GAC Group, a global provider of integrated shipping, logistics and marine services, said its chief information officer and his team were among those honoured at the inaugural CXO 50 Awards presented in Dubai, UAE, last week.

The GAC Group team’s was recognised for its application of external marketing techniques to the creation of an internal IT platform, said a company statement.
 
The awards, organised by Insight Media and Publishing, recognised IT and security leaders across the Middle East that a panel of judges considered had demonstrated operational excellence with best practices, new methodologies, and right technology resources.

Winners were selected from a pool of nominations across the region after a rigorous review process, and judging criteria included expertise in IT, business value delivery and innovation in IT initiatives.
 
GAC was singled out for ‘Pegasus’, its internal platform of purpose-built solutions and initiatives to meet customers’ demands and achieve the company’s commercial goals.

Driven by the need to facilitate digital business development for future generations, it marks a departure from the IT strategy the Group had followed in previous years.
 
Martin Wallgren, group chief information officer, GAC Group, said: “While an application approach served us well historically, trends like globalisation, integration, digitalisation and automation demand a different strategy focused on our products instead of technical applications.”

“By creating a Technology Business Management department to bridge the gap between IT and commercial, we took control of the business side of the digital transformation. Only that way could we build a good, fit-for-purpose IT foundation that is essential as we tackle the challenges of business in the 21st century,” he added.
 
This latest honour comes hot on the heels of GAC’s Group IT recognition in the CIO 100 Awards 2019 last month, for the Cyber Security Awareness course conducted through the GAC Corporate Academy to tackle the threat and impact of cybercrime on the shipping and logistics industries, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service