As there are signs that the global pandemic will be soon controlled and it will come to an end, the global economy continues to forward to its digital destiny. Companies and businesses are embracing the digital strategies as most products and services are based on a digital delivery model or require digital metamorphosis to remain competitive. According to McKinsey, “hybrid remote work will continue after the pandemic as the benefits of flexible work models are becoming very clear. The growth in share of e-commerce and the delivery economy, will continue and companies that enlisted automation and AI to cope with pandemic disruptions may accelerate adoption in the years ahead”. No matter what the future will look like, and regardless of how intensely the pace of change accelerates, the CIO of the future must use the technology as a catalyst for the business. As the most successful organizations are already thinking digital-first and reimagining how to differentiate with technology, the CIO is uniquely equipped to help their organizations seize the opportunity, to disrupt the status quo and to transform. CIO Council propose you a webinar to explore how companies will use technology to exploit the new hybrid era of workplace. Then we will present you the cybersecurity risks associated with the new realities. At the end CIO Council members and their guests will debate the CIO role a crucial role in adopting new and more efficient technology and the challenges of the new hybrid era of workplace.

UPDATE! You can watch now the full video recording

AGENDA: Introduction: Yugo Neumorni – President CIO Council, CIO Cargus Presentation: “The New Remote Work Era: Trends in the Distributed Workforce” Speaker: Marc O’Regan, Technologist & CTO, Dell Technologies EMEA After years of treating remote work like it was the exception to the rule, businesses must adapt to newly rooted human behaviors and adopt a remote-first strategy — or risk losing ground to competitors who do. This study will prove that the widespread adoption of a remote-first mindset has resulted in a more balanced business landscape. The ‘starting lines’ have been redrawn so that both enterprises and people are enjoying more equal opportunities for success.  Thanks to improvements in digital workspace technology over the past several years, distributed workforces became an increasingly viable option for organizations. But despite the promise of cost savings, business agility, and employee flexibility, leadership inaction and fears let down most widespread attempts at this paradigm shift. Would employees stay on task outside a physical office space? Would company culture survive? As we’ve come to see through Vanson Bourne’s global research, these fears — while understandable — were unwarranted. With this accelerated cross-industry shift to remote work, the clouds have parted to reveal new opportunities. Organizations that were previously lagging behind in terms of remote work and digital experience were able to make swift gains, putting them within the sights of the competition. And improvements in productivity, employee satisfaction, recruitment, and cost savings make it unlikely that organizations will ever return to a fully location-based model. Presentation: Bridging the cybersecurity gap in the connected enterprise Speaker: Marinel Stănilă, Information Security Advisory Manager, Safetech Innovations Presentation: Growing Threats Beyond the Server: Why CISOs must boost their defense against Client-side attacks Speaker: Avital Grushcovski, Co-Founder, Source Defense This presentation covers a simulated client-attack, the growing website threat trends and the different technologies for managing client-side attacks. Panel: Digital first! How digital strategy will drive the new hybrid era of workplace.

• Re-evaluate the technology stack designed for office-bound workforce for the new hybrid work models. Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)
• New IT management challenges
• New Cybersecurity architectures
• Identity management
• Customers go in digital channels. How CIOs respond?
• Pivoting towards infrastructure and cloud to empower the remote workforce
• Shifting to “as-a-service” or “pay-as-you-go” delivery models.
• CIOs role as catalyst

Panelists: ANDREEA IONIȚĂ  - Deputy General Manager and Strategy, Markets and Digitalization Director of E.ON România BOGDAN BĂNDILĂ - CIO, Digital & Innovation Officer, ENGIE Romania DANIELA CATRINOIU - Chief Information Officer, FAN Courier ANDREI UHR - Product Specialist, Dell Technologies CRISTIAN CUCU - CIO Nuclearelectrica, CIO Council Member Conclusions: Yugo Neumorni – President CIO Council, CIO Cargus