Report from the 2020 CIOCAN Annual General Meeting of Members October 2020

Thank you to those CIOCAN members who attended the Annual General Meeting of members on October 22nd. 

This past year has been unlike any other. CIOCAN continued its important strategic work to entrench the organization as a member-driven, mission-focused association. Building upon the strategic pillars, CIOCAN remained steadfast in its focus on the organization’s members: the diverse professionals and business partners who inspire and shape the association every day and are integral to CIOCAN’s stewardship in the sector.

 While the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic presented unanticipated and unprecedented challenges, CIOCAN’s vision to continue to drive our member value proposition remains unmoved. Together, we forge ahead, with an unwavering dedication to providing value and leadership to those we serve.

Our members collectively continue to represent over 2.7 billion dollars a year in technology and innovation spending – a truly impactful group. 

We are happy to welcome a new CIOCAN Board of Directors, who work for you, our members.  These volunteers continue to provide valuable service and insight to CIOCAN to ensure the health of our association is strong and that our members receive value for their membership. 

As well, we are proud to welcome our new CIOCAN President Philippe Johnston.  Phil has been on the CIOCAN Board for several years now and is excited to begin his term as President. 

Humza Teherany, CIOCAN outgoing President provided a snapshot of activity that CIOCAN members were able to enjoy last year.  They included:

Our key focus areas continue to be on Membership Engagement and Membership Growth and we’ve also continued to push ourselves to grow – in our knowledge of what’s important to our community and in the ways we can better support our profession’s ability to succeed.

In August, the CIOCAN Board of Directors came together virtually, to focus on CIOCAN’s long-term strategy as well as our strategy to mitigate the effect of the pandemic. We want to ensure our member value proposition is in line with what our members want and need during this time.  Education and networking are our key member benefits and it might look different this year, but be assured we continue to focus on your needs. 

 We continue to applaud our Chapters and Division who work hard on your behalf to ensure you receive excellent value for your investment.  Initiatives that help you expand your knowledge and network are of paramount importance to CIOCAN.  Chapters developed programming throughout the year on key topics relevant to our CIO community. These topics often start as conversations, as the issues tackled are not “one and done.” These key themes include how to bring together the world of IT/digital and tech with cybersecurity, and strategies for elevating cybersecurity in a day-to-day business and innovation context.

 The Chapters did not miss a beat in offering “virtual” events to CIOCAN members.  Virtual Beers With Peers networking popped up, as did meaningful webinars. They continue to deliver value to you every day.

During this past year, we welcomed new Chapter Presidents for Calgary, Manitoba, Vancouver and Montreal. Welcome to Dianne Lapierre, Vancouver President, Helen Knight, Calgary President, Raj Perumal, Manitoba President and Stephane Lamoureux, Montreal President.  They join a long list of outstanding CIOCAN volunteers and we look forward to working together to achieve great things.

I would like to thank outgoing Calgary President Thomas Schmidt, outgoing Vancouver Chapter President Shari Wallace, and outgoing Manitoba Chapter President Vince Brady for their service over the years.  Your valuable contributions helped move our association forward.

This success of CIOCAN can be attributed to one thing… the generous contributions of more than 80 plus volunteer board members at both the National and Chapter levels. These individuals donate their time, their energy, and their passion to something they strongly believe in: helping their fellow CIOs with day-to-day challenges in their organizations and playing a role building the future of the CIO profession in Canada.  Thank you to all of our volunteers for your dedication and commitment!

Finally, if there is one insight that really stood out for me these past four years, it’s just how time constrained – and ambitious – CIOs are. On this note, I’d be remiss not to acknowledge the dedication and patience of our management staff in supporting us, keeping us focused and keeping us on a forward track as a community.  We have come a long way in four years, and I look forward to seeing the continued progress of this great association.

 The CIO profession is one of the most critical in business and industry today. CIOs have responsibility to drive the digital transformation agenda through innovation, productivity and competitiveness for their respective organizations.

 It has been a pleasure leading the organization for the past 4 years as president. In that time, we grew our membership to almost double. It’s been an honor to work alongside each of you, to grow our position and influence in the Canadian marketplace. Our members are truly driving the future of business and innovation in Canada. 

I am excited for the next chapter of growth for CIOCAN under the capable leadership of Phil Johnston.

We are grateful for your support and engagement in 2020 and are truly energized about what we will achieve together in 2021.

A most sincere thank you to you, CIOCAN members, who continue to engage and participate. We look forward to supporting you for many years to come. 

All the annual general meeting materials are available on the CIOCAN website.  Should you have any questions, please feel free to drop us a line and we will happily respond