Despite the economic downturn freezing or cutting budgets and yielding a slow recovery, businesses are regaining strength and global IT spending is expected to increase in the coming years. But even with an economic upturn on the horizon and more importance placed on IT, we arent out of the woods yet. The role of the CIO is more important than ever as financial turmoil continues to alter the world's economy, making it difficult to put your organization in a position to achieve success. The business goals have changed and CIOs are now tasked with trying to find emerging opportunities to drive value throughout the enterprise.

We're in a historic transition - one marked by challenges, but filled with possibility. Preparing for the upturn and making the right decisions in times of change can better position your enterprise to succeed. Accordingly, the theme of this year's summit is CIOs in Transition - The Shift from Cost-Saver to Value Provider.

The CIO Chicago Summit is a unique opportunity for the citys greatest IT thinkers to collaborate on current industry challenges and trends. Attending CIOs and IT executives engage in peer-on-peer networking, while discussing the issues currently affecting CIOs from a variety of industries.

As an IT leader in Chicago, now is the time to produce real business value for your organization. We at CDM Media know that in order for you to take time out of the office, it must be time well spent. The CIO Chicago Summit agenda offers a balanced schedule of focused educational sessions, one-on-one meetings and networking opportunities that will maximize your time and efforts, providing you with ideas and strategies truly capable of changing business practices.