Computing launches inaugural IT leadership event

More than 100 decision makers attended series of IT skills-related debates

Computing hosted its first IT Leaders Forum event yesterday. The event looked at key themes related to leadership skills with a host of leading UK technology managers.

The event, held at the Imperial War Museum in London, gathered more than 100 senior IT leaders and started with a panel debate around changes to the traditional role of the chief information officer (CIO).

Chaired by Robin Young, chief operating officer at banking group Bradford and Bingley, the debate saw the participation of director of corporate development at Network Rail Catherine Doran, as well as Marks & Spencer CIO Darrell Stein and Natasha Davydova, global head of IT at Standard Chartered.

The debate was followed by a Q&A session hosted by Computing editor Abigail Waraker with Asos.com financial director Nick Beighton on the development of mutually beneficial relationships between CIOs and their finance counterparts.

The IT Leaders Forum concluded with Rashik Parmar, North East Europe chief technology officer at IBM, who talked about future trends in technology and the impact of social change in the enterprise, notably the challenges brought by the so-called "generation Y" and social networking tools.

To become a member of the IT Leaders LinkedIn forum, click here.