Atos Origin has joined Belgian CIO Forum to encourage the strategic role of CIOs in business operations

Zaventem, 22 November 2006 - Atos Origin, the international IT services supplier, has joined the CIO Forum in Belgium. This extensive partnership between the two organisations has the objective to encourage the strategic role of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in business management. The Belgian CIO Forum is a platform that supports the CIOs and their role in the business community. Within the scope of this cooperation, Atos Origin and the CIO Forum held a first meeting at Atos Origin offices in Zaventem, jointly with the CIOs of the most prominent companies in Belgium.

The Belgian CIO Forum was founded 5 years ago with the aim of collaboration between CIOs to stimulate exchange of expertise and experience on a strategic level. In the initial years of its existence it focused mainly on industry, but as of this year it has been attracting CIOs from other markets as well, including the IT services market.

The CIO Forum uses its network and activities to provide added value for IT and has signed agreements with prominent names in the IT market, such as Adecco, Ernst and Young, IBM, Real Software and Atos Origin. These partnerships are important foundations for the forum’s activities: R&D is one aspect these partners provide, for example. The forum also offers CIOs a unique opportunity to exchange expertise and experience during meetings such as the one held on 31 October at Atos Origin. Guest speakers were Jac Cuypers of Ernst & Young, Luc Brouwers (Atos Consulting’s new director in Belgium) and Rudy Hageman, Managing Director of software company Pearl Chain. The meeting’s topic was ‘the gap between IT and business’ – a theme that will also have an important place in the CIO Forum’s future activities.

“Even today, we still see that few CIOs think strategically or have the chance to do so. The impact of CIOs on business operations has decreased rather than increased,” says Freddy Van den Wyngaert, spokesman for the CIO Forum and CIO at Agfa Gevaert. “It is a sad fact that CIOs are still rarely members of the Board. Support from companies like Atos Origin is therefore crucial to us as we strive for recognition of the role of the CIO in the company’s vision and mission.”

“We are glad that we are able to support the CIO Forum, not only with seminars but also with workshops and info sessions,” adds André Geunens, Marketing Director of Atos Origin in Belux. “In terms of content, we have a lot to offer. As examples we can mention our Global SAP competence Centre in Zaventem, SEPA, the globalisation of payment systems, and international projects for customers such as BASE, ING, and Philips.”


About Atos Origin
Atos Origin is an international IT service supplier. We enable clients to convert their visions into results through consulting, systems integration, and managed operations. Atos Origin achieves an annual turnover of more than 5.5 billion euros in more than forty countries, with a total of 47,000 employees in 40 countries. Atos Origin is the worldwide information technology partner for the Olympic Games and has an international client portfolio. Atos Origin is quoted on the Paris Eurolist Market and is traded under the names Atos Origin, AtosEuronext, Atos Worldline and Atos Consulting. For more information, please consult the Atos Origin website, www.atosorigin.com.

About Atos Consulting
Atos Consulting, the global consulting practice of Atos Origin, is a leading provider of business, process and technology consulting services. With more than 2,500 staff globally, it focuses on delivering proven, pragmatic solutions to the telecom, manufacturing, financial services and public sectors.

About the CIO Forum
The Belgian Business CIO Forum is a non-profit organisation, offering IT leaders a structured networking platform that allows them to exchange expertise and experience with the objective of increasing the value of their particular discipline within the business community. The CIO Forum works with Belgian and other European sister organisations and is open to new partnerships with suppliers who aim to make innovative contributions and have an innovative business approach.
www.cioforum.be

Contact Information

Christelle Colin

Atos Origin

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