3 evenings full of challenges and opportunities

Digital technology is changing our way of working – and our way of living – dramatically. And technology is advancing so rapidly that its effect on our daily lives is soaring.

In 3 evening sessions you’ll explore the impact digital transformation can have on your organisation – including the opportunities it opens up and the challenges it presents.

Are you ready for digital?

Before you start the programme, we’ll send you a questionnaire about your organisation’s digital approach. It should take about 10 minutes to do – and when you’ve finished, you’ll get a report with recommendations on how you can prepare for digital transformation.

Work at an SME? Find out if your business qualifies for a subsidised place here.
Session :

BECOME A PIONEER IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

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Digital technology is advancing rapidly. To stay ahead of the curve, your organisation needs to embrace it. In this session, you’ll gain deep insight into everything digital transformation has to offer you and your organisation.

  • Discover how digitisation impacts you and your role.
  • Understand the trends disrupting businesses and markets.
  • Gain insights and tools that will help you transform.
  • Learn why some business areas are slower off the mark – and how they can move forward with digital transformation.
  • Explore why an integrated approach is crucial to success.
  • Learn how to keep momentum after going through digital transformation.

By the end of the evening you’ll have a broad view of this topic. And you’ll be well on your way to becoming a leader of digital change.

Prof Stijn Viaene Digital Transformation Expert, Vlerick

Prof Stijn Viaene

Digital Transformation Expert, Vlerick

Head of our Operations and Technology Management department, Stijn is passionate about digital transformation and the value it brings to business. In this session he explains his concept of the digital economy – ExConomy.

Olivier Van Duuren Keynote speaker, Microsoft

Olivier Van Duuren

Keynote speaker, founder The Dualarity, former Microsoft Executive

In September 2016, Olivier Van Duüren published 'The Dualarity', a book and a company that go more deeply into finding your spark in your personal and business transformation. After 22 years of working for Microsoft internationally, Olivier has a unique vision of innovation, transformation and human behaviour.

The digital world is just around the corner, and it will bring many changes – on both the personal and the professional levels – to our industry, government and society. ‘The Dualarity’ offers a clear view on how to find your balance between continuing to perform in the short-term and transforming over the long-term! It presents the implications, the consequences and the opportunities and gives you the necessary insights for the transformation of your business and yourself.

Session :

Making digital work for you

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What makes digital transformation successful? What gets in the way of that success? These are just some of the questions you’ll consider in our second session. It’s time to focus on how you can use digital to bring about change in your organisation.

In this highly interactive session, you can choose between four tracks.

Track :

Shaping the future of leadership

Traditionally, general managers and HR managers have introduced digital initiatives on an ad hoc basis. But this can make them more challenging to implement and sustain. Now, the speed of innovation demands a new style of management.

To make a real impact, we need to take a holistic approach and introduce innovation across the whole of the organisation. And this may mean our leadership models need to change.

On this track you’ll share ideas and perspectives with other managers and identify where you can adapt your approach. We’ll discuss new leadership models.

PROF KATLEEN DE STOBBELEIR Associate professor in Leadership and Coaching, Vlerick

PROF KATLEEN DE STOBBELEIR

Professor in Leadership and Coaching

Katleen believes any transformation starts with human transformation – and is passionate about developing leadership at all organisational levels.

mia vanstraelen Director of HR, IBM

mia vanstraelen

Director of HR, IBM

Mia works closely with business leaders and focuses on implementing innovative HR strategies to grow and develop IBM’s business.

christophe van den eede Talent acquisition and development director, Telenet Group

christophe van den eede

Talent acquisition and development director, Telenet Group

As a digital enthusiast, Christophe is passionate about people development and willing to share his ideas with you.


Track :

Do entrepreneurs in SMEs have their finger on the pulse?

Digital technology affects all businesses in one way or another. Sometimes, traditional SMEs find themselves stuck between agile start-ups and big corporations – more and more leaders are realising they need to innovate to survive.

