By ; Bakinam Khaled
International Data Corporation (IDC) today hosted the fifth annual edition of its Mauritius CIO Summit at the Hilton Mauritius Resort & Spa under the esteemed patronage of The Honorable Yogida Sawmynaden, Minister of Technology, Communication, and Innovation. Running under the theme 'Strategies for an Era of Multiplied Innovation & Automation', the Summit played host to 150 of the country's most prominent ICT leaders and showcased groundbreaking strategies for embracing the disruptive power of digital transformation (DX).
IDC's associate vice president for Sub-Saharan Africa, Mark Walker, opened proceedings by outlining the day's key talking points before introducing Joanne Esmyot, executive director of the National Computer Board of Mauritius, who stressed the strategic importance of emerging technologies as drivers of business and innovative service delivery, while urging CIOs to broaden their scopes as their industries are digitally disrupted. "Today the role of CIOs is not ‘cloisonné’ to your technical department, and you are called upon to take on more business responsibilities," Esmyot said as she addressed the gathered delegates. "The role of new CIOs must move beyond the traditional 'keeping the lights on' to 'expanding the business'.”
Steven Frantzen, IDC's senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, then took to the stage to discuss strategies for ensuring the digital determination of the modern enterprise. "Relevance, access, and affordability – this hallowed trinity is required by organizations across Africa looking to achieve the best possible ICT outcomes," said Frantzen. "With the emergence of disruptive technologies like 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence, CIOs are hard pressed to stay abreast of the latest developments while maintaining effective ICT environments. Given the unprecedented scale of disruption being caused by these innovation-accelerating technologies, it's imperative that organizations make the right decisions today to ensure they remain competitive tomorrow."
The Summit's agenda was intricately tailored to help enterprises in Mauritius become more agile, efficient, and productive than ever before, with a series of individually themed sessions addressing a broad range of topics, including the emergence of the digital worker and its impact on the future of work; the ongoing shift towards enterprise-grade innovations; the need for a fresh approach to enterprise security strategies; and the role of edge computing and IoT in transforming the way modern business is conducted.
Also on the agenda was a fascinating panel discussion chaired by Jyoti Lalchandani, IDC's group vice president and managing director for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa. The session explored the theme of 'Multiplied Innovation: Scaling a Technology Revolution' and showcased unique insights from Sudheer Prabhu, Group CTO of CIM Group; Rai Basgeet, CTO of Mauritius Telecom; and Aroun Poligadu, CIO of DSO Group.
"ICT markets in Mauritius are rapidly growing, with technology innovations enabling the delivery of insights everywhere, extending corporate reach, and driving ever-increasing customer expectations," said Lalchandani as he introduced the panellists. "New application developments are also changing the social landscape and elevating the importance of trust as a keystone of any relationship. As such, organizations must fully understand the pivotal ecosystem changes that are being enabled by IoT, artificial intelligence, and next-generation security requirements as the next stage of the digital transformation journey unfolds."
Steven Frantzen then returned to the stage to close the day's proceedings by examining some of the key DX-driven developments and trends that are set to shape the ICT industry over the coming years, while summarizing IDC’s expectations of the way that emerging technologies will forever change our lives.
IDC's valued partners for the Mauritius CIO Summit 2019 included the National Computer Board, Automation Anywhere, and IBM as Summit Partners; Fortinet, Footprint Africa Business Solutions (FABS), and VMware as Platinum Partners; Arcon, ManageEngine, K2 (in conjunction with Aerow), and Lenovo as Gold Partners; and Freshworks and Redhat as Exhibit Partners
