Laura Klaver (Thales), Kurt De Ruwe (AkzoNobel), Alexander Zwart (Rabobank), and Matthijs Zwart (Vitens) are competing for the CIO of the Year Award 2025. The companies Hyfen, QuantWare, and Avular have been nominated for the Tech Hero Award 2025. Both awards will be presented on Tuesday, November 25, during the 21st edition of CIODAY.
The CIO of the Year Award rewards CIOs for their groundbreaking leadership. The winners excel in connecting technological and organizational changes, creating business value, and inspiring their peers.
The CIO Platform Nederland professional association, which has been involved in the annual CIODAY for two decades, aims to intensify its collaboration with ICT Media, which facilitates the event and awards. To this end, the chairman of the CIO Platform, Martijn Koning, has also taken on the role of jury chairman for the CIO of the Year Award. Martijn, who is CDO at AutoBinck Group in his daily life, succeeds Bernhard van Oranje, founder of Levi9, who has held this role for twenty years.
“We thank Bernhard for his dedication to the previous editions. His sharp tech entrepreneurial spirit and equally sharp questioning of the nominees were crucial. With Martijn Koning as jury chair and representative of the CIO Platform, we are bringing the award closer to home,” says Rob Beijleveld, initiator, co-jury member, and CEO of ICT Media and the Digital Knowledge Institute.
The CIO of the Year Award jury also comprises Berry Diepeveen, Senior Partner & Managing Director at BCG, and Tjibbe van der Zeeuw, co-founder of Squadra. New to the group are Aart Rupert, CDO of Damen and winner of the CIO of the Year Award 2023 (winners take turns sitting on the jury), and Erik Beulen, Professor of Information Management at the University of Manchester and appointed Program Director of the Digital Knowledge Institute Netherlands since mid-2025. This gives the criteria for the CIO of the Year Award an academic foundation.
The Tech Hero Award, which is also presented at CIODAY, is a prize for groundbreaking organizations. Candidates have built their business around their digital core. These companies are future-proof and organized in a way that they can quickly adapt to technological and social developments.
Martijn Koning, Nick Smaling (BCG), Rob Beijleveld, Job Voorhoeve (Amrop), and Erik Beulen form the jury for the Tech Hero Award. Matthijs Welle, CEO of Mews and winner of the Tech Hero Award 2024, will join them for this year only.
Image: the announcement of the CIO of the Year 2024. From left to right: Hiske Bongaerts (presentation), Joost Hoebink (presentation), Ipek Ozsuer (nominee, DSM-Firmenich), Martijn Koning (jury member), winner Ing Yan Ong (Heineken), Mario Suykerbuyk (nominee, Tennet, half visible), Tjibbe van der Zeeuw (jury member), Bernhard van Oranje (jury chair), Rob Visser (jury member), and Berry Diepeveen (jury member). Photography: Dennis Khalil.