IT Leader Forum

The IT Leader Forum was held on October 9, 2012 at Moscow International Performing Arts Centre. The topic of the forum was "Global Industry Leaders' Vision of the Future".

Now information technology is everywhere. It defines the maturity of entire institutions, industries, and nations. Indeed, IT shapes the future. According to futurologists, the evolution of IT will lead to the extinction of more than a half of existing professions by 2030. Market leaders are actively analyzing forecasts by influential trend setters and are looking for new competitive advantages to get fully prepared for the future.

The IT Leader Forum was held in a talk show format with two opposing sides. Panelists shared views regarding the need in new technologies, the future of robotics, social networks, outsourcing, clouds, and other hot trends.

The IT Leader Forum is a landmark event annually visited by several hundred representatives of Russian and international companies as well as IT vendors and the leading mass media. Organizers of the IT Leader Forum are the Russian Managers Association, Itogi, CIO, and Intelligent Enterprise Magazines and CROC.

In the preceding IT Leader Forums, Andrey Kelmanzon (RUSNANO), Viktor Orlovsky (Sberbank), Dmitry Inshakov (PwC), Sergey Mednov (Alfa-Bank) and other top managers of Russian and international organizations participated in the event.

International IT Experts

International experts participate regularly in the event. In the past, presentations were made by Matt Wood, Technology Evangelist for Amazon Web Services; Dean Nelson, Senior Director, Global Foundation Services - Ebay Technical Operations; Peter Hinssen (Across Technology), Howard Polinski (KPMG Russia and CIS), Mesut Orta (the Ministry of Justice of Turkey), Ed Toben (Colgate-Palmolive), Jules Jerome (Dexia BIL). In the preceding years, among key speakers at the IT Leader Forum were: Roger McLoughlin (Continuity & Risk Authority, Vodafone) [watch video], Ronald Loos (Director of Technology and Operations, Grubb & Ellis Management Services) [watch video], Max Corney (Communications Consultant, West Midlands Police, UK), Graeme K. Hackland (Head of Information Systems, Renault F1 Team), Jim Tomaney (Senior Programme Manager, Barclays Bank), Diego Lo Giudice (Principal Analyst) and Dr. Alexander Peters (CIO Group Principal Analyst) from Forrester Research, Robert Farish (Vice President and Regional Managing Director in Russia and CIS, IDC), Theo Zuijdwijk (Area Head of Business Services, BAT), etc.

Topics of the IT Leader Forums

2012 - Global Industry Leaders' Vision of the Future

2011 - Finding Hidden Opportunities for Business Growth and Retaining Efficiency Gains

2010 - Competitive Breakthrough in the Post-Crisis Period: Ideas for Leaders

2009 - Innovations During Periods of Cost-Cutting watch videos (in English)

2008 - IT as a Tool to Increase Business Efficiency in Key Segments of the Economy

2007 - Information Technology as Business Process Reengineering Tool

2006 - Key Business Aspects: Data Security and Availability

2005 - Minimizing IT Project Implementation Risks in Modern Organizations

2004 - Information Technology as a Leverage to Achieve Strategic Business Goals

Feedback and Comments about the IT Leader Forum

	I think the IT Leader Forum was a very nice experience. A really good place for people to network, a lot of good subjects and topics debated. I think it is an excellent way for people to get together and innovate together. So I really liked it. Peter Hinssen, Across Technology Managing Partner
	It was a great privilege to speak at such a prestigious and well run event. The attendance of over 200 senior executives and Directors from the IT community across Russia indicated the seriousness with which the IT community as a whole treats IT and its continuity. Roger McLoughlin, Continuity & Risk Authority, Vodafone watch video (in English)
	I think everyone is struggling right now in the current economic environment. It is very difficult right now if CIOs and IT managers want to start a new project. So they are very interested in any idea on how to promote their ideas within their company and how to get support. They are looking for ways to help their companies. Right now it is very important to cut costs through technology solutions and being more efficient. I heard a lot of that in the conference, afterwards and in the discussions. I think in general this kind of conference is very valuable because IT managers, directors,and CIOs get to meet their colleagues from other industries, build relationships, share ideas and information, and hopefully come up with new ideas. Ronald Loos, Director of Technology and Operations, Grubb & Ellis Management Services (GEMS) watch video (in English)
	Events like the IT Leader Forum are of paramount importance as they showcase best IT practices. Theo Zuijdwijk, Head of IT Development and Business Consulting, Eastern Europe, British American Tobacco
	The CIO's role in modern business has changed. Today the CIO must think more like a CEO of IT than a CTO. A CIO must use IT performance metrics that are clear to financial managers and maximize IT staff productivity. Robert Farish, Regional Director in Russia and CIS, IDC