Amsterdam Cloud Boardroom member Bouke Hoving is Dutch CIO of the Year

Bouke Hoving, CIO of Dutch telecoms provider KPN, is the winner of the Dutch CIO of the Year Award 2017. He believes his win is due to the transformation of KPN into a customer-driven organisation with an integrated and user-friendly range of products and services. “He really made the difference for his company,” motivated jury chairman Bernhard van Oranje.

The winner scored high on all parts of the selection process. Both within the qualitative and quantitative research by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the intensive leadership assessment of Linqhu, and the final jury discussion, he belonged to the best. Within the Dutch CIO community, he also counts as a valued and accessible inspirer. “With Bouke Hoving, we have chosen a leader who can put his vision into words and does everything he can to help his organisation move forward. He has proven that as well,” says Van Oranje.

The announcement took place at CIODAY2017 in the Amsterdam Beurs van Berlage. More than 750 high-level IT officers were present. The other nominees for the CIO of the Year Award 2017 were Arthur Govaert (Radboudumc), Jaco van Goudswaard (Kadaster), Leo Brand (Vopak), Olli Hyyppä (NXP) and Ton van Rhijn (CZ).

Omnichannel customer experience

KPN’s product range on the consumer market is now an integrated bundle thanks to the CIO and his people, with an excellent omnichannel customer experience that starts with digital. Take the KPN consumer app, which works just like internet banking. Another eye-catching innovation comes in handy for Chinese WeChat users with a Dutch SIM card. They can use the app throughout Europe as if they were at home. The CIO and his team are constantly looking for new opportunities. “Now that the network is becoming more and more ‘software-defined’, new business models are emerging.”

Rob Beijleveld, CEO of ICT Media and initiator of the CIO of the Year Award, commends Bouke Hoving for his unique combination of intelligence and decisiveness. “It is unbelievable what he has dared to do and realised in the end. Let me be honest, there were more candidates who qualified for the Award. But if you look at what has actually been delivered, Bouke is the man for this year’s Award.”