Can traditional SMEs be at the cutting edge of digital transformation – indeed, can they be leading the charge? These are just some of the questions we’ll tackle as we analyse real-life success stories and failures – and hear from an SME leader who’s taken a leap into digital change.

prof cédric donck Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Vlerick

Prof cédric donck

Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Cédric’s experience lies in business modelling, start-up and scale-up strategy, corporate innovation and SME financing. A professional business angel, he’s invested in over a dozen internet companies in Brussels, Paris and Madagascar.

Mathieu Van Marcke CEO, Hooox

Mathieu Van Marcke

CEO, Hooox

Hooox is a communications agency that focuses exclusively on real estate – and they’ve moved from traditional to digital selling. Mathieu will share their holistic approach and the good, the bad and the ugly they experienced on their journey.


Track :

The smart factories of the future

Digital innovation is helping businesses to re-imagine the way they manufacture and become even more efficient.

This track will ask you to assess where you are right now. Do you capture data for all your activities? How do you integrate new technologies? And do they help you to make smarter decisions? Through discussion and idea-sharing you’ll discover how to redefine your business model, stay relevant for your customers and create a smarter supply chain.

Ann Vereecke Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management, Vlerick

Prof Ann Vereecke

Professor in Operations and
Supply Chain Management, Vlerick

Professor at Vlerick and Ghent University, Ann is actively involved in executive teaching and research for a variety of businesses, with a focus on supply chain management and manufacturing strategy. She offers insight into the ways digitisation is changing factory processes and global supply chains.

Jean-Marie Vanalderweireldt Director Customer Service EMEA, Barco

Jean-Marie Vanalderweireldt

Director Customer Service EMEA, Barco

Jean-Marie shares how projector manufacturer Barco has used digital technology and analytics to reposition itself as a leader in visual solutions.

Peter Verstraeten CEO, Proceedix

Peter Verstraeten

CEO, Proceedix

Peter takes you on a journey through digital tech for manufacturing and logistics – from mobile technology that makes supply chains more effective to augmented reality and wearables for factories.


Track :

The evolution of the CFO

Advances in data collection and reporting tools all contribute to the changing role of the CFO. As well as analysing and reporting, CFOs are now expected to drive strategy and transformation.

On this track you’ll explore best practice in driving growth. With the help of our faculty and industry experts, you’ll explore how this change can empower CFOs.

Prof Filip Roodhooft Professor of Accounting en partner, Vlerick

Prof Filip Roodhooft

Professor in Accounting, Vlerick

Filip teaches at both Vlerick and KU Leuven. He’s currently conducting a survey on the changing role of CFOs – and shares his expertise and insights in this session.

Paul Denayer CFO EMEA Food & Beverages, Alpro

Paul Denayer

CFO EMEA Food & Beverages, Alpro

In 2014, Alpro put digital transformation at the top of the financial agenda, because it’s a strategic driving force for regarding finance as a full-fledged business partner.

In this session, Paul explains where they are today in the process. Over the past 3 years, a number of initiatives have been successfully implemented. Moreover, these initiatives have created a digital mind-set within the organisation that has given other departments food for thought. Conclusion: Finance has succeeded in launching the digital agenda at Alpro. A nice story to learn from!

Session (interactive workshop):

KNOWLEDGE INTO ACTION

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Randstad has fully embraced digitisation. But the recruitment company has faced many challenges along its transformation journey.

In this final session, Randstad’s challenges become your challenges. You’ll team up with your fellow participants to dive deep into the company and identify how it can accelerate digital growth. You’ll share ideas, explore options – and put together a series of recommendations.

Afterwards, Randstad’s managers will explain how they started their digital transformation journey, how they deal with challenges and what does and doesn’t work for them. You’ll discover whether your team’s recommendations aligned with their business strategy. And you’ll leave with real-life insights to take back to your own organisation to start driving innovation.