Alain Deschênes has been appointed Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Fortis as of 1 February 2005.
He will be responsible for providing vision, strategy, leadership and management to information systems and technology across Fortis. His mission is to align IST strategy, organisation, processes and resources to support global business needs and Fortis's strategic decisions. Alain will report directly to Herman Verwilst, Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer.
Herman Verwilst, COO, commented: "We all welcome Alain to this new position of Chief Information Officer. Fortis will benefit from his international background and extensive experience of complex IT systems at large corporates - including in the financial services sector - which will help it to achieve a major step in its strategy, namely the implementation of a strong and efficient unified structure across banking and insurance."
Alain Deschênes (46), a Canadian national, has a BSc in Computer Science from Université de Montréal and has completed the London Business School's Executive Management Development Programme. Prior to joining Fortis, he was Vice President and Director at Boston Consulting Group in Paris and London. Before that, he worked for Alcatel as CIO, and for Group BNP Paribas as Deputy CIO in charge of IT Operations and Global Infrastructure.
Jean-Pierre Cardinael has been appointed Fortis's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) as of 1 February 2005. Reporting to the CIO, he will be responsible for the management of IT operations and infrastructure, and for all IT resources and assets both cross-country and cross-business. Jean-Pierre's mission is to enhance the quality of service, deliver synergies across the group and support Fortis's international expansion.
Jean-Pierre Cardinael graduated from the Catholic University of Louvain with a civil engineering degree in electronics and applied mathematics. After five years in research at MBLE in Brussels, he joined CGER/ASLK as a computer scientist in 1973, and went on to hold several managerial positions in the Data Processing Department. In 1998, he became Managing Director of Générale de Banque - subsequently Fortis Bank - and a member of the Management Committee. He is also Director of FB Assurances. In addition, Jean-Pierre Cardinael is professor of Computer Sciences at the University Notre-Dame de la Paix in Namur.