Top tech leaders converge at exclusive CTIO Summit in Kalangala

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The inaugural Chief Technology and Information Officers (CTIO) Summit 2025 has set a new benchmark for strategic digital collaboration in Uganda and the wider East African region.

The exclusive three-day event, held last week at the scenic Brovad Sands Lodge in Kalangala Island, brought together more than 50 senior technology executives, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) for a transformative dialogue on advancing digital innovation.

The summit, the first of its kind in the region, created a unique space for high-level engagement, thought leadership, and practical collaboration across key technology domains.

Discussions centred on cybersecurity, cloud services and colocation, connectivity, and business and network monitoring systems (BMS/NMS), all critical pillars for shaping East Africa’s digital future.

Industry leaders and innovators shared forward-looking insights during panel sessions and presentations. Vincent Nuwamanya, Enterprise Account Manager for the East African Region at Cohesity, emphasised the urgency of modern data management in an increasingly hostile cyber environment.

“In an era of relentless cyber threats, particularly ransomware, the conversation has moved beyond just preventing attacks to ensuring swift and reliable data recovery and business continuity,” Nuwamanya explained.

“The CTIO Summit provided a vital space to discuss how to make data inherently resilient and instantly accessible,” he added.

The conversations at this summit were a powerful reminder that our collective success hinges on continuous innovation and robust collaboration.

By bringing together the region's top tech decision-makers, who have laid the groundwork for significant advancements in Uganda’s digital economy.

James Byaruhanga, Managing Director of Roke Cloud, underscored the importance of developing local cloud infrastructure as a cornerstone of Africa’s digital independence.

“The journey to true digital sovereignty in the region demands robust, local cloud and data centre capacity. We must empower African businesses with secure, low-latency, and compliant infrastructure that keeps valuable data within our borders, driving innovation from within. The synergy of ideas here was phenomenal,” Byaruhanga said.

Meanwhile, Caroline Kamaitha, General Manager of Raxio Uganda, highlighted the foundational role of data infrastructure in catalysing economic growth and digital inclusion.

“Data centres are the crucial backbone of a thriving digital economy, powering everything from fintech to government services,” Kamaitha noted.

“Discussions at the CTIO Summit reinforced the need for collaboration between technology leaders and infrastructure providers to deliver the scalability and security necessary to support Uganda’s accelerating digital transformation.”

The summit’s success was made possible through partnerships with Roke Cloud Ltd, Westcon-Comstor, Sophos, Raxio Data Centre, Motadata, Cohesity, Roke Telkom Ltd, and Tyms, all key players driving Africa’s evolving tech ecosystem.

The CTIO Summit 2025 sparked actionable commitments among participating executives to align their organisations toward sustainable digital growth, resilience, and innovation.

Many attendees departed Kalangala with renewed strategies for leveraging technology to enhance operational efficiency, data protection, and customer experience in their respective sectors.

As Uganda positions itself as a regional ICT hub, the CTIO Summit stands out as a milestone event — one that not only fostered knowledge exchange but also inspired a collective vision for building a connected, secure, and digitally empowered Africa.