Riyadh: International Data Corporation (IDC) last week announced the winners of its IDC Excellence Awards 2021 for Saudi Arabia. The awards marked the culmination of the digital edition of the IDC Saudi Arabia CIO Summit 2021, which took place on September 15th with more than 400 of Saudi Arabia's most influential ICT leaders gathering on IDC's industry-leading virtual platform for the 11th annual installment of the event.

Running under the theme 'Innovative Digital Strategies: Evolving to the Demands of a New Reality', the Summit offered an unrivaled immersive experience for all participants as they seamlessly engaged in content-rich presentations and panel discussions, connected with exhibitors via video chat, and interacted with IDC analysts and key industry players in dedicated networking zones.

The IDC Excellence Awards 2021 sought to recognize the efforts of Saudi Arabia's foremost IT leaders in conceptualizing and successfully delivering game-changing transformation initiatives for their organizations across four different categories. The winners were as follows:

Top 5 CIOs of the Year

  • Raed AlHazme. Saudi National Guard Health Affairs (Winner)
  • Ihab Y. Hawari, Aljabr Holding Company
  • Waheed Y. Khayyat, United Cooperative Assurance
  • Mohammed I. AlMogherah, Ministry of Human Resources & Social Development
  • Mohammad Alharbi, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology.

Top 4 CISOs of the Year

  • Yasser Al Swailem, STC Group (Winner)
  • Ziad Mohammed Alabboud, Ministry of Human Resources & Social Development
  • Zeyad Tariq AlHusainan, Marafiq Power & Water Company
  • Khalid A. AlQuliti, YASREF

Top 5 Women in Technology & Business

  • Alia Omar Bahanshal, King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (Winner)
  • Moudhi Al Jamea, STC Group
  • Hana AlSaleh, Al Jaber Finance
  • Inji Jaber, King Abdullah University of Science & Technology
  • Nouf Aljalaud, a leading aviation & aerospace organization

Top 5 Organizations for Excellence in Digital Innovation

  • Saudi Industrial Development Fund (Winner)
  • Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority
  • King Fahd Military Medical Complex
  • Dar Al Arkan
  • International Medical Center

The judging panel for the IDC Excellence Awards 2021 included senior IDC figures and the following esteemed members of IDC's CIO Advisory Council for Saudi Arabia:

  • Mishari Almishari, Deputy Director of the National Information Center (NIC) and CEO of the Strategy Management Office, Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA)
  • Haithem Al Faraj, Senior Vice President of Technology and Operations, STC
  • Ghada Albugami, CIO and President's Advisor for Digital Transformation, Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University
  • Saleh Saleh, CIO and Executive Vice President of the IT Shared Services Group, Saudi National Bank
  • Abulaziz Al Afaleg, Managing Director, Saudi Payments
  • Jason Roos, CIO, King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST)
  • Ibrahim Almoqbil, Chief Support Services Officer, General Entertainment Authority

IDC would like to thank the following partners for their invaluable contribution to the success of the IDC Saudi Arabia CIO Summit 2021: the Saudi Data & Artificial Authority (SDAIA) as Strategic Partner; the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) as Government Partner; VMware, Red Hat, Salesforce + Tableau, Oracle, and Avaya as Summit Partners; IBM, Blue Prism, Fortinet, Trend Micro, Nintex, Cisco, NetApp / MDS, Dell Technologies, and IST Networks / Automation Anywhere as Platinum Partners; Zoho Corporation, MicroStrategy, Incorta, Darktrace, Veeam, FireEye / Mandiant, BlackBerry, Nozomi Networks, DigiCert, Rackspace / Google Cloud, and Commvault as Technology Focus Group Partners; Lenovo / Microsoft / Intel, VMware, and T2 as Dinner Partners; and Zoom as Exhibit Partner and International Business Magazine as Media Partner. 

-Ends-

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC. 

IDC in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa

For the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa region, IDC retains a coordinated network of offices in Riyadh, Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg, Cairo, and Istanbul, with a regional center in Dubai. Our coverage couples local insight with an international perspective to provide a comprehensive understanding of markets in these dynamic regions. Our market intelligence services are unparalleled in depth, consistency, scope, and accuracy. IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey currently fields over 130 analysts, consultants, and conference associates across the region. To learn more about IDC MEA, please visit www.idc.com/mea . You can follow IDC MEA on Twitter at @IDCMEA.

For More Information:
Abdullah Inayat
W7Worldwide Marketing Communications Consultancy Agency
Media Relations Director
a.inayat@w7worldwide.com 

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