bank

·       Jackson Ikiebe, Head of IT Operations & Governance, FBN Insurance

·       Steve Uma, CIO / Head of Information Services & Technology, NSIA Insurance

·       Eche Agubata, Head of IT Governance & Strategy, Union Bank of Nigeria

The IDC West Africa CIO Summit was supported by the following organizations: Host Partner: Huawei Cloud; Strategic Partner: The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); Summit Partner: AWS; Platinum Partners: VMware, KnowBe4 Africa, Google Cloud; Technology Focus Group Partners: Nozomi Networks, Hewlett Packard Enterprise operated by Selectium; Exhibit Partners: Kaspersky, ManageEngine, Datamellon; Associate Partner: The Fintech Association of Nigeria.

To learn more about the IDC West Africa CIO Summit 2022, please contact Sheila Manek at smanek@idc.com or on +971 4 446 3154. You can also join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #IDCWACIO.