Earlier this month, SER Polska had the exciting opportunity to attend and participate in the 15th annual “CIO of the Year” Award gala in Warsaw. The award is one the oldest and the most prestigious ones in the Polish IT industry. The jury – comprised of previous winners and award presenters – honors outstanding visionaries in digital transformation.

Previous winners and participants of the “CIO of the Year” Award have been some of the most influential CIOs of many prestigious Polish companies.

This year, Michał Paprocki, CEO of ING Services Polska was named CIO of 2017. Marek Niziołek, CIO of the Synthos group, was awarded the prize for CIO 2017 Diamond “CIO of Digital Synthesis”.

In 2003, the CIO Club was founded as an independent organization for IT leaders. Its goal is to foster knowledge exchange and build a network of trust between its members. It also provides CIOs the right environment and peer group to discuss current and innovative topics.

The award gala was a great chance for me to meet others and talk about current developments, challenges and visions. The opening Oxford debate “Digital transformation is a revolution: The revolution is a time of war and chaos with suppliers” was a great way to kick off the gala. Tomasz Krawczuk (CIO Fabryka Mebli Forte, CIO of 2016), Grzegorz Mach (CIO KGHM) and Michał Paprocki (CEO of ING Services Polska, CIO of 2017), Witold Malina (Asseco), Adam Wojtkowski (Oracle) and I teamed up for a panel discussion to reflect on different aspects of the digital (r)evolution and share our viewpoints with the audience. Definitely a night to remember and one of the annual highlights of the Polish IT scene.