First TNT Symposium Gathers 100s of Tech Decision Makers

The first edition of the TNT Symposium, organised by TechSense by The Dots at the European Convention Center Luxembourg (ECCL) on 24 November 2021, brought together hundreds of members of the technology, innovation and digital community of Luxembourg.

The Connection Cocktail alone attracted over 600 attendees, while 400 tech decision makers participated in the seated ceremony dinner. 

Kamel Amroune, Founder and CEO of The Dots, opened the symposium by greeting the audience of Luxembourg's tech, innovation and digital community members. He thanked the event's sponsors and partners, whose commitment he underlined, and set the scene for the rest of the evening, placed under the label of "The Great Reset". 

"It's time to ask ourselves the right questions towards the future. And it's time to work for a more human, more supportive and more responsible world", Mr Amroune explained. "Tonight we invite you not only to enjoy the moment but also to understand that we are all united by a deep connection and that solidarity is something essential".

In a global context of concern for lives, livelihoods and the planet, the initiative taken by TechSense aims to offer insights to help inform those determining the direction of national economies, the priorities of societies, the nature of business models and the management of common goods.

To support their initiative, TechSense invited two prominent speakers, Peter Sondergaard, former Executive VP of Gartner, and Carole Davies-Filleur, Sustainability & Technology Director at Accenture, along with a thought-provoking mentalist, Fabien Olicard, to this event.

Peter Sondergaard explained how the CODID-19 crisis has transformed underlying trends into a surge in digital projects in areas such as digital workplace, robotic process automation or digital commerce and service. He explored five post-pandemic digital focus areas that tech leaders should embrace, including data and artificial intelligence (AI) to the edge and digital platforms, but also changes in the way business models, organisation, skills and leadership are handled. He also provided CIOs with recommendations on moving from digital optimisation to digital acceleration.

Carole Davies-Filleur brought some good news from the COP26 conference in Glasgow: she told the audience that Europe's business community was engaged in the United Nation's Race to Zero campaign. "The number of companies setting science-based emissions reduction targets has grown rapidly in the last two years even though there is no regulation requiring to do so", she said. She also underlined that technology was one of the greatest sustainability enablers and advised CIOs to use technology more sustainably and as vehicule for being more sustainable.

The Beat The Buzzer quiz game, organised with the support of Accenture and Orange Luxembourg, allowed the participating CIOs to demonstrate their knowledge with regard to the potential roll-out of sustainable technology to counter the negative impacts associated with the most pressing environmental challenges.

Regarding prizes, Vincent Arnal, Chief Information Officer (CIO) of LALUX Insurance, received the "THECIO22 Prize" and will therefore serve as the ambassador of the community throughout 2022. The THECIO22 Prize recognises the contribution of a CIO to the influence of the Luxembourg tech, innovation and digital community according to three criteria: technology, humanity and empowerment.

The TechforLife Prize was awarded jointly to EBRC and BMS. The TechforLife Prize celebrates the achievement of a project implemented by a solution provider on behalf of (or together with) a customer. The winning project must be intended to help solve environmental, human welfare, or sustainable technology issues by leveraging the power of technology, innovation and digital.